HomeChristmas Christmas Coffee Gift Ideas
18 December, 2018

Christmas Coffee Gift Ideas

Posted in : Christmas, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Courses, Speciality Coffee on by : rachgriff@hotmail.com

With Christmas just a week away, here are some gift ideas for the coffee lovers in your life.

First up is Christmas coffee itself!  Lots of coffee roasters prepare Christmas blends for the festive season.  A couple that I’m currently sampling are from ‘Union Coffees Christmas Blend’ (this coffee has notes of cranberry, clementine and chocolate wafer) and ‘Pacts Christmas Blend Espresso’ (this coffee has hints of mince pie).  Both of these blends make a mean festive flat white.  Single origin espressos are popular this season too.  Clifton Coffee Roasters have a whiskey barrel aged Ethiopian espresso with tasting notes of mince pie & whiskey, as well as a Rwandan espresso with notes of stollen, cinnamon & cranberry.  Coaltown Coffee have recently released their ‘Holiday Espresso’ which is a single origin espresso from Burundi, with tasting notes of blueberry, orange, toffee & tamarind.

If it’s filter coffee that you’re after, Coaltown have also released a ‘Holiday Filter’ from Peru, with notes of orange, lemon & cane sugar.  As I don’t drink filter as often as espresso, I prefer to buy those coffees in smaller amounts.  Many companies such as ‘Perkulatte’ offer Coffee Taster Packs, with a number of different, single serving coffees.  Ideal for those who want to try single origins from different countries.  These packs are available for use as whole bean, cafetière, aeropress, filter, espresso or Turkish.  Both ‘Perkulatte’ and ‘Pact’ had coffee advent calendars this year, which is another fab way to sample a range of different coffees.

Coffee subscriptions are another great gift.  Some subscriptions deliver a particular coffee at desired intervals.  Lots of roasteries offer this service and it’s ideal if someone has a favourite coffee.  Other subscriptions will send out a different coffee each time, or allow you to choose which coffee you would like to receive.  I’ve tried out a few of these subscriptions (check out ‘Coffee Factory’, ‘Pact’ & ‘Coaltown’) and as a total coffee geek, my favourite is ‘Hasbean’.  You can pick from weekly, fortnightly or monthly frequencies, and whether you’d prefer to pay up front or by direct debit.  ‘Hasbean’ founder Stephen Leighton creates weekly tasting videos at www.inmymug.com which give an insight into the farm that the coffee came from and the flavours in the cup.  

Another great gift for a coffee lover would be some coffee brewing equipment.  A great (and fairly inexpensive) place to start would be with a Hario V60 coffee dripper, paper filters and pre ground coffee.  Most independent coffee shops would stock these or ‘starter packs’ are available on websites such as ‘Pact Coffee’.  For the more adventurous you could add some extra kit, such as a simple grinder, scales or aeropress.  Coffee brewing equipment can start at just a few pounds and go right up into the thousands!  And Santa, if you’re reading this, I’d love a ‘la marzocco linea mini’ in yellow please!!!

Or how about a Barista course?  200* coffee shops run a range of barista courses, from basic to advanced, with gift vouchers available.  I’ve completed all 4 courses at 200* and can highly recommend them.  My favourites at ‘Coaltown Coffee’ have recently opened their wonderful live roastery, come coffee shop, come barista academy where they offer various courses.  I did a course with these guys at the start of last year and it was their passion for the world of speciality coffee that really got me hooked.  The Roastery is a must visit for coffee fans.

If you’ve got coffee lovers coming to Christmas dinner this year, ‘Perkulatte’ have a range of coffee Christmas crackers, personalised favours and flavoured coffee spoons.  

Oh, and don’t forget to get some decent coffee in too!