Holiday Gift Guide For Coffee Lovers

Today, we are going to talk about what to buy that coffee lover in your life. With the holiday’s right around the corner, these are things we need to start taking into account! This guide has 6 gift ideas varying in price (labeled with $, $$, or $$$) so that you can find the right price point that works. We’ll also include a few things to avoid as well, so you can confidently search for that perfect gift this season.

Coffee ($)

Let’s start this off with an obvious one, coffee. The only thing coffee lovers really want to do is try a large variety of different coffees. That’s it. We really are that simple. While this category seems easy enough, there are a few things to keep in mind when getting the right type of coffee. The coffee should come from a small batch roastery, one that is possibly local (wink wink). Roasters are your best bet for delicious tasting, fresh coffee. If they offer different roasts, get a few different types, so your coffee person can try them next to each other to compare and contrast!

Coffee that you should avoid will be any coffee from a large retail store or grocery store. By the time the coffee reaches the store, it has lost most of its fresh flavor, and you end up with a basic, boring coffee. Another type of coffee to avoid is flavored coffee. Coffee lovers love to find the tasting notes in their coffee, and any additional flavor added to the beans will mask those notes.

Coffee Book or Magazine ($)

People that are new to the coffee world are hungry for information, and a coffee book or magazine is a perfect way to point them in the right direction. The fun thing about coffee books is that the variety of topics are vast. We have compiled a small list of books and one magazine that we believe will point you in the right direction, but this list is not exhaustive: Craft Coffee: A Manual by Jessica Easto, The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann, or Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast, or Roast Magazine.

Personalized Cupping Spoon ($)

If you don’t know what a cupping spoon is, it is a larger spoon, about the size of a soup spoon, that is used in coffee cupping. Now what is coffee cupping? That is the method in which coffee is tasted and assessed by professionals in the coffee industry. We wrote about it on this blog post if you want to learn more about it. The cupping spoon is used to dip out the coffee to be slurped across the palate, to open up all the flavors in the mouth. While a regular cupping spoon is a perfectly fine gift, a personalized one would make it that much more special for your coffee enthusiast.

Coffee Scale ($$)

This gift is great for those beginning coffee hobbyists that are in the process of equipping their home cafés. Coffee should be measured out by weight, not by volume, because different coffee has different densities, so avoid any kind of coffee scoops and opt for a small coffee scale instead. This type of scale differs from a regular kitchen scale because it has certain desired features that set it apart: small enough to fit under an espresso machine, is USB rechargeable, has a tare function, can measure in multiple units, and has a timer function.

Coffee Subscription ($$)

This isn’t necessarily different from our first suggestion of buying coffee, but a subscription takes that one time gift of coffee and turns it into a monthly gift, guaranteeing your coffee enthusiast will never run out of coffee. Most small batch roasters offer online subscriptions on their websites, including us. Gifting a coffee subscription is just a few clicks away!

Coffee Grinder ($$$)

When it comes to achieving a coffee’s fullest potential, there are just a few steps that the coffee enthusiast has to take to get mostly there. The first being freshly roasted coffee, the second being a quality coffee grinder. This might be a situation where you need to discuss with the person to whom you are gifting their need a newer/better grinder and what kind they need. There are so many types and they each suit a different type of use. From electric espresso grinders to pour over manual grinders, and everything in between, so many decisions are needed to be made. Add in varying prices and quality, and you’ve got an almost impossible guess of what type of grinder your coffee lover needs. If pulled off, though, this gift would be greatly appreciated.

And there you have it, our holiday gift guide for the coffee enthusiast in your life. We hope this list has given you some ideas of what to buy for your loved one. Of course, our stance is that love doesn’t need money to be felt and shared, but gift giving is such a fun way to show love and giving caffeine is the ultimate gift, in our opinion. Cheers!