Sure, gift guides are a dime a dozen but ours is good. We’re not just telling you to buy our products (though our kits do make a great holiday gift!), and we’re not just pushing affiliate links to make a cheap buck on your back. These are real recommendations from members of our team—products we actually use, love, and are buying for the people in our lives.
Allan, Cofounder & Head of Product Development
Get lost in the mysteries of the universe with Phaidon’s masterful coffee-table tome, Universe: Exploring the Astronomical World. Inside you’ll find 300 images from those who have tried to understand, or have been inspired by the beauty of outer space. There’s much to be learned here, but it’s also just a damn beautiful book.
Scott, Cofounder & Executive Chairman
For stylish coffee nerds, the new Ode Brew Grinder from coffee gear experts, Fellow is tough to beat. First of all, it just looks great on your counter. But more importantly, it delivers with pro-level performance—grinding your beans to the ideal consistency for pour-over, French press, cold brew, and more.
Rae, Creative Director
Need some fun gifts for the food lover in your life? Try a beautiful illustrated Taco Tuesday puzzle, or a French Breakfast candle that smells like warm buttered baguette with a side of Gauloises.
Nicole, Director of Ecommerce
Plants are a classic gift, so why not a plant subscription service that matches you to the perfect plants for your home? Along the way, Horti promises to turn even the worst plant-killers into full-fledged green thumbs.
Alyshea, Social Media Designer
We’re all stuck in our homes, so why not make home feel a little more like a luxurious spa? This stylish essential oil diffuser from Vitruvi pulls double-duty—making your home look and smell better at once. And you know we just had to feature another Canadian brand that publishes a magazine when they really don’t need to!
Loritta, Lead Artisanal Culinologist (yes, that’s a real job title)
A vote for building a gift out of smaller personalized items. Loritta loves to share mugs from local potters, glasses from her favorite breweries, and—for stocking stuffers—these carry-on cocktail kits to help make that first post-pandemic flight a little less uncomfortable.
Charlie, Director of Words (no, that’s not a real job title)
If you’re not going to gift our magazine (shameless plug alert!), how about a selection of independent natural wine mags? Pipette, Noble Rot, Glou Glou, and The Wine Zine each have their own style, but they all feature top-notch writing paired with great art and design.
More Team Favorites
Shop Small and Local
This year more than ever, everyone on our team stressed the importance of shopping from small independent brands and local stores. Seek out your local artisanal food makers, potters, vintage glassware shops, designers, artists, and more. Shop at the small local stores. Buy gift cards, merch, and takeout from your favorite restaurants. Many businesses won’t survive, but we can all do our part to minimize the damage.
New Cookbooks
A slew of great new books came out this fall, and we have some favorites. Among those that keep coming up in our team discussions are Julia Bainbridge’s groundbreaking non-alcoholic cocktail book, Good Drinks, Nik Sharma’s scientific yet heartful, The Flavor Equation, and Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen’s, In Bibi’s Kitchen, a revelatory journey through the recipes and stories of grandmothers from the eight African countries that touch the Indian Ocean.
Red Boat Fish Sauce
Simply the best Vietnamese fish sauce on the market. Red Boat is a staple in our cooking. We even use it in one of our upcoming products...
Floyd Cardoz Masalas
Chef Floyd Cardoz first wowed us with his modern Indian flavors at New York’s Tabla in the late 90s. We’ve been thinking about those meals ever since. Cardoz tragically died from complications with COVID-19 in March but before his death he conceived these spice blends. Few chefs played with spice as well as Cardoz, so we’re thankful to have these as a tribute to his life and some small memory of the many flavor-trips he took us on with his cooking.
Japanese Knives
Can you cook good food with a well-maintained basic chef’s knife? Yes. But for the sharpest, sleekest, and most beautiful blades, we love Japanese knives. These aren’t cheap, but for someone who loves to cook they make a great gift. A gyutou like the Misono UX10 or its entry-level sibling the Molybendum meshes Western and Japanese styles for a familiar and phenomenal all-purpose chef’s knife. For a more traditional Japanese look and feel, though, we love this blue steel Bunka—it’s like a bigger and bolderSantoku—that’s conveniently clad in a layer of stainless steel so you don’t have to treat it like a museum object to retain its striking finish.
Made-In Glassware
Chef-favorite Made-In is best-known for their cookware, but we’re really loving their newly released wine and drink glasses. Sleek, beautiful, and just unique enough to stand out. Oh, and just try to stop us from picking up a carbon steel frying pan while we’re there too.
Martha Stoumen Wines
Stoumen’s natural California wines are a breath of fresh air. The labels are beautiful, the wine is crushable, and we just can’t get enough. Best of all, she puts together great bundles and wine club packages that are just made for gifting. Please send us a gift.
