Christmas Food and Drink Gifts

At Christmas time, I love to create food and drink packages for friends, family and neighbours, filled with quality, hand-picked treats.

Today, I’ve been looking for fine teas, coffees and savoury foods that would make great additions to hampers, as well as some stand alone gifts.

Savoury Gifts
On the savoury front, it’s The Black Dog Delicatessen that’s caught my eye this year. It’s a premium product range, yet the pricing is very reasonable. I love the brand design and packaging, which were inspired by Bailey and Blue, two extremely cute rescue black Labradors! What’s more, proceeds from every product sold are donated to The Labrador Rescue Trust. Here are my top picks from their range:

1 Award Winning Sicilian and Spanish Extra Virgin Olive oils, perfect to use in dressings, marinades and as a dipping oil for Italian breads. £9.99 (500 ml)

2 Premium quality Penne Rigate, Linguina, Vermicelloni,and Orzo pastas made in Italy using traditional ingredients and techniques. £2.20 (500g)

3 My family and friends love marinaded olives! There are five in the range, and I especially love the sound of the Pitted Kalamata Olives with Thyme, Basil, Parsley and Chives £3.39 (250g)

Black Dog Deli Gift Ideas

4 This gorgeous hamper filled with goodies from the Black Dog Delicatessen would make a great gift to send to loved ones. It costs £45 (incl. delivery), with at least £5 from each sale donated to the Labrador Rescue Trust.

5 Four risotto mixes – Asparagus, Lemon, Porcini Mushroom and Tomato – prepared with the finest Carnaroli rice £2.49 (300g)

6 Balsamic Vinegar from Modena in Italy, aged in wooden barrels for ten years according to local traditions to give it a sweet, mellow taste. £9.99 (250ml)

7 And here’s one of the rescue black Labs that provided the inspiration for the company’s brand. Isn’t he gorgeous? This one is clearly priceless 😉

Gifts for Tea Lovers
Walter Whittard opened his first shop in Fleet Street, London in 1886, where he sold tea, coffee and cocoa, and created special blends for his customers. Today, Whittard of Chelsea are still the blending experts, and have an amazing array of quality teas and coffees on offer.

Here are my top picks for tea lovers this Christmas…

Whittard Tea Gift Ideas

1 This stylish Kilner tin is filled with Whittard’s signature English Breakfast Tea blend – Assam for strength, Ceylon for depth and Kenyan for its rich colour. £10.00 (net weight 150g)

2 This Teas of the World set would make a beautiful gift for any tea lover. It includes 50g each of English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Assam, Spice Imperial, Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine, Russian Caravan, Sencha and Ceylon Teas. £20.00

3 This Hexagonal Tea Gift Set contains eight of Whittard’s most popular black and green tea blends – English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Whittard Original, Afternoon Tea, Imperial Spice, Vanilla, Gunpowder and Jasmine. The set includes 60 tea bags, individually wrapped. £15 (net weight 360g)

4 Whittard has created a range of festive tea blends, including The Spice Imperial Tea, infused with the citrus and cloves flavour of mulled wine, and the Festive Chai, which captures the fruit and spice flavours of festive baking. £4.75 for 50 tea bags.

Gifts for Coffee lovers
1 These brushed stainless steel cafetieres are not only stylish, but they’re far more robust than glass cafetieres, making them perfect for both home and office use. They’re not always easy to find on the high street, but Amazon has a great selection. The one shown below is the Andrew James Double Walled Cafetiere, currently on offer at £14.99 (reduced from £32.99).

Coffee Gift Ideas

 

2 These Kilner tins have raised gold lettering and are beautiful to handle. This one’s filled with Whittard’s After Dinner Coffee, a delicious blend of South American Arabica beans. £10.00 (net weight 175g)

3 Whittard has created a range of scrumptious-sounding festive coffees, including Christmas Pudding, Warming Brandy and Luxurious Crème Brulee. These would make great additions to festive hampers or as stocking fillers. They would also be perfect for serving as an after-dinner treat. £4.75 (120g)

4 These beautiful tins would make a wonderful gift for coffee lovers. There’s a range of coffees to choose from. The one shown here is the strong roast “rich and chocolatey” Santos and Java coffee. £5 (net weight 100g)  

5 This Coffees of the World set is absolutely beautiful! It includes Whittard’s nine most popular ground coffees – Monsoon Malabar, Santos and Java, Sumatra, Guatemalan Elephant, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Pico Duarte, Colombian, Costa Rican and Mocha Djimmah. £20 (each box contains 66g)

Stylish Mugs for Coffee and Tea Lovers!
Have you heard of Whatever It Takes? It’s a charity artwork campaign where celebrities donate their original artwork, which is then sold on a range of products with the proceeds donated to projects supporting key global development causes, such as poverty alleviation, environmental conservation, and the protection of children. So far, the royalties raised from these celebrity-designed products has raised over $6 million!

The Whatever It Takes mugs are high quality, stylish and come in a beautiful presentation box or gift tin. As an added bonus, each purchase is helping to support worthwhile causes

These mugs are selling out quick, so I recommend getting your hands on one asap. Here are some of my favourites for 2013…

Whatever It Takes Mugs

 1 Large mug in gift box, with artwork by Susan Sarandon. Proceeds go to: 21st Century Leaders and Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and Heifer £19.99

2 Mug in gift tin, with artwork by Ronnie Wood with the message “Look after our animals so our children can see them!!!Proceeds go to: 21st Century Leaders and Tusk £9.99

3 Mug in gift tin, with artwork by Pierce Brosnan with the message “Peace and love (man) always, peace and love what else?Proceeds go to: 21st Century Leaders £9.99

My next mission is to find yummy chocolates and sweet treats for the gift packages. I’m hoping to make them all myself!

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Do you ‘hit the shops’ or prefer to shop online? I much prefer to shop from the comfort of my arm chair and with a warm cuppa in hand 😉

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon and Whittard affiliate links. If you click on a link and purchase something, I will receive a small commission which will go towards the development of Bit of the Good Stuff. Many thanks in advance!