This is the golden age of holiday gift shopping for foodies. Never again resort to grabbing a box of drug-store chocolates; the online world is your oyster – which, by the way, you can order online, as well as DIY cheese-making kits, single estate teas and artisanal wild game jerky. Here, five serious treats and eats for the foodie on your list:
Organic Coconut Sugar
Coconuts give us butter, meat, flour for gluten-free baking, even mulch for the garden, as well as this product: sugar. It has a deep, rich, burned sugar flavour with just a wee hint of its origins, so it’s good in coffee, tea, cooking and baking. And it’s Paleo-approved. $7.50 from www.gracefoods.ca
Stone Spice Grinder
From British designer Tom Dixon this more sensual version of a mortar and pestle is crafted in India from a solid block of Morwad marble – named after the village in Rajasthan where the stone is quarried. The hefty polished brass-clad grinding ball has a cast-iron core. We think it’s pretty enough to sit on display, even if it never grinds a single peppercorn. $140 from www.dwr.com
Gin-Making Kit
DIY is so satisfying; DIY gin is intoxicatingly so! Start with your favourite vodka; all the aromatics you’ll need for a fine distillation are included, as are two pretty corked bottles and stainless steel equipment. Online exclusive, $78 from www.williams-sonoma.com
Hybrid Isaura Porcelain Dinner Plate
We love the vaguely unsettling tension created by the melding of east and west and mismatched sizes in this unique, fine bone china - which was conceived by CtrlZak Art and Design Studio, based in Milan, and crafted by Seletti in Tangshan, China. Several designs in plates and bowls, $69 each from www.burkedecor.com
Brass and Walnut Pour-Over Coffee Brewer
This elegant caffeine-making device is handmade in Colorado of heat-resistant glass, American walnut and solid brass – think of this as coffee-making as art. The cone – made by Hario – slides up and down to accommodate any size of vessel, from demitasse to super big gulp. $211 from www.kaufmann-mercantile.com