10 Unusual Gifts for Experienced Coffee Lovers

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I’m something of a veteran when it comes to coffee; I studied fussy brewing techniques and turned my nose up at the office coffee pot long before I moved to gentrifying Brooklyn, where enforcing strict rules about how brown-flavored hot water can and should be made is tantamount to law. (Not really! But according to stereotypes , it’s funny. ) This, of course, means that I long ago purchased all the necessary coffee-making supplies to reliably get my caffeine fix , from an electric kettle to a coffee grinder. The result is that friends and family are contractually obligated to buy me gifts to a dead end: I’ve made my coffee hobby an unbearable core element of my personality, and yet I’m picky about what I drink and/or use to make it. my drinks. I need them to understand that I still need a lot of crap to make coffee—good but unnecessary stuff that I probably won’t buy for myself—so I put together this gift guide to serve as a giant clue. I hope this will be useful to you too.

Custom mug

The deep thoughts of a three year old. Photo: Joel Cunningham.

No doubt the coffee lover in your life already has a lot of mugs. They may even have too many mugs. This is why you shouldn’t try to choose the “perfect” mug for them based on what you think you know about their designs and/or pop culture preferences (thanks to a well-meaning friend who once gave me a Yoda mug). what I should like – I like Star Wars ! I love coffee! – but couldn’t stand the sight). life. The trick here is that even if they don’t like it aesthetically, they will have warm feelings about it* because it is personal and therefore any perceived flaws it may have become moot. Take for example the mug you see above. Normally I wouldn’t choose such a simple mug for myself, but it was a Secret Santa gift from former Lifehacker food editor Claire Lower, and she decided to decorate it with a random quote from my son that I posted on Instagram: “I would probably be dead right now if I were a snail. You too. Everyone.” (He makes a good point, doesn’t he?) So this is invaluable to me and I use it all the time.

*Or at least a sense of guilt/common obligation, which is often all I can muster these days. (But I really like Claire’s mug.)

Unreasonably fashionable pour-over coffee maker

Credit: Joel Cunningham

Your coffee-loving buddy probably prefers a certain brewing method, and no doubt already has the necessary equipment to make it work. But their equipment could probably be fancier~ and you can do that for them. Take for example this beautiful coffee dripper created by the founder of Trunk Coffee in Japan. The one the company sent me to test retails for about $80, including a ceramic dripper, a wooden tray that retains heat while brewing, and a “sensory cup.” These items perform the same basic functions as the $7 plastic coffee dripper I already had. But they are much, much nicer, and I would love to receive them as a gift. You can order it directly from Japan or find a cheaper knockoff on Amazon. (If your giftee prefers a different brewing method, there are also fancy French presses and brewing pots .)

Nice ice cube tray for iced coffee.

During the summer months, for me, iced coffee is essentially water, which means I need a reliable way to produce ice in large quantities. Your standard plastic ice cube trays from the dollar store are functional, but prone to cracking with constant use, and they’re definitely not gift quality. Instead, buy them a pair of W&P Design’s Everyday Ice Cube Trays ($16 each), a silicone ice cube tray that Bon Appétit has declared “the best ice cube tray I’ve ever used.” Sure, it’s more expensive, but you’ll be remembered fondly every time the freezer is opened.

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Pay attention to other important elements of any home coffee shop:

Double wall insulated cups for cold iced coffee.

While you’re at it with ice cube trays, get them a couple of double-walled insulated drinking glasses ($30) so they can keep their cold drink really cold without the glasses fogging up all over the place. (You can also use them for hot drinks, but what kind of freak drinks hot coffee out of a big glass?)

Digital scales for more precise brewing.

I’m such a coffee enthusiast that I’ve adopted an inefficient and ineffective brewing method (pouring) just because I think it’s fun, but even I don’t have a digital scale that I can use to accurately weigh the beans to be sure. correct ratio of water and grinding. Someone should probably buy me a digital scale. (For a good basic model, I recommend this one , which costs $23 on Amazon and comes in sizes down to one-tenth of a gram so you can create a truly precise overflow.)

Attractive coffee filter holder.

I currently store my coffee filters in the wrinkled plastic containers they came in. My life would be immeasurably better if they were instead stored in this elegant gold and glass box ($24 on Amazon) that I would lovingly display on my coffee table. (One of the reasons I recently moved from an apartment to a house was so I had a kitchen large enough to accommodate a dedicated coffee counter.)

Unusual coffee spoon

Here I am pouring coffee into my new dripper using the same crappy spoon that came with my hated old $7 coffee dripper when I could have used a designer coffee spoon. The Strategist’s Dina Lenny tested a few of them and declared the above-mentioned contraption the Apace Living Coffee Spoon (two for $14) to be “the Rolls Royce of coffee spoons.” Nothing but the best, people.

Attractive airtight grain storage jars

I can’t believe I don’t already have some nice airtight containers ($35 for this vented model from Fellow, well reviewed by The Spruce ) in which to store my coffee. Do none of my friends or relatives really know me at all? Don’t they care?

Thin brewing stick

Credit: Product Image

A scoop is great, but what do you do if you only need a few grams of coffee for a perfectly accurate cup? The gift recipient’s only hope is that someone will give them one of these stainless steel infuser sticks ($37). Please save them from slightly mismeasured cups of coffee!

Coffee subscription

This is probably too obvious to mention—subscription boxes are a ubiquitous gift idea—but I’m mentioning it anyway just because how excited I would be if someone actually gave me a monthly coffee subscription. You have options, but I can vouch for the tiered offerings from Trade Coffee , which offers a wide range of roasts from a number of small suppliers, all packaged and shipped to you within days of roasting. Your recipient can either fill out a flavor profile and select beans to order, or play it safe and choose one of the recommended options.

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