Cocktails, coffee, and cola—the beverage trifecta. Your loved one who’s always talking about the latest in one or all three of these lovely liquids may just be the easiest person to buy a gift for this holiday season. You’re just searching for some inspiration. They’re that person who prides themselves on being the go-to bartender for every party you throw. Maybe they’re practicing the art of pulling the perfect espresso shot, or perhaps they’re obsessed with staying hydrated at all hours of the day.
From drinkware that makes your drinks more aesthetically appealing to high-tech gadgets that boost the efficiency of your kitchen routines, there’s a panoply of gifts you can get for the beverage enthusiast in your life. I gathered some of my favorites from the past year, some of which are tried-and-true essentials and others which are more experimental.
For more inspiration, check out some of our other kitchen-related gift guides, including barbecue and hot sauce subscriptions and options for coffee lovers and home chefs.
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Barware
A Smoky Sip
When I smoke a cocktail, my priority is to make sure I’m not adding anything toxic to my drink (many cocktail smokers are coated in polyurethane). Smokeshow makes a great smoker, first because it’s made of walnut wood and coated in a natural beeswax. The holes in the side help fill your glass with smoke quicker than others do and help the wood chips last longer. The starter set comes with a walnut spoon to scoop your wood chips and a stainless steel wire brush to clean the mesh basket. If you buy from Smokeshow’s website you can also get a torch with a can of butane that lasts for hundreds of cocktails. This torch is strong, which helps push the smoke down. Smokeshow also sells a wide range of wood chips, including savory blends like rosemary or sweet aromas like grapefruit peel and maple—all sourced in America. You receive four tins in this set, but you can purchase many more individually if you know the person you’re gifting enjoys particular smoky scents.
Start Your Bartending Journey
This is the perfect gift for the beginner bartender who needs to stock up on the essentials to get started. (If you’re looking for more, check out our guide to the Best Cocktail Gear.) This set includes good-quality tools your giftee will be excited to start using. That includes the most basic of basics, like a shaker. I like using a Boston shaker, which consists of a large and small tin to shake your cocktails. These ones have a proper shape around the edges that gives them a solid seal while also making them easier to crack open once they’re cold and ready to pour. The set also includes essential tools like a muddler, Hawthorne strainer, mixing spoon, and jigger. Where this set goes the extra mile is by including a set of rocks glasses and a crystal mixing glass. Flair is an important aspect of bartending, and these allow you to really show off your presentation. For the cherry on top (literally), six garnish picks are included in this set, which many professional bartenders don’t even use. Everything is packaged in a sturdy, padded box, which makes the whole set wonderfully giftable.
To Keep It Chilled
The Rocco Super Smart Fridge (7/10, WIRED Recommends) has taken the internet by storm this year. I’ve loved being able to include a huge variety of drinks in my living space in a way that’s fashionable and practical. The mini-fridge is pristinely engineered, and I love the fluted-glass door. There are six pull-out racks that allow you to fit dozens of cans and bottles like a puzzle. It also connects to your phone with a corresponding app that shows you everything you’re storing inside so that you can see what you’re running low on when you’re at the grocery store. There are also a few energy-saving modes, in addition to changing the temperature and lights, all of which you can control from the app. The company just released a green color and a limited-edition cream color with gold hardware.
Drinkware
Add Flair to Your Brew
Any coffee lover will squeal when opening a box of Flur glassware. Designed by coffee influencer Ethan Rode, Flur’s primary feature is that the glasses are double-walled and transparent, which allows you to hold the cup without burning your hand or changing the temperature of the coffee while still seeing exactly what you’re sipping. The bulb at the bottom of the glasses makes drinking coffee out of these a vivid experience to match the caffeine inside. They come in four sizes: the smallest for espresso and the tallest glass for iced coffee. The colors are also a way you can personalize the gift further, with options like teal, amber, purple, smoke, and clear.
For a Quirky Drinker
Viski makes inspired glassware at a price that says you’re purchasing a quality product but is still affordable. One of my favorite glassware sets is the Bodega six-piece stackable glasses. They’re just so charming and minimalist. I like to drink wine out of these. It’s an interesting way to switch up the standard routine of a standard bulbed wine glass. I’ve also been using these angled rocks glasses. I don’t typically like rocks glasses that have so many patterns and carvings on them, and these give some extra personality while remaining smooth and classy.
Swig in Style
The smooth, slightly matte finish on Myrth’s porcelain drinkware makes it feel cozy in your hands. The drinkware and all of its kitchen products come in a variety of subdued colors and earth tones. I love the “swig” cups. They fit 8 ounces of liquid—enough for a small cup of coffee, an espresso, or anything else that you just want a quick sip from. Myrth also carries more standard-sized mugs with handles and adorable sake cups. There’s a warmth exuded in Myrth’s ceramic products that makes them feel so appropriate for the fall and winter.
Coffee and Tea
To Perfect Your Pull
This professional home espresso machine will make anyone’s jaw drop when unboxing it. The design is both classic yet innovative. To start, this is a semiautomatic machine for the espresso enthusiast who already knows how to use an espresso machine. If you’re looking for an espresso machine for someone who’s less experienced, you can browse WIRED’s guide to the Best Espresso Machines for suggestions. Ascaso, a Spanish company, designed this machine’s counter appeal magnificently, with carbon and stainless steel along with a wooden portafilter handle and steam knob. It’s engineered with two thermacoils that allow you to steam your milk and pull a shot simultaneously. There’s also a spout for hot water which you can use by itself for tea or the like. The machine also includes a shot timer and heats up much faster than many others. It comes in black, white, and “inox” (looks like stainless steel) and includes a stainless steel tamper and a converter for American outlets.
Designer Drip
Swedish kitchen tech company Aarke is introducing itself into the coffee business this holiday season with a countertop showstopper. The Aarke Coffee System includes a grinder and a drip coffee maker, although you also have the option to buy each individually if you don’t need both. While the futuristic design makes it look like a science experiment (it’s a major conversation starter), it’s very straightforward to use. The grinder has modes for a manual or automatic grind. When it comes to the drip coffee maker, you’re brewing a lovely pot of coffee that makes up to 10 cups. One downside is that it doesn’t come with a filter, so you need to either use paper coffee filters or purchase a reusable one separately. I ordered this one from Amazon, which fits well, works perfectly, and matches the stainless steel aesthetic.
For a Pungent Pour-Over
Verve is an increasingly popular craft coffee brand, so it’s no surprise that it’s launching its first branded gadget this holiday season, the Dwell Dripper pour-over system. It’s made of a soft, BPA-free silicone that makes it easy to travel with and rids you of any worry that you may break it. Most of all, it helps you brew a perky cup of coffee. It’s designed really well in a way that lifts the coffee filter, giving some breathing room between the device and the filter. It comes with a scoop for your beans and you can also purchase the corresponding small coffee filters directly on Verve’s website. While you can use the pour-over dripper directly on top of your mug, you can also use it on top of a carafe to brew multiple servings. I’ve been using this one, which sits perfectly flush under the Dwell Dripper.
A Foamy Frother
Gifting someone a handheld milk frother will completely change their morning coffee routine. Wired milk frothers are more common to come across—for more options check out our guide to the Best Milk Frothers—but I like Subminimal’s frother because it uses a screen instead, which feels sturdier, so it should last much longer. I have found this one adds more texture to the milk. This frother has two speed settings. Whether you’re using it to make latte art, or just want some thick, bubbly foam on top of your iced or hot coffee, it’s one of the easiest ways to elevate your home coffee game. This version is lithium, so you charge it by plugging it into the wall, but there’s also a cheaper version that takes batteries.
An Authentic Matcha Experience
When it comes to brewing fresh matcha, Jugetsudo’s starter set is a great for someone interested in deepening their relationship with the traditional Japanese tea. The packaging here will wow anyone who receives this. The authentic woven bamboo whets your appetite for what’s inside. I wouldn’t even wrap it in wrapping paper. The set comes with all the essential matcha classics: a bamboo whisk, tea scoop, handmade whisking bowl, and a tin of ceremonial-grade organic matcha. Jugetsudo has been around since the mid-1800s and has tea houses in the Tsukiji and Ginza districts of Tokyo as well as Paris. You can always elevate the gift a bit more by adding some a la carte matcha from Jugetsudo’s illustrious line of teas here.
Coffee Like a Cocktail
For a classy coffee concentrate experience that gives the appeal of wine tasting, Kloo is really the best option out there. The tasting sets are probably your best bet for gifting. Kloo is different from other cold coffee concentrates because each roast is specialty-grade and selected by a Q-grader, which is the coffee equivalent of a sommelier. These aren’t exactly like the cold brew concentrates that are increasingly popular in grocery stores. On each bottle, you’ll see a stamp noting when each batch was brewed. This set also comes with a variety of coffee bean origins like Kenya and Guatemala. The packaging is the most upscale I’ve ever come across in this category. The mint green boxes, in addition to the rounded square glass bottles with a weighted metal cap, heighten the gifting appeal. The set even comes with a jigger to mimic a bartending experience. Kloo works for hot or iced coffee. You can purchase the tasting set in mini 100-milliliter bottles or standard 8-ounce bottles, or you can get a subscription plan.
Instant Coffee That’s Actually Good
At last, an instant coffee that’s more than just OK and instead truly tastes like the real thing. Diamond Brew has a proprietary freeze-dry process that locks in the coffee flavor better than pretty much any other instant coffee. What makes Diamond Brew different too is its recyclable pods. You just tear it open, pour the shards in a glass, and add hot or cold water. Within just a few seconds, you have a really bold coffee with 160 milligrams of caffeine—more than a double shot of espresso. You’ll feel it. This is great for travel but also for when you’re at home and not in the mood to brew a fresh pot but need caffeine right away. Plus, it comes in a sleek box that makes it a gifting gem.
Wine
For a Tannic Adventure
Vinalia is a great gift because it’s not your typical wine brand. Vinalia works with winemakers and vineyards from all over the world to produce rare wines from grapes that you don’t always see on store shelves. Instead, you’ll receive wines like a Macedonian Vranec, a Greek Moschofilero, and an Italian Rosso Piceno. Yep, those are real types of wines. Vinalia makes the selection process easy, because it can be tricky to navigate these unfamiliar wine varieties. You can choose packs of curated collections or packs for certain holidays or occasions, or purchase a bimonthly subscription. Of course if you know what you’re looking for, you can also purchase individual bottles from a vast amount of interesting regions around the world. Any true wine lover would get excited opening a box of these small-batch wines from underutilized terrains.
To Uncork Easily
This one’s a fun stocking stuffer. I personally prefer wine keys to uncork bottles of wine (for more options, check out our complete guide to the Best Corkscrews), but this is a perfect corkscrew for someone who doesn’t like putting in all the manpower and just wants to get to the wine as fast as possible. This corkscrew from Viski is very sturdy and has a substantial weight to it. The gunmetal metallic exterior gives it great gifting appeal. Opening a bottle of wine with this corkscrew is smooth as can be. From inserting the screw into the cork and pulling it back up, it’s almost as if it’s lubricated. It’s butter.
Water and Ice
Pure H2O Whenever You Need
Lots of establishments that rely on water as a primary ingredient, like pizza shops or cafés, install reverse osmosis systems to obtain the most purified water possible for the best-quality outcome possible. But it’s not exclusive to commercial use. If the person you’re gifting is handy and wouldn’t mind some plumbing, Waterdrop has some options to install a reverse osmosis water system directly into your kitchen sink. If not, you can also get one of its countertop reverse osmosis water purifiers like the A1 model. There are several models, but this one allows you to dispense both hot and cold water. It doesn’t connect to a water source; you fill the back tank up with tap water. Lots of water filters really don’t do a great job at filtering. Some people also find drinking tap water questionable, so this is a clean and techy way to hydrate.
Join the Carbonation Craze
This one’s our pick for Best Overall Soda Maker. Sodastream’s highest-quality soda maker, Enso, is extremely streamlined. It comes with a hard plastic bottle, which you just input into the wand once you fill it with water and push to lock it in place. You can do it with one hand. Then you just push lightly on the top of the stainless steel gadget and carbonate it to your preferential bubbling. It could not be easier. I don’t even buy seltzer anymore—I just use this. The starter pack comes with one CO2 canister. For gifting, it could be thoughtful to include an extra canister or two, as it can run out of gas pretty quickly if it’s used a lot. You can also purchase individual beverage mixers to add to your newly carbonated water, like Pepsi and Mountain Dew, and Sodastream’s own brand of cherry cola, ginger ale, root beer, lemonade, and lots of other flavors.
Because Everyone Needs Perfect Pebble Ice
The obsession with chewable nugget ice is real. Charming, convenient, and practical. I love it for my lattes, soda, and certain cocktails. The person in your life who also claims the obsession will love you forever if you gift them this. It’s the most robust one on the market. It creates a whole bucket’s worth of that perfect pebble ice in minutes. The only thing I don’t like about this is that you need to flip the side tank upside down to fill water into it, which can get a little wet when flipping it back upright. The Opal can also connect to your phone through Wi-Fi, which allows you to schedule your ice-making and use voice control through Alexa and Google. There are three models: one with a 1-gallon side tank, one with a .75-gallon side tank, and one with no tank at all. That one uses water from the built-in reservoir only, which may be a good choice if you’re concerned about counter space. The product comes with an ice scoop that slaps onto the side of the machine through a strong magnet.
For Crystal-Clear Ice
The Klaris Clear Ice Maker (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is an incredibly thoughtful gift for someone looking to take their home bartending game to the next level. Rather than cloudy rocks of ice for a drink like an old-fashioned, the Klaris allows you to elevate the cocktail with a crystal-clear cube. You won’t even be able to see the ice once you pour your liquid in the glass. It’s like magic. The Klaris could not be much simpler to use. You just pour tap water into the silicone mold provided, place it in the machine, and press start. In eight to 12 hours, you can harvest your clear ice. It’s a niche product, but bartenders know how important clear ice is to achieving a stellar cocktail. It provides a classy aesthetic in addition to practical purposes like not adding any impurities from cloudy ice and slower melting. You can’t achieve clear ice with a standard silicone ice mold in your freezer because that doesn’t allow for directional freezing and agitation, both of which the Klaris provide. You can also purchase additional storage containers to store extra ice in the freezer. You’re also supporting small businesses by buying a Klaris—it’s made by an engineer in Minnesota.
On the Go
A Cool Cooler
Who doesn’t want a Yeti cooler? The cream of the crop when it comes to coolers, Yeti has pristinely engineered every nook and cranny to simplify and facilitate your outdoor adventures, from a beach day, a weekend camping trip, or just your kid’s Little League game. I like Yeti’s rover model because the adjustable handle makes it so insanely easy to roll around what’s otherwise pretty heavy when it’s full of ice (the 60 holds 68 pounds of ice alone). The wheels on this thing are incredible. When you’re rolling the cooler around, you barely feel any bumps on the ground. Such a smooth experience. You can also buy the smaller wheeled models, the 32—as seen in our guide to the Best Coolers—and the 40. All of them come with a basket to store dry goods in the cooler that you don’t want to get in contact with the ice. Have fun with all the colors, too!
Because You Need Good Coffee Everywhere
Packing food and beverages for a camping trip can often be the trickiest part of the planning process. VSSL’s portable pour-over set is an ergonomic solution to brew fresh coffee at your campsite or during a road trip. You’ll still have to plan a way to heat up your water, but this set includes two mugs, a pour-over vessel, and a mesh filter that all screw on top of each other for easy traveling. You could even pack this if you’re not camping but staying at a hotel somewhere and don’t want to rely on potentially questionable hotel coffee. VSSL also carries a nifty handheld coffee bean grinder if you want to really bring the portable coffee adventure to the next level and round out the gift. For more ideas, check out our guide to the Best Gifts for Coffee Lovers.
Because the Sparkles Never Stop
Deemed Best for Traveling in our guide to the Best Soda Makers, this one’s for the person who always chooses sparkling water over still. The Aerflo Aer1 is a sturdy water bottle that allows you to carbonate your H2O all by yourself on the go. It comes with a pack of small carbonation capsules that you place inside the tube attached to the cap of the bottle. Then you just push the top of it and the bubbles start flowing. The bottom half of the bottle has a stainless steel casing which helps keep your liquid chilled for longer. The kit comes with 15 of the small capsules along with a silicone case to carry a few of them plus a mailing label to send them back for recycling once they’re out of gas. If you buy from Aerflo’s website you can personalize the bottle by getting someone’s initials engraved onto it, which would be such a thoughtful gesture for a gift.
