Gift for someone who likes nice coffee

[Whowhatwherewhyhow]

I’d like to get a gift for someone at work who has done me a personal favour. They’re in an other department so I don’t know them that well. I’ve been told that they like really good coffee, coffee they make themselves, rather than go to a cafe for. I’m not a coffee drinker so I have no idea where to start. I think I’m looking for simething that’s fair trade and already smashed up, not in bean form. Did I say I wasn’t a coffee drinker? I’d be grateful for any suggestions.

I love good coffee, we have a bean to cup machine
If I buy coffee as a gift I try to use a local roaster and luckily we have a few good ones here.

Personally as a coffee drinker I would avoid getting coffee.

A nice mug and something to go with the coffee, biscuits or coffee syrups.

See this shows how tricky gift giving can be
As a coffee drinker I wouldn't want any of those (except maybe the biscuits but depending on which ones)
I think you just have to do your best OP

Exhale coffee. It's mail order and it's delicious, and it's 'healthy' - lots of stuff about phytonutrients and anti oxidants. Seriously. A bag of this is brilliant.

Serious coffee drinkers don’t want their coffee “already smashed up”; they prefer to grind the beans themselves, for maximum freshness.

A mug is safest

A nice coffee cake

Coffee could be a risk if you don’t know what you’re buying and what they like. There’s no point you buying an expensive Panamanian gesha coffee, if they only drink French roast. Most peoples who are into coffee would want their beans whole and not ground, and many small batch roasters don’t have accreditation like fair trade though do pay fair prices for the coffee. With no other information, I’d go for a small local roaster to you.

A book like The World Atlas of Coffee is beautiful and interesting to flick though.

If you do decide against ground coffee, and they grind beans and don’t use a bean to cup type machine, then some dosing cups like these might be appreciated. I love the look of m many of the Loveramics cups too. The Kruve glass coffee cups are also pretty iconic.

A voucher for a local coffee merchant?

No such thing as an entirely safe bet when it comes to gift giving - I have colleagues who are incredibly picky about what they drink their coffee out of as well as the coffee itself 😆

Another possibility though - see if you have any local small roasteries that do discovery packs. One of our local ones does about 10 different combinations of 3 small packs of coffee beans for about £13 so that you can try out different beans/roasts or combinations of beans/roasts. You could pair it with a nice notebook and pen so they can keep tasting notes as they try them out?

I wouldn't dare buy coffee for my coffee lover / snob good friend, chances of getting it right are so slim.

I would consider some very posh coffee accompanying snacks. But a posh box of chocolates might be safer / easier, something like a little tub of Charbonnel and Walker like these:

www.johnlewis.com/charbonnel-et-walker-pink-champagne-truffles-135g/p158186?s_share=jlappdroid

I wouldn’t buy coffee either. Most people who make coffee at home (the super coffee lovers) would buy beans and not ground coffee. It’s quite a personal taste, but like people who live wine, it’s so personal.

You could get them a voucher if you are set on getting coffee, I love the coffee from here.

https://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/product/gift-card-by-email/

I love coffee.

I have a subscription to my favourite roasters and receive a weekly delivery of beans.

I have my own choice of coffee grinder.

My own choices of coffee making kit. And milk warming kit.

My own choice of mugs / cups.

And the best experience is at home, at my leisure.

I have everything I want for that!

(The thought of syrups is horrifying.)

And wouldn’t really appreciate any gift that directs me to drink coffee at any particular cafe or whatever - because I want to choose as the occasion arises.

So, if you’re buying it for me - choose something else!

Newly published books that I won’t yet have are always welcome. (Not massively interested in reading about coffee, though.)

People into coffee will probably have a coffee grinder and grind their coffee each time that they have a cup.

There’s a lot of small businesses who sell coffee beans so supporting a local small business will be a thoughtful gift.

I like the alternative suggestion of buying a snack like biscuits that go well with coffee too.

As a picky coffee snob myself, I should warn you that buying a coffee related gift if you don’t know their taste / preferences for coffee is very high risk. We are beyond picky if we’re a serious coffee drinker and that makes gift buying a minefield. I don’t touch ground coffee (unless I’m travelling and have no choice), I don’t buy beans that were roasted more than 6 weeks ago (and God forbid if they don’t know when the beans were roasted!), I’m addicted to my Kruve glasses and I spend a lot of time getting my microfoam just right and weighing coffee beans. I’m not so obsessive that I time my espresso shots and/or film my workflow but who knows, that may change. 😂

However, these are gifts that I and my coffee obsessed friends have appreciated (and actually used):

• MiiR Pourigami (the best travel brewer)
• Airscape Coffee Storage Canisters
• James Hoffmann’s World Atlas of Coffee (James Hoffmann is considered to be a coffee god)

Ooh tricky one! For all the reasons stated above by other posters.

My friend got me a voucher for Pact coffee to try various of their options which was a nice idea even if I prefer my local roaster.

See if there's a local roaster near you who does flexible vouchers so they can choose something they would use?

I also love a cute set of espresso cups. I have far too many ...

@HundredMilesAnHour James is so funny, such a dry sense of humour.

Oh - @HundredMilesAnHour‘s canisters have reminded me I’ve always wanted some of these:

Kaikado copper canisters

but never seem to remember when people ask me what I’d like. Margaret Howell stocks the tea containers without handles, which would be equally gratefully received!

Right oh. Message understood. Not coffee. Back to the drawing board,

Thanks Mumsnet

@TheOriginalFrench just in case you are the person I’m buying for. What else could you suggest? What book would you like?

I don't think the message is "not coffee"!

Do you have a local roasters near you? Independent coffee shops sometimes roast and sell their own. You could buy a voucher from there.

Don’t worry, @Whowhatwherewhyhow - I’ve had almost no contact with colleagues recently, and have definitely done no favours!

However - I specified new books because people often suggest a nice copy of a classic, which to me would be a pointless gift for an avid reader. But there are always new book prize shortlists and it’s far less likely I’d already own any of those. I guess it depends slightly on the recipient’s tastes - I’d be flattered and delighted to receive a volume of recently published poems, or well reviewed novels in translation, or a monograph on an artist whose work has recently been exhibited. That sort of thing …

Thanks French, great ideas. The artist idea is perfect.

No. Not a mug. Awful gift. They'll have plenty already or they would buy their own. Mugs are not good gifts.

amzn.eu/d/iqZND18

How would you feel about a book journal?