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.

https://www.lindt.co.uk/shop/our-brands/choco-wafer

These go beautifully with coffee, my favourite is the hazelnut one.

Not a mug!

Buy a couple of nice espresso cups and saucers!

How would you feel about a book journal?

A journal for keeping a record of what one’s read? Such a nice idea in principle! Such a white elephant in practice …

I am a coffee drinker and I have all the equipment the fancy espresso cups, varieties of cafetiere & coffee. I don't want any more coffee related paraphernalia cluttering my kitchen.

I'm a coffee drinker and have all the stuff I need to make it and took drink it from. The best present I got was two 220g bags off coffee beans from an indy roaster. Even if they weren't my favourite kinds of bean, it's still nice to have a different flavour.

That's what I was thinking. The look lovely but who actually writes in them?

I second a lovely box of chocolates. Something dark and beautifully packaged. Coffee drinkers tend to like dark chocolate. Plus he or she can just regift it if they don’t want it.

Mugs, books etc are just clutter if they’re not specifically requested.

The mention of Margaret Howell sparked a thought and sent me off in another direction, so thank you.

Something else from the Homewares section, @Whowhatwherewhyhow? Anyway, glad to have helped.

Will now spend the day weeping bitterly over @Changeissmall‘s assertion that books might be considered … clutter.

I think 'like really good coffee' can be rather different to being a serious coffee connoisseur. My daughter's partner likes really good coffee, but he is really happy for us to get him ground coffee from our local (and really rather good) coffee roaster or online from another good supplier. He doesn't grind his own beans. I make sure that I read the descriptions of the various coffees offered (they change all the time) and I buy a blend similar in flavour profile to others I know he likes, and the same level of roasting, and I only ever buy small packs. I know this place only grinds the beans just before they are packed and getting small packs means that some can be popped in the freezer to stay fresh and the rest is used before it goes stale.

I am a 'likes good coffee' person. That means I can drink instant, but only really good instant, and I like coffee made in a machine, if it is the blend I prefer. That's as fussy as I get. Some of the people I work with are happy with really cheap instant, bought in a huge tub, opened several months ago, dumped into a stained mug with a dessertspoon and topped up with barely warm water. That is a 'not fussy about coffee at all' person.

The MH sent me down a mid century modern-utilitarian-sustainable vibe. They also drink a nice cup of Yorkshire tea if they’re with me, as I can’t do coffee. I can’t imagine they’re on MN so I’ll share what I got if anyone’s interested.

Books are a no go for reasons!

Tell, @Whowhatwherewhyhow!

@DilemmaDelilah I would far rather drink good instant coffee than bad ‘proper’. An acquaintance of mine, possibly prompted by coffee conversations and expensive machines in other peoples houses (not mine!) has recently ditched their jars of granules in favour of packs of ground coffee bags. So now when I visit I’m obliged to drink thin, burnt tasting Italian roast that seems immune to improvement. If you add another bag it’s just more bitter; if you add more milk it stops even pretending to be coffee. I dare not say anything …

Look what’s just started on my radio - You’re Dead To Me - on the history of coffee!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live/bbc_radio_fourfm?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

There is no present that is universally acceptable as these threads show. So you just need to try. Good beans from a local place is an excellent guess, and very likely appreciated for the effort if nothing else.

I love radio , I’m only not listening to it as I’m having a conversation with DH about shower pumps.

Personalised Cornishware mug, Yorkshire tea gin and decent tonic.

Niiiiiiice!

Monmouth Coffee Co may be worth a look if no one else's mentioned it

The thread is quite entertaining, if you care to read it, @Greybeardy!

I'd be tempted to get something like this book for coffee lovers.

It's got good reviews and was on the Sunday Times bestsellers list.

If you get the hardback version it can sit on a shelf or coffee table looking good too.

amzn.eu/d/4hQZT2X

That should have said “I love radio 4”, sorry for the unspecifiity.

They can leave their mug with me in the office l, if they don’t want it at home, and I’ll always make them a builder’s as you can’t trust me or the work coffee. Then gin for crying into at home over how sh!t werk is.

We’ve decided not to time how long it takes for our shower to fill a litter jug. So I’m going to listen to bbc sounds

While you’re here @HundredMilesAnHour ive always wondered about your username. Is it related to an 80s educational school tv programme?

I second this ^ my friend is a big coffee lover, she big certain beans, grind them herself, doesn’t do any syrups ( Ime syrups are not for proper offer lovers..) so box of chocolates would be much more appropriate

Hi @Whowhatwherewhyhow, ha ha no my name is related to how I live my life - or maybe how I used to live my life. 😛

Actually, making coffee and all the bean weighing, grinding, distributing grounds, obsessing about microfoam and crema is how I try to be more mindful and relax.

Ha! I have coffee plantation heritage - and my relatives would laugh at all the increasingly complex ways we’ve found to make coffee drinking exclusive. They just use a saucepan and a dash of cold water.

Reminds me of the first episode of Top Boy, when the (anti) hero arrives back in London after a stint in the Caribbean- and has to spend an age waiting for the ponytailed coffee shop assistant to finish faffing about with his rituals and just give him the damn coffee.

But if people find it relaxing that’s all to the good.