Have Yourself a Very Coffee Christmas

Earlier this week, a few of us Coffee Kind coffee blog folks decided it would be fun to see what each of us would suggest as the perfect Christmas gifts for coffee lovers (ourselves included -- are you reading, spouses and roomies?) So far, three of us are up with Christmas coffee gift suggestions to help make your holidays brighter.

Intrepid510 started off the morning with some simple tips to help you pick the right espresso machine if you're buying one for Christmas, then followed up later in the day with a second post that includes his picks for three coffee-related items to put together a great coffee system for your coffee novice friends.

If you're looking for the ultimate coffee gift for true coffee lovers on your list, check out EricBNC's post for his suggestion on the one coffee that every coffee fiend will love to find under their tree on Christmas morning.

Wakeknot combed the Coffee Kind site to find a whole handful of great coffee Christmas presents in every possible price range. If you're not sure what your favorite coffee lover will love, you're bound to find something just right on his list.

Son Ton dug around and came up with a classy espresso machine that competes with the big guys but without the four-figure price tag. 

There may be a few more people weighing in with their own suggestions -- and if you're a Coffee Kind blogger consider this an invitation to join in the fun and let the world know what you'd get your favorite coffee people for Christmas. I'll add any new posts into the list above to make them all easy to find. 

In the meantime, here's my own list. I've got a few folks on my gift list who love good coffee, but generally stick with what they can buy in a coffee shop. At home, they generally stick with a tried-and-true automatic drip coffee maker. This year, I'm picking out gifts that make the coffee-making fun without adding a steep learning curve or even a need for additional equipment. These gifts are equally fun for the person who can't be bothered to even go as far as grinding beans -- after all, you CAN buy good coffee ground to your order -- and for those who are total DIY-ers who do everything but grow their own beans. You can pick any one, or put them all together for one awesome coffee-making gift package.

Give them a taste of the Old World with an old-fashioned moka pot from one of Coffee Kind's suppliers.They range in price from $7.95 to over $50 and make a rich, dark cup of coffee on the stovetop. My personal favorite is the Bialeti Venus, which has a sleek, updated modern design that will look sharp on anyone's stove.

I fell in love with Vietnamese coffee in a little restaurant on Green St. in Worcester -- long gone but fondly remembered. I figure everyone should have a chance to fall in love with the delightful, smoky-sweet taste of coffee made in a Vietnamese phin top hat coffee maker, and drizzled into condensed milk. It's another really cheap coffee gift, too.

You can never go wrong with a press pot, and Coffee Kind offers a whole bunch of them in different sizes and at different price points. Bodum is the most famous name in French press pots, but there are some great looking press pots with excellent reviews listed on the Coffee Kind site. I'm particularly fond of this one for its sleek looks in glass and stainless steel.

Speaking of Old World, you can't get much older than coffee brewed in a Turkish ibrik.  Coffee Kind offfers one for $19.95 that will make great coffee -- once you learn how to use it -- and look great on your coffee cart.

The latest trend in hand-crafted coffee is pour-over coffee made with a pouring kettle and a drip coffee filter holder. The Clever Coffee Dripper  has a great reputation and a nice, low price point at $17 on Coffee Kind. If you want to do it up right, add a pouring kettle like the Hario Buono. 

I love coffee made the Puerto Rican way -- brewed in a saucepan on the stove and strained through a coffee sock. The Yama coffee sock pot makes the coffee sock look stylish -- but then, I wouldn't expect anything less from Yama Glass.

And speaking of Yama, they also make the absolutely perfect gift for the friend with a flair for dramatic entertaining -- the siphon pot.  Beautifully crafted, dramatic and great coffee -- you can't do much better than that to gift a coffee-loving dramatic friend.

That's my list -- and if you're reading, mom, I'd love any of those under the tree, especially a new moka pot, since I totally melted the rubber gasket and fused it to the coffee maker a couple of years ago, and haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.

As for the rest of you, pick one or more of the old-fashioned manual coffee makers, add a great coffee from one of Coffee Kind's micro-roasters (ground to the right grind for the coffee maker you chose) and you're guaranteed to have a gift that your coffee loving friends will ove.