Nothing helps put you in the holiday spirit like…spirits. We all know that person who believes truly, madly, deeply that alcohol makes everything better. (In moderation, of course.) Whether that person’s a liquor lover, a beer snob, or a wine connoisseur, I’ve distilled a fine selection of the choicest gifts, straight from the internet’s top shelf. And I wanna hear what you’ve got in mind for lovers of alCOOLhol, too!
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For the loved ones in your life who need a bit of a nudge to get out there and try something new, we’ve gathered up a collection of gifts that keep on giving: classes, kits, workshops, and phenomenal experiences that will totally blow their minds.
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More food is consumed during the holiday season than at any other time. But that’s the thing with food; you can’t stay full forever. And so these gadgets, services and tools should serve your food-friendly loved ones quite handily. We’ll cover a range of products, including an ingredient-delivery service, a magical scale that measures the nutrition of your food, and one very special ice cube.
Everyone from a master chef to a home cook should have a blast with this gift guide, so let’s waste no more time and crack some eggs.
If you know or love a health nut, the Prep Pad is an easy, thoughtful gift. It’s a Bluetooth-equipped scale that measures the weight of your food as well as its nutritional value, which is then relayed to the user through an app. Simply input the type of food you’re weighing, or scan the barcode, and see a pie chart of the nutrition you’ll be consuming.
With an aluminum frame and a paper composite surface, which can be hygienically wiped down, the Prep Pad can handle any mess in any kitchen, and is accurate with the weight measurement to boot. It’s got a heavy little price tag attached, at $150, and it doesn’t ship until February, but it is worth the wait (ha!) and the cash for a chef obsessed with health.
You can pick up the Orange Chef Prep Pad here.
Budding caffeine addicts are just one gadget away from a full-blown addiction. Meet the Impress single-cup Coffee Brewer from Gamila.
Single-cup coffee makers are becoming more popular, but those machines cost a pretty penny and take up a lot of space in the kitchen. But what if you could combine the single cup coffee maker with French press coffee-making techniques and a thermos to transport the coffee in? That would be pretty amazing, right?
Well, that’s the Impress. It’s kind of a pain to clean, as you need to scoop out the grounds and such, but it manages to keep 14 ounces of coffee warm for hours.
Pick one up here.
Grocery shopping, to some, is the worst part of cooking. Plated takes the guess work and leg work out of grocery shopping and cooking a nice meal. After a visit to the Plated website, you can shop around between various meals, ranging from things like Garlic-Herb Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potato Mash, Korean-Style Short Ribs with Asian Slaw and Sushi Rice, or vegetarian classics like Autumn Root Vegetable Chili with Cornbread Croutons.
Users are given everything they need, including ingredients and directions (but not cookware), to make an excellent meal and a fun experience. For $10/month, you can buy a membership that brings the price of a meal down to $12/plate, with a minimum of four plates per week. Otherwise meals are $15/plate with a minimum of four plates in one week.
This is a design project that first blew up on Kickstarter and is now available for purchase in a number of different packages.
Anyone who enjoys a nice glass of whiskey on the rocks or simply hates a watered down drink should enjoy these stainless steel ice cubes. They stay at the bottom of the glass and hold temperature pretty well without watering down the drink. They even come with a handsome case you can slip into the freezer.
They’re also able to bring down the temperature of hot beverages more quickly, and then be removed. They’re a nice conversation starter to have around the house, and come at a reasonable price. Worth considering for a boss.
The Egg Minder is a product out of Quirky and GE that brings a little intelligence to the dairy section of your fridge. Bad eggs are the worst, and the Egg Minder aims to make sure you never experience them again. The smart tray indicates which egg in the tray is the oldest via LED lights, while a wireless connection to your smartphone keeps you in the loop on expiration dates. If you’re running low, you’ll get a push notification. Even better, you can check how many eggs you have and when they go bad from the grocery store.
The Egg Minder costs $69.99 and is available now.
You can check out our complete Holiday Gift Guide 2013 right here.
Maintaining human relationships can be such hard work sometimes. And if you know someone who’s decided to cut ties with their fellow man and completely avoid all that emotional drama, here are some robotic gift suggestions that guarantee they won’t be lonely as a result. After all, robots don’t really have birthdays to forget, do they?
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To a lot of people, drones are those scary things that kill people in Afghanistan. To others, though, they’re a super-fun hobby and even a valuable tool.
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Odds are that there’s at least one cyclist on your list this year, given the rapid increase in bike riders of all sorts. Here’s a gift guide for that special someone who prefers the burn in their calves to the stereo in their car.
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They put up with you for 18 years, made you into a functioning human, and sent you on your merry way out into the world. Yup, they’re your parents and you love them dearly. So they deserve some thoughtful gifts that show your appreciation. Here’s how to wow them.
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Taking pictures is fun, frustrating and rewarding. But the right gear helps minimize the frustration and bump up the other two. This guide covers a range of photographers, from amateur mobile shooters to those with the best gear operating at or near the professional level, so there should be something for everyone. And remember: When in doubt, batteries.
This is a camera lover’s camera, with an extremely pleasing outer design and functionality that will make the biggest rangefinder nerd sing with secret joy inside their heart. The X100s debuted at CES last year, but it’s not showing its age yet – and it improves autofocus greatly over the original X100, which was itself a strong performer save for that one failing. If it’s low light and candid you’re after, in a relatively portable package with extensive manual controls, the X100s is it.
The Fujifilm camera listed above is great for advanced users, but the Sony NEX-5T is an affordable mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that fits the needs of much more novice and general photographers. The 5T offers Wi-Fi sharing over the lower cost 3N, which is why it gets my vote, since that’s becoming a much more important convenience factor with the increased mobile editing power built-in to many of today’s best smartphones and tablets.
Speaking of those devices, Apple’s iPad Air takes the cake as the photographer’s best friend while on the road. That big, beautiful Retina display combined with the thin and light design of Apple’s latest 9.7-inch tablet make it the perfect blend of form and function for use in the field. And that A7 processor promises big improvements for image editing performance on the tablet, especially as software makers like Adobe capitalize on its newfound abilities.
Also for the mobile photographer, the Glif from Studio Neat has just undergone a redesign that makes it compatible with virtually any smartphone device. The original was a single piece of ABS plastic, but this one introduces a single moving part to accommodate devices of different thicknesses. You might not think that tripod-mounting your iPhone or Galaxy S4 is going to make a huge difference to your pictures, but with apps that cater to long exposures and for surprisingly sharper results, traditional tools like a tripod can’t be beat.
I am constantly rethinking my ideal camera bag, but the Incase DSLR Pro Pack has remained on top of the heap for the longest time now, and I don’t foresee ditching it anytime soon. It lugs everything I need with ease, including laptop, chargers and cables in addition to one or two bodies and a number of lenses. It’ll weigh a ton fully loaded, but the straps distribute the weight evenly to save your back, and it’s so sturdily constructed it’ll last for years even under the heaviest of loads.
You can check out our complete Holiday Gift Guide 2013 right here.
This one’s for the people who give you more reliable subway directions than HopStop, who can describe to you, in detail, the metro map in any given city, and who want to ride the bus "just because." These transportation-themed gifts will fare well for any and all overzealous public transit enthusiasts in your life. Just don’t get them started on that new light rail line to the airport.
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First of all: if you don’t have a dog, please think hard before getting one these holidays. It’s a huge responsibility. They are sentient, sensitive beings who will love you all their life, not toys. But if you’re a true dog lover, then dive in with us and share your favorite gifts with your fellow canine lovers.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
