Welcome to our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide Collection – and here’s the ultimate guide for gifts for foodies!
In this edition, it’s the friend who always knows which new restaurant is the one to visit, loves entertaining and perfecting a new recipe – they know what they like, but they’re always game to try a new food, dish or wine. So, you know something food/wine related would be perfect… but just what might they be coveting this year? We’ve got you covered with these gifts for foodies!
Villa Maria Sparkling Cuvé Brut
Our pals at Villa Maria have OUTDONE themselves with this little drop of festive fizz – perfect for a formal celebration or a last-minute catch-up.
Villa Maria Sparkling Cuvé Brut, $20
Fix & Fogg Pumpkin Pie Butter
Even though we don’t really do pumpkin pie here, it’s still a great seasonal flavour that signifies Christmas and so we were thrilled to learn that Fix & Fogg were doing a seasonal release of this nut butter. Made from lightly roasted pecans, cashews, peanuts, warm spices and real pumpkin, it’s deeply festive and a great addition to your baking, your toast and your overall life.
Fix & Fogg Pumpkin Pie Butter, $9.99
Water & Wines Italy Wine Puzzle
Do you know someone who would like to drink wine while they learn about wine by doing a wine-themed puzzle? Of course you do. Water and Wines are puzzles designed by sommeliers that feature famous wine regions from around the world.
The box also features our grape profiles, describing aromas, characteristics, and food pairing tips! Puzzles are definitely having a resurgence, thanks to lockdowns, and god knows, so is wine. A perfect match!
Water & Wines Italy wine puzzle, $AU65
Opito Bay Salt Beach And Bach Multi-Flavour Selection
If you’re a salt person, then you know a fancy pants salt is one of the greatest gifts you can get. Salt makes everything better! (I’m not a doctor). Opito Bay Salt is a small Kiwi company that has won numerous awards for its boutique and delicious salt, with a huge mix of flavour combos (black garlic! Truffle! Pinot Noir!). This gift pack combines four of their top flavours: Coromandel Kelp/ Chilli/Rosemary/Original Opito Bay and will be a great addition to any summer meals. Perfect for gifts for foodies!
Opito Bay Salt Beach And Bach Multi-Flavour Selection, $39.95
Kip & Co Striped Linen Tablecloth
You know you’re approaching (have reached?) middle age when you find yourself earnestly Googling ‘Summer tablecloths’ but… here we are. Linen stops a tablecloth from feeling too fussy because it’s always going to look a little bit creased and summery, which is very French? The multi-coloured stripes of this one means that it matches everything and nothing, and every dish you put on it will look good.
Kip & Co Striped Linen Tablecloth, $AU159
Biroix Dutch Oven
If your foodie is also a fan of colour – look no further! Get them a traditional gift, with an unexpected hit of vibrant colour. Yes, while Air fryers, high-powered blenders and instant pots might be having a moment right now, before all of that was the simple, unassuming Dutch Oven. It’s a resilient and versatile kitchen workhorse for a good reason, and a must for any true foodie’s kitchen!
While there are plenty of expensive international brands out there to choose from, we’re a fan of cast iron cookware brand Biroix – all cooked up by Queenstown-based mum, Rachel Turner. Her premium enamelled cast iron Dutch Ovens are available in vibrant green, orange and yellow and feature unique details like a studded lid, which allows for condensation to disperse evenly and ensures consistent texture in every dish, and a wide, ergonomic handle design that accommodates oven gloves.
They’re perfect for baking, browning, deep-frying, searing, roasting, broiling and everything in between – and, they’ll last a lifetime!
Biroix Dutch Oven, $259.
T2 Festive Teas
One thing to know about us at Capsule is WE LOVE TEA. And the option of a festive tea!?! Oh baby.
If you’re after the Mariah Carey of Christmas teas – straight up, unadulterated, no-holds-barred festive, then you might want to try the T2 Eggnog tea (!!!!) which is said to be ‘sweet, creamy and custard-like.’ Oh, you want the Michael Bublé of teas – shamelessly sentimental and nostalgic? Then the T2 Trifle Tea is for you – ‘creamy, cakey, spongey and fruity’, it’s a pudding in a mug. Comforting and cosy on a Cold (Muggy) December Night.
A Quiet Kitchen by Nici Wickes
A best-seller for a reason, this collection of easy recipes for one is both delicious but also a moving meditation on joy, solitude and making a beautiful life for yourself. Here are Capsule, we’re big fans of Nici and her irrepressible enthusiasm for life, and the recipes are also delicious and perfect for all seasons. If you’ve got a foodie pal who loves to read a cookbook to relax as well as to gain inspiration, this is a wonderful choice.
A Quiet Kitchen By Nici Wickes, $45
Honest Rum
For a Christmas gift for those more refined palates, get them a gift that will surely put them in the Christmas spirit – a bottle of Honest Rum.
Heavy on the botanicals and easy on the eye (and the planet!!), Honest Rum has an aroma that is reminiscent of cinnamon toast (aka, deliciousness).
This scent is highly influenced by the sophisticated flavour profile of six botanicals – tonka beans, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and orange peel. Cheers!
Honest Rum, $34.99 (250ml) or $72.99 (700ml)
IronClad Pan Co Essential Knife Set
Any foodie worth their salt (pun intended, thank you) needs an incredible knife set. There’s nothing worse than blunt knives harshing your kitchen buzz – you simply don’t get the same results and the frustration is enough for you to give up and order UberEats. Or that could just be us.
Kiwi company IronClad Pan Co have just introduced their essential knife set – one all-purpose chef knife and a smaller pairing knife – to complement their already wildly successful cast iron skillets. The blades are stainless steel for easy maintenance and are made to order – these knives are designed to last and each one is handcrafted and unique.
So, the perfect present then?
Ironclad Pan Co Essential Knife set, $130
Manaaki Branded Gift Box
‘Inspired by the Aunties’, Manaaki’s award-winning condiments are made on Omaka Marae in Blenheim and are made with hard mahi and traditional values, as well as native herbs and freshly grown ingredients. As well as having a super cool back story, these condiments are zingy as hell and will jazz up any meal you’ve got going.
This wooden branded gift box is complete with a jar of Kamokamo Pickle, Kawakawa Jelly and Piripiri Plum Chutney, a welcome addition to any festive meal or cheese board.
SodaStream DUO
This jazzy SodaStream is called Duo because it’s the first SodaStream to be compatible with both glass and plastic reusable bottles. It comes with a fine-designed 1L glass carafe for in-home use and a dishwasher safe and BPA free reusable plastic bottle for on-the-go, helping people to take their sustainability from inside the household to the streets and minimising the need for single-use plastic.
SodaStream DUO, $329.99
