Gifts for coffee lovers and tea drinkers

A good gift for a coffee or tea drinker fits the way they already make it. Before you choose, it helps to know two things: what they brew with, and if they like to try new things or tend to stick to one favourite.

Coffee sets to taste and compare

Several gifts on this page are sets of fresh coffee beans. The sets with smaller bags are made for tasting: one introduces a range of our blends, another brings together single origins, so the recipient can drink them side by side and find out what they like. For someone who already knows their taste, a set of larger bags simply lasts longer. The sample packs work the same way on a smaller scale.

Beans suit anyone with a grinder or a bean-to-cup machine. If the person uses a filter machine or a cafetière and has no grinder, check the grind options on the product page before you order.

A bag with their photo on it

You can also have a bag of fresh coffee beans printed with your own photo label: a birthday picture, a wedding, a team photo for a colleague who is leaving. It is still a bag of good coffee, but one that could only be meant for them.

Tea gifts

For tea drinkers there are packages of fresh loose tea put together around a theme, fruit blends and herbal teas among them, and a set of rooibos for an evening cup. Loose tea needs a pot, an infuser or a filter; if the person does not have one, add something from tea equipment.

The matcha starter kits include the matcha itself along with the basics to get going, which makes them a good choice for someone who has never prepared matcha at home.

The gift card

The Café du Jour gift card comes by post, so there is something to hand over or tuck into a birthday card. It is the safe choice when you do not know how someone brews, or when they would rather choose for themselves.

Beyond the cup

A few gifts here are not coffee or tea at all but suit the same moment: a mulled wine spice mix for winter evenings, and a portable electric espresso machine that takes capsules and ground coffee, for someone who wants a proper espresso at the office or on the road.

Who is it for?

• A colleague: a small tasting set or the gift card. Buying for a whole team? See staff gifts.
• Someone who has everything: a photo label with a picture that means something to them
• A tea drinker who is new to loose tea: a tea package with an infuser
• Someone you do not know well: the gift card

Sending a gift

If the gift has to go through the door rather than into someone's hands, look at our mailbox gift sets, which are made to fit a letterbox. For December, the Christmas gifts page has the seasonal extras, and the full ranges are under coffee gifts and tea gifts.