Up your gift-giving skills this year and have yourself a very merry Christmas with our ultimate Christmas Gift Guide. You’ll have your bestie impressed, your significant other enchanted, and the in-laws won over. Even Jolly Old Saint Nicholas will be a bit jelly.
Circa Home Scented Soy Wax Candles
Even Santa won’t want to leave once that lucky recipient has opened Circa Home‘s Special Edition Soy Wax Candles. These festive wares are designed to create a delicious ‘food meets fragrance’ ambience in any room. The Red Spiced Pear has spicy hues of mulled wine paired with a luscious layer of apple, berries and rhubarb, while the Cranberry & Rosewood is a tantalising cocktail of sweet cranberry and jasmine with a comforting base of rosewood and musk.
Not only do the Circa Home’s candles smell great, there are no hidden nasties. Hand made in Australia and only $32.95, they are created with high quality fragrances, oils and natural ingredients, including lead-free cotton wicks. The glass jar and packaging are 100% recyclable, and the lid can be used to sit the jar on when the candle is burning for a beautiful decorative effect and to protect delicate surfaces. Once the wax is finished, simply wash the glass with soap and water, and reuse it with a tea light. Win!
Georg Jensen Hallmark Cuvée
Put a little sophistication under the tree this year with a bottle of Georg Jensen Hallmark Cuvée by Heemskerk. The renowned Danish design house and premium Tasmanian wine producer have joined forces and it’s fantastiske. Heemskerk is one of Tasmania’s finest exports with their unique tasting wine. Indeed, the premium sparkling wine Hallmark Cuvée is made by blending two traditional sparkling grape varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This is all elegantly packaged in an innovative bottle with a re-sealable metal closure and retailing at only $37.99 at Dan Murphy’s.
Secret Foodies Gift Voucher
Your resident gastronome will absolutely love a Secret Foodies Gift Voucher. Beginning at $75, they go towards surprise dining experiences across Sydney and Melbourne. These unique events are designed to suit people who enjoy great food, meeting new people and discovering new places.
Meeting at a surprise venue, guests will have a ticket to a secret themed event unaware of where they’re going or who they’ll meet until the day. They will receive the location via secret text message. It might be a restaurant, perhaps a rooftop, maybe a warehouse, possibly laneway, could be a park or even a heritage listed barn. A taste for adventure is a must!
Wine Subscription with The Wine Gallery
For your resident grape connoisseur, a wine subscription is a must. There are several around Sydney with a fantastic selection of vino. We have partnered up with The Wine Gallery for a special Christmas offer. For all you Eat Drink Players, once you’ve chosen a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription on their website (with prices starting at $234), enter the code eatdrinkplay at the checkout, and receive 50% off the first month. Your lucky libation explorer will receive a selection of deep batch wines chosen by three-time sommelier of the year and co-founder Banjo Harris Plane. In addition to their monthly package of wines, your recipient will receive tasting notes, food pairings and a little info on the story behind each wine. Yummy wine adventures, ahoy!
Yonanas Maker
Hop on the healthy dessert train with Yonanas Maker. New Year’s resolutions are sure to get fill with this DIY ice cream maker that turns frozen fruit into soft serves and sorbet at home. The process is super easy, simply peel and freeze your favourite fruits, turn on the machine, put your frozen fruit into the Yonanas machine by using the plunger, watch it churn the fruit into a soft mix, collect it in a bowl and enjoy! It’s a great way to use up old fruit or fruit that has been bruised. Prices start at $79.95. And the best news is that it cuts out dairy, gluten, added sugar and preservatives often found in store-bought ice-cream, frozen yoghurt and sorbet.
JORD Watches
Not edible but delectable nonetheless. The handcrafted wood timepieces from JORD Watches are the perfect green gift for the fashionably conscious. The USA-based company is serious about their credentials, ‘jord’ is Swedish for earth. Accordingly, their wristwatches are made from various woods sustainably sourced from around the globe. Think beautiful, untreated Bamboo, Maple, Cherry, Koa, Zebrawood, and Sandalwood. Complete with the scratch proof ‘blue film’ glass, this is certainly a conversation piece. Prices start at $US129.
Diemen’s Hot Sauce
Kick your gift giving game up a notch with Diemen’s Hot Sauce. Australia’s only native hot sauce, this sizzling condiment is fired by locally-grown Cayenne and Habanero chillies and Tasmania’s distinctively fruity, native pepper berry Tasmannia Lanceolata (it packs a punch that’s five time hotter than ordinary black pepper). Available in the Original and Stinger versions. Diemen’s 150ml hot sauce 4 pack is $32 and 250ml 4 pack is $44.
Archie Rose Tailored Spirit
Serious spirit savants will enjoy a unique and tailored gin, whisky or vodka from Archie Rose Distilling Co. Prices start at $84. Begin with their Original Vodka or Signature Dry Gin and select up to five of the distillery’s unique botanical distillates to add to your bottle. Or choose Single Malt Whisky or Rye Whisky, decide on whether to go for a 20L, 50L or 100L cask of New American Oak, French Oak, Ex-Bourbon, Ex-Port and Ex-Sherry and set your desired level of smoke influence from a choice of peated or wood smoked malts, among others. The final stage is to add a custom made label. It’s quite the special touch to personalise the bottle with the name of your lucky recipient.
Sydney Chocolate
Love Sydney? Eat it! Sydney Chocolate is your perfect stocking filler at only $10.90 a block. This range of chocolate bars pairs taste with on fleek distillations. Each chocolate bar flavour is dedicated to a suburb around Sydney, and celebrates their unique personality. Bondi has a gooey salted caramel centre and puffed quinoa, Marrickville references their microbrewery culture, and Potts Point is sugar free. The most unusual combo would have to be Newtown, with beetroot marshmallow and coconut encased in dark couverture, because ‘You can’t beetrootin’ in Newtown!”
Adult Colouring-in Books
If you’ve missed the buzztrain, turns out that colouring-in isn’t just for kids, adults can get in on the action too! If you know someone who’s had a hectic year, let them colour their way to the new year with some good ol’ Colour Therapy. It is the perfect way to relax, de-stress and unwind. Available at newsagents, book shops and even your local post office.
Big Kid Fun
The Big Kid in your life will relish the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and kick their shoes off for supersized shenanigans. Whether it’s trampolining at Sky Zone (from $18), slumberpartying at Taronga Zoo’s Roar and Snore ($320pp), or glamping at Cockatoo Island (from $150), Sydney has much to offer. So grab them a voucher and hope that they bring you along!