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Coffee gifts for somebody who already has opinions about coffee

The hard part of buying for a coffee person is that they know more than you do about the one thing you are buying. I can't guess their roast from here and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. What I can do is pack the things around the cup that don't depend on taste, and put coffee in beside them that is good rather than clever. I pack every box myself here in Canada and write your message onto the card by hand before the lid goes on.

I can't guess their roast and I won't pretend to. I pack every box by hand here in Canada.

Eight boxes with real coffee in them, at $99 and $119, and six of the eight come in two sizes.

If they grind their own, say so in the note at checkout and I will send the beans rather than the ground.

The Coffee & Appreciation Box, a gift box packed by hand in Canada
An example of the card, written in your words

Devon. You talk about this constantly. Here you go.

Love, Sara

The Coffee & Appreciation BoxTwo sizes, $99 or $119.From$99Buy now, $99: The Coffee & Appreciation Box, $99

The boxes I would send a coffee drinker

Every box here has coffee at the centre of it, a cup to drink it from and something to have alongside. Each one is also sold for an occasion elsewhere on the site.

Showing all 8

Which one, then

Start with how they make it, because that is the part that decides whether anything here gets used. A machine person, a filter person and a person who drinks whatever is in the office pot want three different boxes. If you have no idea, the smaller ones are a complete gift on their own, and my note on how much to spend on a gift in Canada goes through it by how close you are.

By how they make it

Three boxes from $99 to $119: the Morning Espresso Box, the Premium Fuel Box and the Coffee Routine Box. The first is the only one aimed at a machine. The second is whole beans, so it is wasted on anybody without a grinder. The third works for everyone and is the one I would send if you genuinely do not know.

If the cup is the real gift

Three boxes from $99 to $119: the Coffee & Fuel Box, the Cheers to You Box and the Luxury Celebration Box. Coffee gets drunk and forgotten in a fortnight. A cup they like stays on the desk for years, which is why every box on this page has one in it and why the fullest one has two heavy mugs rather than more beans.

If the number feels low

Six boxes from $99 to $119: the Coffee & Appreciation Box, the Coffee Routine Box, the Premium Fuel Box, the Morning Espresso Box, the Cheers to You Box and the Cozy Warm Start Box. That is a whole gift from a colleague, a sibling-in-law or a friend you see twice a year, and nobody opening one is doing arithmetic. Shipping is free on every one of them with no minimum to reach.

Two sizes on a box, and where the bigger ones are

The boxes on this page run $99 and $119, and six of the eight come in two sizes. The larger size of a box is everything in the smaller one and about two more things, picked the way the rest of it was picked. On this page that usually means more coffee and a second cup rather than a different idea at a bigger number.

Eight boxes on the site run a ladder of three sizes instead, and the luxury boxes at the top of it are the fullest things I pack. If you came here meaning to spend more than this page asks for, the links under this are the shortest way there.

The card is the part they keep.

You type the message when you order, up to 280 characters, and I write it out in pen on a real card and set it on top. The beans are gone by the end of the month. The card ends up propped against the grinder.

If you are stuck, people write things like:

"Stop buying the supermarket one.""For the first cup, not the fourth.""I was listening."

If the box is decided and the card is the part you are stuck on, here are a few you can send as they are, or change at checkout.

  • For somebody who is particular"I did not dare pick the roast. Everything else in here is safe."
  • For a colleague"For the cup that happens before you speak to anyone. Thank you for this year."
  • For a parent"You made me drink it black at fifteen and I have never recovered. Here."

The card, the tissue, the tape and the rest of what happens to a box before it leaves.

An example of the card, written in your words

I did not dare pick the roast. Everything else in here is safe.

Love, Sara

Other things they might be into

Coffee is rarely the only true thing you know about somebody. If one of these fits better, the shelf is here.

Plenty of coffee people drink tea in the evening and are quieter about it, and the tea boxes lean on the mug and the pace rather than on the leaf.

If what they really like is the eating rather than the drinking, the boards and the things to put on them are on the shelf for people who care what they eat.

And if the coffee is mostly happening in airports, the insulated cups are the same ones, sitting on a page written for somebody who is always going somewhere.

Questions people ask me

Is there actually coffee in these boxes?

Yes, in all of them, and that is why the page is this short rather than longer. Each box has its own page, and that page says what is in it, so you can check that it really is what this one claims. What I do not do is guess a roast level for you: the coffee in these is chosen to be good rather than to be somebody's favourite, and the cup, the chocolate and the rest of it are what make the box land whatever they drink.

What if they only drink espresso, or only filter?

Then the choice matters and the page says which is which. One box on it is ground fine for a machine and comes with two small glasses, two are whole beans for somebody who grinds their own, and most of the rest are ground for a filter or a press. Each box page says exactly which. If you are not sure, pick one of the ones with a travel cup in it, because the cup is the part that gets used either way.

Can I have it sent straight to them?

Yes. You put their address in at checkout and the box goes to them rather than to you. No price on anything inside the box, so it opens as a gift rather than as a number. The card you write is the only message in it.

What is the difference between the two sizes?

The larger size of a box is everything in the smaller one and about two more things, picked the way the rest of it was picked. It is not a different box and it is not a different idea, it is more of the same one. The boxes here run $99 and $119, and six of the eight come in two sizes.

How long does it take to get here?

Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and a box is 1 to 7 days in transit. There is no same-day option and I will not put an arrival date on this page, because once a box is handed over the journey stops being mine. There is a field at checkout where you pick the delivery date you would prefer. All sales are final, so check the address before you order.

Why a coffee box works when a bag of beans does not

A bag of beans is a test you can fail. The person you are buying for has a roast they like, a grind they are fussy about and probably a shop they are loyal to, and a bag from outside that circle goes in the back of the cupboard next to the one somebody gave them last year. It is the single most given and least drunk coffee gift there is.

A box gets around it by not putting everything on the beans. A cup they will actually use, something to eat with the first one of the day, and coffee that is good on its own terms rather than an attempt to guess theirs. If the beans are not their usual they are still good beans, and the rest of the box is doing the work by then.

Every box here is packed by hand in Canada and sent with a card written out by hand in your own words. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and a box is 1 to 7 days in transit. If none of them is right, every box on the site is in one grid sorted by price.

While you are here

If you are not sure which box to send a coffee drinker, tell me who it is for and roughly what you want to spend and I will tell you what I would pack. I read every message myself, at team@swipegifts.com.