23+ gifts coffee lovers will absolutely love — and probably won’t buy themselves

I wake up, go to sleep and spend many hours in between thinking about my next cup of coffee, so it’s not an exaggeration to call myself the expert when it comes to finding the best gifts for coffee lovers (at least at NBC Selected). Sure, you can always rely on the standard nice bag of beans or oversized mug, but there’s so much more out there. Coffee-flavored lip balms, delectable syrups, adorable espresso cups, sleek brewers that double as decor, chocolate-covered beans — I could go on and on.

To help you fuel your recipient’s obsession this holiday season, I curated a list of the best gifts for coffee lovers below. I included my favorite products, as well as ones tested and loved by our team of shopping experts. I’ll continue to update this article throughout the holiday season in case you need even more inspiration.

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The coffee lover in your life can count down to whatever holiday they celebrate with this 12-day Advent calendar. There’s a bag of ground coffee behind each door, which they can use to brew a full pot with 40 ounces of water. The coffees are seasonally flavored — options include Candy Cane, Espresso Martini, Mistletoe Mocha, White Chocolate Cranberry and Cinnamon Hazelnut.

Door County Coffee also makes a 24-day coffee advent calendar with ground beans and a 12-day coffee calendar with single-serve coffee pods.

Bialetti’s stovetop espresso maker makes two shots at a time, so your favorite coffee lover can either get extra caffeinated or make a drink for themselves and a guest once they unwrap it. Plus, it’s beautifully designed, so they can keep it out as a piece of decor. The Bialetti Mini Express Lichtenstein comes with two espresso cups that fit perfectly underneath each spout, and you can choose from styles like Pop Art, Kandinsky, Magritte and Modern.

No one likes rushing to drink their coffee before it gets cold, or microwaving it if they forget about it. Ember’s self-heating mug, which comes highly recommended by NBC Selected commerce editor Mili Godio, prevents both of those situations, allowing your giftee to take their time while enjoying their favorite beverage. They can use the brand’s app or the buttons on the mug to set their preferred temperature up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

The dishwasher-safe mug keeps drinks hot for up to three hours in cordless mode with the lid, or all day when resting on the included charging coaster. The Ember Mug 3 comes in 10-ounce, 14-ounce and 16-ounce sizes.

Simply seeing a Jellycat makes most people smile — add the fact that it’s shaped like an espresso cup and the coffee connoisseur in your life will adore it even more. The tiny 2-inch plushie is great decor at the office or at home, and it might even kickstart your giftee’s Jellycat collection.

We all have that one person in our lives who only drinks iced lattes. If that sounds like someone you’re buying a gift for, look no further than this espresso cooling ball. It sits on a cup underneath a machine’s spout, and as the espresso brews, it passes over the ball before dripping into the cup. The ball, which your giftee has to freeze for at least four hours beforehand, instantly lowers the espresso’s temperature by 80 to 100 degrees and removes bitter notes, according to the brand. That means the shot is the perfect temperature to immediately add to a cup with ice and milk — no more waiting around for it to cool down.

“The cooling ball definitely makes espresso shots taste better than a normal brew and speeds up the whole process,” says NBC Selected associate social media editor Caitlin Cusack, who uses it at home every day. We recommend using the cooling balls (this comes as a set of two) as a secret Santa or white elephant gift, making them a stocking stuffer or gifting them alongside beans or espresso cups (like the Yeti ones below).

Introduce your loved one to coffees from around the world with Atlas Coffee Club’s sampler set. It comes with eight 1.8-ounce bags of whole bean or ground coffee (you pick one before checking out), which brews about four cups. They’ll try blends from Costa Rica, Kenya, India, Peru and other countries, and learn about each one using the included tasting note cards and origin story postcards. Everything comes packed inside a box, so you can ship it directly to your recipient or put a bow on it and give it to them in person.

No coffee machine? No problem. By following the ratios on the bottles, your loved one can use Jot’s coffee concentrates to make hot coffee, iced coffee and espresso-based drinks like lattes. This trio comes with three types of Jot coffee concentrate: original, vanilla and dark (an extra bold variety). I’ve tried them all and am impressed by how smooth and flavorful they are regardless of what drink I use them for. Each bottle makes 14 servings.

Your giftee can also use Cometeer’s frozen coffee concentrate pods to make hot, iced and espresso-based beverages without a brewer (there’s directions on the box that walk them through exactly how). The brand works with popular roasters across the country to bring their blends to customers, and this bundle lets your loved one try a handful of them. It’s curated by Cometeer’s team the week you buy it to ensure your giftee gets the freshest pods possible.

They’ll receive five sleeves of coffee with eight capsules in each one, letting them make 40 cups total. You can choose from six types of bundles: mixed roast, medium roast, light roast, dark roast, decaf and half-caff.

You’ll instantly upgrade your giftee’s coffee game by getting them Proper’s syrups, which come in flavors like vanilla, salted caramel, simple, pumpkin spice and pistachio. They come in glass bottles that are good looking enough to be displayed on your giftee’s coffee bar, and Cusack says they’re some of the best ones she’s tasted.

“One of my pet peeves is when the syrup sinks to the bottom of my drink, but I haven’t found that with Proper syrups — they blend in quickly, so I’m not finishing my coffee with a gulp of straight syrup,” she says. “The flavors are subtle, not too overpowering or too sweet and make a great addition to my morning iced lattes. I’ve even used the syrups in other drinks, like dirty sodas and cocktails — my secret ingredient for the perfect at-home espresso martini is Proper’s vanilla syrup.”

This itty-bitty espresso machine won’t take up much space on your giftee’s countertop while they fulfill their at-home barista dreams. It’s simple to operate with very few buttons, and it quickly heats up to make single or double shots. The machine also has an automatic steam wand, and your loved one can adjust the milk temperature and texture settings to their liking.

They get all the accessories they need with the Breville Bambino, including filter baskets, a portafilter, a milk jug, a tamper and a steam wand cleaning tool, as well as two bags of coffee.

“My husband is a huge pour-over coffee fan, so I got him the Chemex as a gift and it’s become a staple in my house,” says Godio. The top of the Chemex is cone-shaped, so your loved one adds a disposable filter and their favorite grounds, pours hot water over them, and watches as coffee drips into the bottom. “The carafe is insulated to keep the coffee hot, and the wood collar and leather tie serve as a handle, so I don’t burn my hand when I pour it into a mug,” says Godio.

Your giftee can take the “handle” off and the carafe is dishwasher-safe for easy cleanup. The Chemex comes in 3-cup, 6-cup, 8-cup and 10-cup sizes.

The traveler or outdoor enthusiast in your life won’t have to settle for mediocre coffee on the go once you buy them Wacaco’s portable machine, which NBC Selected video editor Josh Rios calls a “pocket barista that makes a solid cut of espresso.” Your giftee can simply add ground beans and hot water to the lightweight, compact gadget, and press down on a button to brew manually — it’s battery-free and doesn’t need to be charged. Its cap doubles as a cup, too.

“Yes, the Moccamaster is expensive for a drip coffee maker, but it’s one of my favorite things I own,” says Godio. The caffeine-obsessed person in your life will feel the same once they set it up, and since it has such a sleek look, it will become a focal point in their kitchen. “The flavor of the coffee is so much better than any other drip coffee maker I’ve tried, and I can keep the glass carafe on the hot plate so my coffee stays warm for over an hour.”

The Moccamaster can make up to 10 cups of coffee in four to six minutes, and your giftee can control the holding temperature of the hot plate post-brewing.

New York City’s iconic Greek Coffee Cup is one of my favorite keepsakes to give friends and family who live in the area, moved away or love visiting. It’s made from ceramic, so it’s dishwasher- and microwave-safe, and it holds about 10 ounces of coffee. Your loved one can drink from it, but it’s also a cute tchotchke to display at home or put pens in on a desk.

As someone who often drinks coffee while commuting and walking my dog in the morning, I always love unwrapping a high-quality travel mug like this one from Owala. It’s made from stainless steel and has double-wall vacuum insulation to keep coffee hot for up to six hours and cold for up to 24. The mug has a leak-proof lid and a slide-top sip spout that prevents spills and splashes.

It’s available in 12-ounce, 20-ounce and 24-ounce sizes, and it comes in options with and without handles — I like the version without the handle to wrap my hands around when I’m cold and to easily place in a cup holder.

Topping a standard cup of coffee with warm, foamy milk feels extra special, and you can help your giftee do exactly that at home with this gadget. It turns milk into warm dense foam, warm airy foam, cold foam or standard warm milk. Your loved one will select which option they want and let the milk frother work its magic — then, it automatically stops when it’s done. There are fill lines on the inside of the cup, which comes off of the base to rinse out in the sink. Your giftee can also use the milk frother to make hot chocolate and matcha lattes.

Sure, your loved one could brew their espresso shots into the cups their machine came with. But these mini Yeti mugs are an adorable upgrade, says Godio, who uses them while making lattes. Sold as a set of two, they’re made from stainless steel and double-wall vacuum insulated, so they keep espresso extra hot. They also have little handles for your loved one to grip while they sip or pour, and they’re dishwasher-safe and stackable for convenient cleaning and storage.

Anyone who buys coffee grinds is missing out on the significantly better flavor of freshly ground beans. Make sure your giftee isn’t one of those people by getting them OXO’s grinder. Its removable hopper holds up to 12 ounces of beans and it’s UV-tinted to keep light out, thus preserving taste. Your loved one can choose from 15 grind settings and 43 micro-adjustments for the stainless steel blades, letting them pick the best option for espresso, Fresh press coffee and more.

Take your giftee’s love of coffee one step further by infusing the beverage into their lip balm. Summer Friday’s Lip Butter Balm, a top pick among the NBC Selected team, comes in an iced coffee flavor, which Cusack always reaches for. “I’ve tried almost every single flavor, and iced coffee is one of my top picks,” she says. “It has a subtle caramel scent that reminds me of my daily iced caramel latte, and the color is a sheer beige that looks great on all skin tones. The formula is hydrating and truly lasts for hours, but I find myself reapplying without even needing to because of how much I love the smell.”

Pop Chart’s coffee print teaches your loved one about how different beverages are brewed and what the exact ingredient ratios are. Plus, it’s beautifully hand-drawn, so they’ll be excited to show it off in their home. The print measures 20-by-16 inches — consider framing it for your giftee before giving it to them so they can hang it up as soon as they unwrap it.

I could eat an entire box of See’s Candies Chocolate Coffee Beans in one sitting — they’re that delicious. The little tin is stocking-sized, so I always toss one in for the coffee lovers in my life, or I pair it with other coffee-related products to make a themed basket.

The rich Americano scent of this candle sold me when I tried it at Anthropologie, but the mug-shaped container made it even more worth it. It burns for about 60 hours, according to the brand, and it’s made with a soy blend and a cotton wick.

I’m absolutely obsessed with coffee, but I don’t know anything about how to properly taste it, which may also be the case for your loved one. If so, this book should be their (and my) next read. It walks readers through what flavor notes are and how to identify them, as well as how people’s senses perceive coffee and what creates and affects its flavor. There are also 19 exercises in the book to help your giftee notice and talk about what they’re tasting while developing their palate.

Piecework’s Brew La-La Puzzle turns coffee into artwork and a relaxing analog activity your giftee can do with a group or by themselves. It has 1,000 pieces, and as they come together, your loved one will see more and more of the image: a Parisian cafe table filled with coffee mugs, spoons, splashes, latte art and more.

I’m a reporter at NBC Selected who has written gift guides for more than six years, including this one for coffee lovers, which I update annually with new picks. I’m a coffee lover myself who proudly admits to drinking at least three cups a day. I’m consistently testing coffee makers and accessories and I collect coffee-making gadgets and tools, as well as themed accessories. Beyond sharing my gift recommendations, I also gathered ones from other coffee-obsessed NBC Selected team members.

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