‘Tis the season to raise a glass and toast to the end of another year. As the clock ticks down to the festive celebrations, finding the perfect token of appreciation for the mixologists and bartenders in your life becomes a delightful challenge. Sure, you could just buy them a bottle of their favorite spirit, but if you want to get them something a little different figuring out what that something is can sometimes pose a bit of a challenge.
If you’re looking for the prefect last minute gift for the bartender in your life, these unique and practical gifts that will leave a lasting impression. The best part? Most of them can be on your doorstep in just a few days.
The Stundenglass Compact Gravity Infuser is bound to be one of the best gifts your bartender friend has received all year, possibly ever. The device uses gravity to allow you to infuse drinks and even food with delicious smoke flavor. The company’s cloche connects directly to a pipe off the device, ensuring that all that great smoke makes its way to your cocktail rather than your living room. I particularly love the Compact version, which comes with a protective carrying case for your friend to bring the Stundenglass to the bar, or just to another friend’s house to mix up some drinks.
A good bar knife is a must-have for any bartender. A good knife is critical for making garnishes and is a staple on every professional bartender’s home bar cart. Hammer Stahl’s beautiful Bar Knife has a hefty handle and skewer tip, making it the perfect accessory for everything from creating a lemon twist for your martini to skewing an olive. Even better it’s available on Amazon so you can snag one before the holidays arrive.
This year Astral Tequila and Sculp Society’s Megan Roup teamed up to create a Good Energy Movement Kit through Cocktail Courier. Besides including everything you need to make Megan’s “Mistletoe Margarita” the kit also comes with an exercise ball for Megan’s “Good Energy Workouts” as well as two one-month subscriptions to The Sculpt Society so both you and your bartender bud can so some workouts together in the new year.
Expert bartenders will love the Tribe’s Sedona Digital Food dehydrator. The top-shelf dehydrator comes with 11 stainless steel trays that can be loaded with fruit to dehydrate for the perfect garnish. There’s enough space they can make multiple garnishes at once, and likely make all they need for a party or even a new cocktail at the bar in one run rather than having to do multiple runs in a smaller dehydrator.
The dehydrator is also the world’s first to have a maximum temperature of 167 degrees, as well as the world’s first that conforms with USDA recommended guidelines for making beef jerky, should your pal want to make some snacks in the device as well.
When people talk about show stopping cocktails, they’re possibly talking about something made with the Flavor Blaster. The unique ball tool places an eye-catching smoke bubble on top of your drink, but rather than filled with a wood smell that bubble adds a unique fragrant mist to your drink when popped.
Flavor Blaster has a TON of different fragrances to choose from including Bergamot, coconut, Ginger, Lavender, Passionfruit, Rosemary, and Truffle, to name a few. The gun comes with a few flavors to get you started, but then extra packs of five aromas can be purchased from the company’s for around $30.
If your friend really loves the device, Flavor Blaster also makes a Pro version they can get for their commercial bar.
Olive Oil cocktails and cocktails have started to become all the rage, The Corto Cup Cocktail Kit comes with a flavorful bottle of Corto’s Lemongrass & Basil Olive Oil that can be used to make eight cocktails and can be a fun activity for your friend to enjoy that comes with some drinks.
The kit comes with a 16oz Camp Craft Cocktail jar filled with everything you need to infuse vodka for the drink including dehydrated lemon, cranberry, sage, and vegan, non-GMO citrus-infused sugar for a touch of sweetness. Your friend will add vodka to the jar and let it sit for 3 days to infuse before mixing up some drinks. For cocktails it’s the same drill, but with hot water instead of booze.
Sometimes you make a cocktail out of regular juice, but wish it was carbonated. The Drinkmate Omnifizz can make that happen. The device carbonates water, juices, wine, cocktails, and even flat soda or beer. Even better, it doesn’t require electricity or batteries to operate so it can be left on a bar cart rather than take up precious kitchen counter space.
The gas-powered device is super easy to use and is compatible with all brands of standard 60L CO2 threaded cartridges in North America (including Drinkmate, SodaStream blue label and Soda Sense).