We’ve picked six of the BEST PRESENTS EVER for food and drink lovers
For the best and most original food and drink gifts, there’s no place like Harvey Nichols Foodmarket.
Quirky stocking fillers, lavish bottles of fizz, unusual spirits, after dinner indulgence, sauces from all corners of the globe and high quality novelty chocolates – you’ll find them all piled high on the shelves of this temple to all things edible.
Obviously Harvey Nichols is well known for its signature black wicker hampers stuffed with beautifully packaged ‘own brand’ monochrome foodie gifts, but they also stock a huge selection of unusual gift ideas that won’t trouble your overdraft too much.
Here are our top picks for Christmas food and drink gifts at Harvey Nichols this year to suit budgets from the decadent to the modest:
Pret-A-Portea pack of five high fashion teabags - £7.95
If you know someone who would love to hang out with Vivienne Westwood or Jean-Paul Gaultier, sharing a cuppa, then this is the perfect gift. Much hilaritea can be found in this pack of five classic English blend tea bags, each topped with an iconic figure from the world of fashion.
Pickerings gin baubles £34
“Mummy’s drinking the decorations again” – that’s what you want to hear on Christmas afternoon, once the last of the pud has been served. Now you can buy six different coloured plastic baubles filled with 50ml of multi-award winning Edinburgh gin, to sit at the top of the tree where only adults can reach. Apparently last year's crop sold out in 82 seconds, so we recommend ordering now to ensure you get your hands on a pack. (Please drink and decorate sensibly.)
Hot sauce challenge book of pleasure and pain £26.95
Some like it hot, but if you know someone who likes their food to reach the higher end of the Scoville scale, then this pack of twelve miniature bottles of smoking hot sauces should keep them busy all year.
Crystal Head of vodka £170
What do you buy the person who has everything? Why, a limited edition magnum of Canadian vodka in a hand polished, iridescent metallised Aurora Borealis-like skull, inspired by the legendary crystal skulls that are said to have come from the Aztec era and are believed to hold mystically powers, of course…..
Ultimate cheese making kit £39.95
This contains a recipe book and all the ingredients to make ten different types of cheese such as mozzarella, paneer, feta and halloumi. It also includes herbs and spices to help create your own flavours and three cheese moulds for shaping the cheeses. This kit will last well over a year, stored in your cupboard, so you have plenty of time to enjoy it and dip in and out of your home dairy.
Harvey Nichols Christmas spiced biscuits £5.50 and Christmas jam £4.50
If you want to spoil someone, but keep it simple at the same time, you can do worse than buying a jar of own-brand Christmas Jam with spiced Morello cherries, a hint of cherry brandy and the festive warmth of cinnamon and clove. Chuck in a packet of handmade biscuits, made using a traditional English recipe, with added Christmas spices perfect for dipping into a cheeky glass of mulled wine. If they’ve been especially good this year, add a fig, sherry and cherry fruitcake from the Buxton Pudding Company (£9.25) matured for three months.
Once you’ve ticked a few presents off your shopping list, you can always treat yourself to a quick cocktail in the adjacent bar. What the hell, it’s Christmas, you may as well take a seat in the Second Floor Bar and Brasserie, overlooking the bustling Christmas markets and indulge in one of the best festive afternoon teas in town.
This year, the Harvey Nichols pastry chefs have gone Christmas crazy by creating gorgeous strawberry cheesecake baubles, chocolate yule logs, Viennese mince pie biscuits, iced fruit cake, pear and ginger trifles, traditional scones, an assortment of delicious savouries and sandwiches and unlimited tea and coffee.
