It’s the holiday season, friends, and that means one thing around these parts—gift guides aplenty, each more indispensable and authoritative than the last. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be moved to e-commerce. This is the Sprudge 2014 Holiday Gear Bundle Guide.
Madcap x Mercy Leather Brew Kit—$250—Bespoke brewing luxury from Michigan craftspeople.
A limited edition collaboration between Madcap Coffee and Mercy Leather, this sleekly profiled bag is made of waxed canvas, with a leather handle and copper rivets. Inside you’ll find 12oz of Madcap’s Holiday Fusion blend, alongside a stainless steel Kalita Wave dripper, a Rhinowares hand grinder, two stainless steel tumblers, and some Kalita filters. If you have a coffee nerd on your holiday list who’s also something of a HypeBeast, this is the gift for you to purchase them.
Blue Bottle Travel Kit—$179—Brew Where You Are with this stylish collaboration from Blue Bottle and Timbuk2.
Featuring a beautiful Timbuk2 travel case, felt zarfs, enamel cups, a Porlex stainless steel grinder, some Bonmac pour over filters, and a Bonmac ceramic dripper cone, plus some Blue Bottle coffee. Just add hot water (and maybe a scale) and you’ve got everything you need to brew on the move.
Super Hario Brew Kit by Espresso Parts—$126.83—Big savings plus free shipping on an ace set of brew stuffs.
Espresso Parts—the coffee world’s version of Amazon.com, but with more heart—gets especially deal-oriented this time of year, and that means large potential savings for the shopping inclined. This bundle features a variety of products from Hario, a Japanese company whose brewing equipment can be found in fine cafes and homes around the world. It includes a Hario Drip Station, Hario V60 ceramic cone, filters, a Hario glass range serve, and a Hario V60 drip scale.
The Coffee Pro by Equator Coffees—$499—A one stop shop for industry standard gear.
This is one of the most complete gift sets out there, and provides everything you need to go from 0 to 60 for your home coffee set-up (or a tricked out coffee corner in the office kitchen). It includes a Baratza Preciso grinder (an inexpensive and excellent burr grinder), a gorgeous new 8-cup glass Chemex brewer, Chemex filters, a variable temperature Bonavita kettle (much loved by coffee geeks), and an AWS digital scale. $500 for this bundle is a solid deal!
Mug Lover’s Gift Box by Intelligentsia—$55—Four mugs you shan’t soon forget.
This set of Intelligentsia’s mugs features designs from California, New York City, and our favorite, Chicago, plus a fourth mug sporting a retro Intelli logo. You’l need some coffee to pair with this; why not the 20th anniversary edition of Intelligentsia Celebration Blend?
The Voyager by Stumptown Coffee—$125—For the lumberjack and lumbersexual alike.
This heavy duty little beauty packs up quick and clean in a camping set-up, and includes a foldable Snow Peak Coffee Dripper—few brewers are more economical with space. Pair that with a Porlex hand grinder, some filters, a nice hearty bag of beans and a carpenter’s pencil, and you sir (or madam) have a camping coffee set-up with minimal fuss and muss.
Complete Homebrew Kit by Verve Coffee Roasters—$360—This is an exemplary bundle. There, we said it.
Whether building out your own home batch brew setup, or giving the gift of delicious coffee to a friend or loved one, this kit from Verve ticks all the boxes. There is a certain perfect elegance about enjoying batch brew at home: a combination of laziness and luxury, and the knowledge that you’re enjoying a great cup of coffee without slaving over a hot ceramic cone or somesuch. This bundle includes the solid, workmanlike Bonavita Brewer, a Baratza Encore grinder, Escali Arti Digital Scale, Gold Cone filter, a bag of something nice from Verve, and even a Verve mug. $360 for this package is generous, and having batch brew at home is awesome. Recommended!
Five Senses Coffee Travel Brew Kit—$136—No electricity required.
Simplicity is best when you’re out in the field, whether your stuck at work in an office tower or stuck at work on a coffee farm (something Five Senses knows a good deal about). This travel brew kit requires zero electricity, and includes a Porlex hand grinder, an Aerobie AeroPress coffee maker, some extra Aeropress filters, a classy Keep Cup Brew, and 250g of a single origin coffee roasted for filter by Five Senses. All that’s left is heated water!
Chemex Ultimate Bundle by La Colombe—$200—When essentials are all you could ever need.
This kit is like the perfectly calibrated gateway starter for a budding coffee nerd. The Chemex is gorgeous, of course, but the inclusion of both an electric gooseneck kettle (by Bonavita) and a solid drip tray scale (by Hario) makes this an exceptionally well-rounded package. Hario’s hand grinder isn’t as our favorite option for that corner of the market; you might want to consider upgrading to the Chemex Enthusiast option, which includes an automatic Baratza Preciso grinder for $379.
Gold Filter Brew Pack by Coffee Supreme—$139—It’s a chur thing.
Frieling gold filters are quite popular in New Zealand, and this bundle from Coffee Supreme includes their essential “little red book” brew guide, a Porlex hand grinder, some tasty Supreme coffee, and a Supreme diner mug. This is the bundle one your global coffee nerd friend will be the most impressed with. Ships worldwide.
Everyday Coffee x Crumpler AeroPress Kit—$70 AUD—Melbourne style for a filter coffee standard.
Everyday Coffee is one of Melbourne’s best cafes, full stop, and they’ve teamed with the bag men at Crumpler to design this handy AeroPress case for mobile brewing efficiency. It includes an Aerobie AeroPress, the Porlex Minimill hand grinder, a “Credit Card Brew Timer“, filters, a pocket scale, and Everyday’s own AeroPress brew guide. Got more questions? Here’s a video. Australia & NZ shipping only.
Batch Brew Travel Kit by Wilbur Curtis Co—Coming Soon—The ultimate kit for the batch brew backpacker.
Wilbur Curtis Co unveiled their own travel kit this year, featuring a top-of-the-line G4TP1S 1 Gallon ThermoPro Volume Brewer and Baratza Forte grinder. The company says, “all you need is a 220v generator, Flojet pump, 5 gallon water drum (generator, pump, and drum not included) and you could be batch brewing coffee anywhere! ANYWHERE!”
