[2024] An Early Christmas Gift – Order Today And Avoid Christmas Fatigue

Who’s an early bird eh?  Well if you’re reading this you’re clearly someone who doesn’t like getting let down with late notice disappointments on your well planned Christmas purchases.  So for you guys we’re here to reward you with a sneak peek and a few of our top tips from our 6000 product catalogue, which can be a bit of a monster to browse alone!  So just to make sure you don’t miss a trick below we have a few of our perennial favourites and some of our latest healthfood gift trends for you to give your bestie, your bike buddy or your co-worker, the sort of gift that will leave them wondering how on EARTH you knew them so well. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but some of the best things are universally adored…like chocolate!  It’s the safest way to say thank you, I love you, happy anniversary, congratulations on your new role…or in this case – Happy Christmas!!  We have literally tonnes of the finest Christmas gift boxes of top quality chocolate…and our selections are NOT just pretty packaging.  So many chocolate companies out there try to attract you like magpies to a sparkly wrapper, but we delve way deeper into product quality, dismissing chocolates that are made with anything less than the purest ingredients – this means it should NOT say lecithin on the label, no no we don’t go for those cheap emulsifiers that leave the sickly waxy clawing mouthfeel – we want to use only high percentage cocoa mass and sugar in our chocolate selections.  

Booja Booja is a great example of this, with truffles that show you just how simple and sublime a chocolate truffle can be.  All organic, vegan and with a selection of amazing flavours (think caramel mocha or yuletide spice), this is the ultimate example of the decadent chocolate truffle.  

Another fave in this department is our new range of chocolate covered nuts from Chocolarder.  This is actually such a simple formula you’d think it’s hard to get excited about.  But it’s the ridiculously good cocoa beans that they selected to work with – Femmes du Virunga, which are produced by the FIRST EVER female led cocoa cooperative in the world, that have planted 250,000 trees in the fragile peace of the Virunga national park (remember Gorillas in the Mist??), and made a serious name for themselves in the cocoa world with a smooth, nutty, bitter and rich bean that blends OH so well when enrobing those salty organic Italian almonds.

 

 

Christmas Gifts for Co-workers

Now if I’m thinking of my coworkers I’m all over the place between that bromance with the new guy who’s got the same Netflix watchlist, and that one in the corner desk who has never literally opened her mouth to you never mind made eye contact.  It’s a tough market to manage, but what we all know is that Christmas is a great leveler.  No matter what your belief systems, who you vote for or whether you’re a die hard Emily In Paris fan (or foe), there’s a melty condition that universally affects all of us when someone A) presents us with a wee wrapped box with a nice ribbon and B) makes us feel loved, attractive and seen. 

When our feeds are full of the same stuff as everyone else how can we make our team mates know we actually spent some time off the reservation hunting for something truly special?  IMHO it’s about finding niche brands, niche products, with a sense of the personal and the profound.  One of the best bits about most of the brands you’re going to find on our Christmas Catalogue, is that your colleagues probably won’t know them already – we don’t fill our shop with the mainstream stuff, so when you come to us you know you’ll get those items that are just a little bit different.  

We don’t think it gets any better than Parisienne brand, Cosmic Dealer whose combination of seriously grown up chocolates (sold in 4 pack gift boxes, each with a dedicated affirmation card to draw you intentionally into a moment of self love and self care…and let’s be honest self-pleasure..which you’ll understand once you take a bite!) and gorgeously packed, hand-rolled incense, with signature scents that are as unexpected as their titles, like “I Found Myself In a Female Orgy”…now do you get it?

To partner that movement towards spiritually elevated self-care, many folk are spending less time boozed up at the Christmas party, but to date there’s been a significant lack of delicious fizzy accompaniments to make the moments for celebration really special if you don’t feel like dipping your beak in a 12 year old single malt.  Enter Belvoir, with their festive drink range ready to line your cocktail cabinet in preparation for those cosy nights in with neighbours, or their part ready set of botanical mixers – perfect pairings with your favourite shorts, or just as much fun dressed up with fresh herbs and botanicals to make an alcohol free occasion that won’t feel any ‘less than’.  

On the alcohol free front we also have Belle and Co, with champagne level alcohol free sparkling white and rose options, and our perennial favourite – Gimber, a concentrated proprietary blend of ginger and spices that pair just as well with soda and a fresh slice of lime as it does with freshly boiled water for a night curled up on the couch with your favourite people.  And like EVERYTHING lining our shelves, all these drinks come with their own fringe benefits, be they decongestants, digestive tonics or cardio-protective antioxidants. 

Christmas Secret Santa

Secret Santa is such a divisive topic, as much fun as it is frightening, but with our little list we’ve put together a few top picks that will bring a smile no matter who tears (or carefully peals back inch by inch) that wrapping on the gift from you this year!

• Mic’s Chilli Hot Sauces – who’s seen Hot Ones?  It’s fair to say that show has brought hot sauces right into the limelight, with that sliding scale of slightly spicy to downright nuclear levels of chilli.  And we have a homegrown brand of chilli sauces, made right here in Wicklow using single origin chilies from famous estates with a reputation for bringing the HEAT.  Scared to upset the apple cart?  Try their 2 star gentle Inferno Lite.  Want to challenge the office alpha? Gift them the Naga Knockdown and we PROMISE they’ll be tamed by the 50% naga chilli content…nearly off the scoville scale…check out the full range here. 

• White Mausu – the founders, chef Katie and her husband Jasper are good pals of ours going back years and they just hit on a secret weapon of a crowd pleaser with their classic rayu sauce/condiment thingo.  A Chinese staple, the word rayu literally means “sauce” so there’s plenty of room for the variations that have come along since. But the original with it’s PERFECT balance of smokey toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, chilli and peanut make our mouth water no matter what dish you put it on and no matter WHO you give it to.  It’s possibly the ULTIMATE secret santa solution.

• Moss Boss tonics – we don’t make a big enough deal of this delicious range.  Edel the chef creator of the Moss Boss range has done the BEST job of elevating a health routine into an attractive and aspirational ritual.  Her original tonic – a base of Irish moss, balanced and blended with ginger, mandarin and apple cider vinegar is what health should be all about: tasty, easy and aspirational.  And she’s brought 3 new blends to the party since.  Her Lion’s Mane tonic is one of our favourite listings from this year.  Another winner for your Secret Santa shopping.

• Skin Food Christmas Sets – the Weleda Skin Food range has been pampering our skin for AEONS – it’s a true classic in natural skincare, and with two gorgeous sets, one for face and one for whole body care, this iconic range has been loved by celebrities from Mollie May Hague to Julie Roberts and Victoria Beckham, since before they were paid the big bucks for brand partnerships and just spoke their mind.  With its organic and biodynamic ingredients the Skin Food Skincare kits are a solid choice for anyone who’s face likes a little lovin’.