the annual Matty Macchiato holiday gift guide

I’ve procrastinated enough, as it’s just over a week before Christmas as of this writing, so let’s get right to it.

To borrow slightly from James Hoffmann’s gift guide:

Do: some basic research
If you have a coffee person in your life, the easiest thing to do is get them talking about coffee with a few seemingly innocuous questions. Then listen. What’s the best place to get coffee near their home? Do they make their own coffee at home? How do they make it – coffee maker? French press? Espresso machine? Pour over? Nespresso? The answers will set you up for success as a gift giver. Giving someone a bag of great coffee beans goes from being a thoughtful idea to a complete waste when it turns out they love their Nespresso machine at home.

Don’t: get them a travel mug
I hadn’t thought of this until Hoffmann’s guide, but it’s almost a universal truth these days that between the office, the car, and a drawer at home, the average person already has too many water bottles/thermoses/travel coffee cups. The exception is if they ask for one, then go nuts.

Let’s get into a few wonderful things you can get the coffee person you love – or for yourself.

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The Matty Macchiato 5th Annual Holiday Gift Guide – Part II

photo: iStock/Svetlana_nsk, via The Wirecutter/NY Times

Part I of this year’s guide focused on branded swag. Today we’ll try for most everything else.


Here are suggestions on what to get for the person who……..

Wants to make better coffee at home, by any method

I could wax poetically about coffee demigod James Hoffmann and his new book, How to Make the Best Coffee at Home, ($19.99 – available from all major book retailers, though it would be nice of you to support your local independent bookstore), but better to let the man himself tell you all about it.

If you are interested in coffee at all, Hoffmann’s YouTube channel is an absolute treasure ($FREE).

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new toy

So I splurged on something totally unnecessary, because it looks great and is high-level nerd tech. I treated myself to the Acaia Lunar scale, which I featured in 2018 as part of my original holiday gift guide. It’s still one of the most well-regarded coffee scales available. And as expected, it’s gorgeous.

the precioussssssss

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how did I get here

Nothing in this blog is presented as gospel or truth. Taste by definition is subjective. I don’t pretend to be an expert, and I don’t pretend to have a definitive palate.  In fact, it was made very clear to me recently that I am still very much a dilettante when it comes to a coffee palate, but that will be the subject of another post sometime soon.

Let me try to explain what I like, and hopefully why.

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