Most Gift Baskets Are Terrible. These Are Great.

Cheese with Northeastern terroir: Jasper Hill Farm The Vermonter

Why it’s great: The cheeses in Jasper Hill Farm’s The Vermonter basket, made at the company’s Vermont creamery or ripened in its underground aging facility, embody the pastures and seasons of the Northeast. With selections that are approachable and delicious, this basket is one we’d gladly give to friends, clients, service providers, and turophiles alike. One taste-tester went so far as to call the Vermonter basket “a true superstar,” and we agree.

Compared with other cheese baskets we tried, the Vermonter offered the best blend of complex and down-to-earth flavors. We loved the creamy, spruce-bark-wrapped Harbison, a luscious, slightly grassy bloomy rind cheese that evokes mushrooms and the forest floor. The Cabot Clothbound Cheddar was a crowd favorite—even the pickiest eaters were fans. It’s salty and a bit tangy with subtle notes of caramel. In 2021, the company added a new cheese to the lineup called Whitney, a raw-milk mountain-style cheese similar to a French raclette that Jasper Hill Farm describes as “meaty, sweet, and slightly funky.” Though we haven’t had a chance to taste it, judging by the quality of Jasper Hill’s other cheeses, we suspect this one will be just as good. The basket also comes with a small sack of spiced pecans, and there is an option to include a bottle of Vermont maple syrup (another new addition we haven’t tried).

Each Jasper Hill cheese is tastefully wrapped in butcher paper, and all of the gift items arrive carefully tucked into a bed of wood shavings, so the aesthetic is appropriately rustic. Shipping is free for orders $99 and up, or with the code VERMONTER.

What’s inside: 6-ounce wedge of Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (natural-rind, bandaged cheese), 9-ounce wheel of Harbison (bark-wrapped, soft-ripened bloomy cheese), 6-ounce wedge of Whitney (raw-milk mountain-style cheese with peachy wine-washed rind), 5-ounce box of Brewer’s Sea Salt Crackers, 2.5-ounce bag of Sugarbob’s Spiced Pecans; you can add an 8- or 32-ounce jar of Rugged Ridge Maple Syrup or Babette’s Table Salami and substitute gluten-free Onesto Sea Salt Crackers for the Brewer’s

Potential allergens: dairy, tree nuts, wheat

Shipping: Free for orders $99 and up, or with code VERMONTER

You may also like: Formaggio Kitchen gift baskets, which start at $75, are generous and come with ample fixings. Although we think the Jasper Hill Farm cheeses taste unique and make for an extra-special gift, the Formaggio Kitchen baskets are big enough to nibble on for a few days. The Cheese Lover’s Gift Basket includes three cheeses, three types of crackers and crisps, salami, olives, dried fruit and almonds, chocolate, jelly, preserves, and honey.

Cured meats for what ails them: Olympia Provisions Euro Charcuterie Box

Why it’s great: The Olympia Provisions Euro Charcuterie Box offers up a hearty and varied spread, with four flavorful dried sausages, pâté, cheese, olives, crackers, and condiments. The Portland, Oregon–based salumeria uses Old World techniques and Pacific Northwest pork to create its herby, fatty, salty, and utterly delicious charcuterie. Carnivores and food lovers will appreciate the care that goes into every item in this basket.

The basket has changed slightly since we first tried it in 2018, but the exquisite sausages remain the same. We particularly enjoyed the spicy chorizo rioja and the zesty, cumin-flavored loukaniko. The smooth and nutty pâté is sumptuous (it’s topped with the traditional layer of fat, which helps preserve the pâté, prevents oxidation, and also makes the whole thing tastier). As for accompaniments, the briny pickled beets help cut the richness of the meats and cheese. (The previous cheese and crackers we tried took a backseat to the charcuterie, but we didn’t mind—every item in this basket has a role, and theirs is to be a vehicle for more salami.) We haven’t tried the basket’s new additions: the Devil’s Gulch seasonal cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, the Jacobsen honey from Oregon, the Clovis mustard from France, the Oregon roasted hazelnuts, and the Castelvetrano olives. But we’re confident they’ll make lovely companions to the charcuterie in this basket.

This box is pricey, but we think the quality of the meat from Olympia Provisions and the level of craftsmanship warrant the cost. “I’m not a charcuterie person, but these are delicious,” said one tester.

What’s inside: loukaniko, chorizo rioja, Nola, and saucisson sec–style salamis; seasonal pâté; pickled beets; Devil’s Gulch seasonal cheese from Cowgirl Creamery; Jacobsen honey; Oregon dry-roasted hazelnuts; Castelvetrano olives; Clovis mini mustard; crackers from Rustic Bakery

Potential allergens: dairy, tree nuts, wheat; processed in a facility with fish, dairy, wheat, eggs, and nuts

Shipping: free within the contiguous US

You may also like: For fish lovers, the charmingly named Tin of Tinned Fish from Zingerman’s is filled with fancy seafood from across Europe, as well as one bag of Swedish fish gummies for kicks.

Imported Italian goodies: Gustiamo Party in Cucina Basket

Why it’s great: Founded in 1999, Gustiamo is a Bronx-based Italian-American food importer known for sourcing quality ingredients from Italy. It offers a wide selection of beautifully curated gift baskets, but we think the luxurious Gustiamo Party in Cucina box is approachable enough to appeal to most recipients, whether they be clients, colleagues, or family.

It has all of the ingredients for putting together a quick pasta dish: a bag of durum wheat semolina pasta, sweet piennolo tomatoes in a jar, meaty black olives that are impressively mild but delicious, a large bag of coarse sea salt, and a bottle of gorgeous Pianogrillo olive oil. This box also includes a bag of wood-roasted coffee beans and a jar of cacao e nocciole spread, a chocolate and hazelnut confection that’s like a fancy Nutella and could be enjoyed as a light dessert or breakfast when spread on toast.

We wanted to taste the ingredients as simply as possible, so we cooked the pasta al dente and tossed it with the tomatoes barely warmed with some garlic and olive oil; the result was both comforting and delicious. We also used the Pianogrillo olive oil to roast a head of cauliflower, but it would be just as delicious on its own, mopped up with a slice of ciabatta or focaccia.

We love that all of these Italian goodies come packaged in a cool-looking reclaimed wooden crate—a detail that makes this gift basket feel even more special. Though this box is one of the most expensive that we recommend, we think the quality of the products and the overall presentation are well worth the investment.

What’s inside: coarse sea salt, piennolo tomatoes, Maccheroni di Toscana Martelli pasta, Bella di Cerignola black olives, Pianogrillo extra virgin olive oil, whole coffee beans, chocolate hazelnut spread

Potential allergens: tree nuts, wheat

Shipping: $7.75 (plus $2 per additional item purchased, or a flat rate of $19.75 if you order seven or more additional items). Call 718-860-2949 or email gustiteam@gustiamo.com for shipping rates outside the continental US.

A big box of the best beans: Rancho Gordo Deluxe Gift Box

Why it’s great: We think the Rancho Gordo Deluxe Gift Box would win the hearts of vegans and vegetarians, food-history enthusiasts, adventurous home cooks, and chefs alike. Rancho Gordo is a California company dedicated to finding and sourcing the highest-quality beans from Mexico, Central California, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico. The offerings change based on what’s available: The company harvests every fall, and it sells most of its beans within that year, so everything is fresh—you don’t even have to soak these beans overnight, as you would dried beans from the supermarket. Also, ideally stored in a dark, cool, dry place, the beans will keep for a year or two, so the recipient can savor them over time.

The Deluxe Gift Box includes five 1-pound bags of snugly packed, colorful heirloom beans that are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted from a bag or a can. They’re springy, with a creamy and tender inside, and they can possess a subtle, nutty sweetness. Each bag of beans comes with simple cooking instructions. The gift box also includes a sturdy canvas tote bearing the company’s logo, a cookbook, and a postcard with directions for slow-cooker, pressure-cooker, and stove-top methods. Beans are too often an afterthought, and this collection will delight anyone who appreciates quality ingredients or loves trying unique heirloom foods.

What’s inside: five 1-pound bags of various Rancho Gordo heirloom beans, Heirloom Beans by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington, one cloth tote bag

Shipping: free within the contiguous US

Next-level tortillas: Made In x Masienda Comal Kit

Why it’s great: The online store Masienda sells an array of chef-worthy Mexican ingredients and cooking tools, sourced and made in collaboration with farming communities and artisans (founder Jorge Gaviria has done stints at acclaimed restaurants Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Maialino). But the star product is its masa, the nixtamalized ground corn that serves as a foundation for delicious tortillas and a host of other dishes like tamales, arepas, and tlayocos. The Made In x Masienda Comal Kit comes with the comal pan, wax to season the surface, and two bags of masa harina—your choice of white, blue, or red—that each yields about 84 tortillas. We think this masa will be a treat for anyone who loves Mexican food or who loves to cook. The ground corn is silty and soft and smells deeply fruity. The tortillas, especially with a little salt added, taste like corn but also funky, nutty, and mature. We made a stack of tortillas for a full house, and we happily finished them all. As one tester said, with some chagrin, “Once you have these, it’s hard to go back.”

We think the comal kit is the superior gift after testing it alongside Masienda’s tortilla press kit. The pan, made in collaboration with Made In, is fashioned from carbon steel. Like cast iron, the surface of carbon steel becomes nonstick when properly maintained and seasoned. But it heats up faster than cast iron, and it’s lighter to hold and therefore easier to handle. The comal is large enough to cook several tortillas at a time, and the pan’s gently sloping sides and shallow depth make it an ideal pan for cooking other foods, such as eggs or crêpes, too. It looks quite sleek, and the single handle makes it easy to hang on a peg board or hook for both easy access and display, à la Jacques Pépin. You need to season the pan before use by coating it with a thin layer of wax and baking it for an hour, but that’s easy to do, and Masienda provides instructions in the kit. As for the tortilla press, such a tool does come in handy for making flat, perfectly round tortillas—but while Masienda’s press gets the job done, we didn’t love its white coating (which quickly started to ding), significant heft, or high price tag. Wirecutter editor of kitchen coverage Gabriella Gershenson has previously recommended the Victoria tortilla press, and we think it’s a great $25 alternative.

You can buy other comals online for less (or cook the tortillas on a griddle or pan), but we think this comal kit makes a lovely, versatile all-in-one gift. Masienda’s tienda also includes multiple varieties of heirloom corn and masa, additional ingredients like salsa macha, and tools such as a small molino for grinding corn, so you have ample gifts to choose from if you’d like to add to the set or get items à la carte. For those who are new to making tortillas at home, Masienda has several helpful videos explaining how to make tortillas and care for equipment—plus other recipes and guides for grinding and nixtamalizing corn—on its YouTube channel.

What’s inside: comal, wax, two bags of masa harina

Potential allergens: corn

Shipping: free within the contiguous US; by request (via email) to Alaska, Hawaii, and internationally

A bounty of tropical fruit: Miami Fruit Variety Box

Why it’s great: If you have family members or friends who love trying new things (or have spent time in tropical locales and miss the produce), the Miami Fruit Variety Box would make an awesome gift. This is also a great box to buy for yourself to help stave off the winter blues in chillier months.

According to its website, Miami Fruit harvests nearly all of its tropical fruit from its own farm and other local farms in Southern Florida every week. The produce changes with the seasons, but each small box contains 3 to 6 pounds of exotic fruit and almost always includes tropical bananas. When we ordered this box in late September 2020, it included a fresh cacao pod, an avocado, a mamey sapote, a guava, a little jujube, a tree tomato, a few varieties of bananas, and a handful each of passion fruit and key limes.

The mamey sapote we received looked and felt like a bald coconut at first, but after two days it became soft and squishy. It tasted like a delightful mix of flan, pumpkin pie, and papaya (minus the strong musk flavor). The fresh cacao pod was also an experience, with beans covered in white flesh that reminded us of mangosteen in flavor but more wispy and slimy in texture. Even the conventional fruits tasted special: The bananas were more tart and flavorful (not as super sweet as most supermarket bananas tend to be), and the avocado was mildly sweet.

All of the fruit comes nestled in a cardboard box with plenty of cushioning, along with directions for accessing online ripening guides, so you know exactly when to enjoy each fruit at peak ripeness. This box’s presentation isn’t fancy, but the fruit is so visually appealing, it makes up for that.

What’s inside: 3 to 6 pounds of fruit, varies by season

Potential allergens: varies by season

Shipping: $20 (Note: The California Department of Agriculture restricts the entry of many tropical fruits from Florida. The fruits allowed: bananas, black sapote, passion fruit, jackfruit, and white, red, sunrise, and yellow dragon fruit.)

You may also like: You can order special fruit online at a host of wonderful places. We’ve loved Frog Hollow Farm fruit boxes and Friend’s Ranch citrus boxes in years past. Also, it’s a Wirecutter company tradition to send employees a Maui Gold pineapple from Hawaii every year on their work anniversary, and we always enjoy getting these special, singular fruits—they’re the best pineapples we’ve ever tasted.

Show-stopping chocolates: Recchiuti Confections Sharing Gift Box

Why it’s great: The Recchiuti Confections Sharing Gift Box, from the renowned San Francisco confectioner, is an elegantly wrapped, grand display of delicious, handcrafted chocolates. We’d send this as a formal gift—as well as to pretty much anyone who loves sweets. This box includes a wide array of confections, from bars to truffles to mendiants (chocolate discs), and each group of treats is individually wrapped and placed within a large, beribboned box that looks classy as all get-out.

The silky texture and complex flavor of Recchiuti’s chocolate stand apart from the waxiness and cloying sweetness of lesser-quality chocolates we’ve tried, and the judicious use of flavorings enhances (rather than distracts from) its quality. We were most taken with the peanut butter puck (an epicurean version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, with a silky dark milk chocolate shell and velvety filling), and we also enjoyed the rich and satiny caramels. The chocolate bars have perfectly balanced bitter and sweet flavors, and they dissolve on the tongue.

The Sharing Gift Box is a great value (we also recommend the 16-piece Recchiuti Black Box, if you’re looking for a smaller gift). Plus, the box itself is impressive: Some taste-testers said the packaging was a bit austere, but overall we think the embossed box and high-quality materials are sophisticated-looking.

What’s inside: Sepia Collection (one piece each of butterscotch caramel, Piedmont hazelnut, bergamot tea, honeycomb malt, peanut butter puck, spring jasmine tea, sesame nougat, lavender vanilla, and star anise and pink peppercorn), Cacao Nib and Fleur de Sel Mendiants, Fleur de Sel Caramels, dark hot chocolate, Dragée Sampler, dark milk bar, semisweet bar, bittersweet bar

Potential allergens: milk, peanuts, soy, tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), and wheat; made on equipment shared with milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, and wheat

Shipping: $12 to $25

You may also like: For truffle lovers, the Vosges Grande Gift Tower features chocolates with artful garnishes of nuts, fruits, colorful powders, and a delightful assortment of flavors. If you want to spend a bit less (without sacrificing quality) on a smaller yet still lovely and varied assortment of chocolates, go for the Dandelion Chocolate Care Package, which also comes with hot chocolate packed in a sleek glass container.

What dreams are made of: Jeni’s Top Sellers Collection

Why it’s great: When the recipient removes the lid of the unassuming foam box, they will be greeted by appropriately theatrical wisps of dry-ice vapor and the giddy realization that someone has air-mailed them five pints of ice cream. Jeni’s, based in Columbus, Ohio, is well-known for making extra-creamy frozen treats with fun flavors that are special enough to warrant shipping them around the country.

The Jeni’s Top Sellers Collection offers a sampling of the company’s best pints. We loved the salty-sweet Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks, the deeply buttery Salty Caramel, and the tart and refreshing Brambleberry Crisp. We appreciate that the Top Sellers box includes crowd-pleasing yet far-from-boring flavors. (It’s possible that your local specialty supermarket already stocks Jeni’s ice cream, but that doesn’t compare to the joy and excitement of receiving ice cream through the mail.) Tasters said they would send this gift for a holiday, a birthday, or a breakup; we think ice cream is a perennially appealing gift. The Top Sellers Collection offers a discount per pint, compared with buying pints individually online.

Although the pints ship with dry ice in an insulated carton, make sure the recipient will be home to receive the package so that they don’t end up with tragically inedible ice cream soup. One of our testers, who has ordered this box in the past, said she appreciated being able to schedule delivery in advance to make sure that her parents would be home to receive their ice cream gift (and to confirm that Jeni’s delivered to rural New Jersey).

What’s inside: Brown Butter Almond Brittle pint (contains tree nuts, dairy), Darkest Chocolate pint (gluten free; contains dairy), Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks pint (gluten free; contains dairy, peanuts, soy), Salty Caramel pint (gluten free; contains dairy), Brambleberry Crisp pint (contains dairy, wheat), and a big ol’ hunk of dry ice (handle and dispose of safely)

Potential allergens: dairy; other potential allergens vary per flavor (see above)

Shipping: $13 to $19; $50 for Alaska and Hawaii

Lots to nosh (both savory and sweet): The Weekender Gift Box

Zingerman’s The Weekender Gift Box is one of the beloved Michigan-based grocer’s most popular items. We like that this basket packs a lot in, and that many of the contents don’t have to be eaten immediately. With a whole loaf of bread, cheese, and beef sticks, you can basically make a meal out of what’s inside. We found the baked goods a little generic but still tasty and fresh. We particularly enjoyed the tangy sour cream coffee cake and fudgy brownie (and we appreciate that the latter is nut-free).

Overall, this is a solid collection for snacking, and it would be appreciated at a gathering or just as a treat for someone who needs a pick-me-up. It comes in a colorful, cartoon-printed box with paper confetti that makes it feel festive. Zingerman’s is a great resource for other gift baskets, too: It has collections appropriate for occasions ranging from sending condolences to celebrating holidays. You can also customize a basket or order a selection of the company’s specialty products à la carte.

What’s inside: no-nut Black Magic Brownie, dulce de leche caramel-stuffed Buenos Aires Brownie, peanut brittle, small sour cream coffee cake, Zingerman’s Farm Bread, Holy Cow Beef Sticks, Nor’Easter Cabot Cheddar

Potential allergens: dairy, walnuts, peanuts

Shipping: free to all US states

A treasure chest of treats: Classic Bokksu

Why it’s great: Filled with an array of individually wrapped snacks from Japan, Bokksu’s Classic Bokksu gift box is simply delightful. Both the colorfully illustrated wrappers and the bites inside are dazzling. We tried the Seasons of Japan box, which aims to share a multitude of flavors. Each snack is thoughtfully chosen, and an included booklet explains where each item comes from, its significance, and potential allergies. Bokksu was founded by entrepreneur Danny Taing, who fell in love with Japan’s snacks after living there and decided to share them with the world as a subscription snack-box service. The company has since expanded into an online grocery and market. It has an array of other boxes at various prices, too, and it still offers gift-box subscriptions.

The Seasons of Japan box we tried had 22 snacks, which felt like enough to last one person one to two weeks or to tide over several people for a few days. So many of the treats wowed us. The flavors of the crackers, puffs, and candies inside were alternately zingy, tart, sweet, and salty. Textures ranged from crispy to chewy to melt-in-your-mouth cotton-candy-wispy. We loved the snappy Edamame Senbei, a salty-sweet cracker dusted with soybean powder. The Seaweed Tempura Setouchi Sudachi, a mindblowing citrusy, salty, and earthy morsel, is composed of crisped rice clusters that look like barnacles glued to small squares of seaweed. The surreal White Strawberry is freeze-dried and then injected with white chocolate to dial up the sweetness of the fruit. The Funwari Meijin Mochi Puffs—nutty, buttery, soybean-powder-coated rice clouds—dissolved on our tongues. The box also held a few meh items: The packaged soft baked goods were blandly sweet though satisfyingly carby, and the packets of green tea were nice, if basic, compared with the other, showstopper items.

Overall, this basket will have something for many palates. We like that the treats are shelf stable, so you don’t have to eat them all right away, and that there are enough to share (if you’re kind enough to do so).

What’s inside: 22 snacks

Potential allergens: wheat, soy, milk, shellfish, eggs, alcohol, peanuts, tree nuts; a booklet comes with the box to outline common allergies for each snack, though Bokksu has a disclaimer that these are translated from the package as a reference and it cannot guarantee whether allergens are present

Shipping: from Japan, varies, about $16 to $25

Invigorating Sichuan condiments: The Spice Evangelist

Why it’s great: When admiring the jars and bottles in Fly By Jing’s The Spice Evangelist (renamed Tis the Seasoning during the holidays), you may feel as if your cool friend brought you on a pilgrimage to Chengdu—one of China’s most hallowed food destinations—and led you through mazes of local spice markets, showing you all the best stuff to tuck into your carry-on to take home.

We can picture both beginners and seasoned cooks enjoying this set. We made a beef noodle soup with the three-year-aged doubanjiang and dried erjingtiao chilis, then splashed in some 10-year-aged black vinegar and spooned some chili crisp on top before serving. It was one of the most fragrant, complex bowls we’ve made at home. The dried chilis were pliable and waxy, their intoxicatingly fruity scent a reminder that peppers are, in fact, berries. A lick of the doubanjiang was intensely salty, with deep cocoa character and a rich, lingering heat.

For a simple snack, we sprinkled mala spice mix—a dried seasoning blend that might result if Lawry’s were to go to Chengdu—plus some grated parmesan on popcorn for a uniquely sweet, salty, and spicy bite. The fermented black beans, or douchi, are complex and funky, and might feel the least intuitive to use, but they’re endlessly riffable. “Use it in twice-cooked pork, mapo tofu, fried rice, fried noodles, stews, or stir-fried with chicken, pork, mushrooms, or just vegetables,” advised Fly By Jing founder Jing Gao. “It adds an earthy umami kick.” The company’s blog also offers recipes and suggestions for how to use each item.

What’s inside: jar of Sichuan chili crisp, jar of Zhong Sauce, jar of mala spice mix, tribute peppers, erjingtiao chilis, three-year-aged doubanjiang, fermented black beans, bottle of 10-year-aged black vinegar

Potential allergens: wheat

Shipping: free for orders over $35

You may also like: The mom-and-daughter-owned Mala Market, an importer of premium ingredients from Sichuan, offers “pantry collections” ranging from $60 to $130 that showcase the numbing ma and spicy la flavors that are the hallmarks of the regional kitchen. The Starter Sichuan Collection sets you up with citrusy da hong pao peppercorns, a sack of facing heaven zi dan tou chiles (the star of kung pao chicken), fragrant hot ground chile flakes, and three-year-aged doubanjiang, a deeply-flavored broad bean and chile paste that’s the backbone of classic dishes such as mapo tofu.

Thoughtfully sourced, vibrant spices: Diaspora Co. Build Your Pack

Why it’s great: It’s a cliché, that saying about your spice rack being the most neglected place in your kitchen, where chili powder and nutmeg from 1991 languish. But there’s truth to it, which is why a batch of vibrant, newly harvested spices in Diaspora Co.’s Build Your Pack could be just the right present for the home cook in your life. You won’t risk giving the gift of stale seasonings: Printed on the side of each jar is the month and year of the harvest, plus the place of origin and often the name of the farm and the farmer, too.

Founder Sana Javeri Kadri started her business with one spice—turmeric—and has since grown it to include 30 heirloom varieties sourced from family farms in India and Sri Lanka. Take the brightly pigmented Guntur Sannam chile, a moist and fruity ground chile whose sweetness is balanced by a touch of salt and a warm, slow-spreading heat. We were tempted to sprinkle it, Mexican-style, on cucumbers or melon. Even everyday spices from Diaspora Co. feel premium. The Aranya black peppercorns are so big that they can be mistaken for capers. Grinding them unleashed a nose-tickling floral scent, and the taste carried a hint of licorice; it elevated the simple dishes we sprinkled it on, like avocado toast and scrambled eggs. Meanwhile, Nagauri cumin seeds, which we sampled both ground and whole in a batch of butter chicken, were toasty and musky, and when we crushed them in a mortar and pestle, they released a surprising citrus aroma. And for the baker in your life, the Peni Miris cinnamon, which smells like an Atomic Fireball, is a must.

Part of the beauty of this gift is that it’s customizable, so you can choose the spices your recipient may appreciate most. Thanks to the well-designed website, building a spice pack is fun—click on Makhir ginger, for instance, and a crisp silhouetted image of the actual jar automatically populates the screen. The spices are delivered in a pretty hot-pink cardboard box, each jar nestled snugly, with colorful illustrated labels on their lids functioning as both decoration and information.

What’s inside: three, six, or nine jars of spices of your choosing, such as Pragati turmeric, Nandini coriander, Guntur Sannam chile, Makhir ginger, or Aranya pepper. A dollar extra gets you an adorable aluminum spice spoon, and another $4 buys a handwritten holiday card whose proceeds benefit the company’s farm-worker health-care program.

Potential allergens: sesame oil in the Guntur Sannam and Byadgi chiles

Shipping: free shipping in the US on orders $65 and up

You may also like: The Curio Spice Company Culinary Essentials box includes common yet super-flavorful spices that your gift recipient will reach for daily. Curio toasts or grinds many of its spices in-house and sources spices from small, sustainable farms around the world, as well as locally in New England, where the company is based. Another option is Savory Spice Shop’s ’Round the World Spice Set, which includes a mix of fresh, good-quality spice blends, such as za’atar, garam masala, and herbes de Provence, that are versatile and familiar.

Coffee beans from a meticulous roaster: Heart Sample Pack

Why it’s great: Coffee nerds and everyday drinkers alike will be thrilled to receive the Heart Sample Pack, which includes four 8-ounce bags of just-roasted whole beans from the Portland, Oregon, roaster. The beans change seasonally, and you can choose between two flavor-driven options when ordering: One set of beans is “for those who want a rich cup,” and the other is for those who prefer a fruity or floral cup. Each batch we brewed exhibited the best characteristics of “third-wave” coffee: clean, distinguishable flavors (like a fine wine) that emphasize the bean’s unique terroir.

This roaster distinguishes itself with an obsessive attention to detail—from sourcing to roasting to packaging—which it proudly flaunts. (To get an idea of how Heart Coffee Roasters operates, watch the video about how it tracks data from all of its batch-roasting and taste-testing.) The team works with farms in Central and South America and some regions of Africa to source green beans, and it selects coffees after tasting and cupping hundreds of options. Once processed, the beans are packed in a minimalist matte-white bag accented with a brightly colored label. And Heart’s elaborate brew recipes (video) possess a ritualistic cadence befitting the seriousness of the roaster’s approach (though, honestly, the coffee still tastes great when it’s made in a decent coffee machine).

Although we were initially concerned that this might be too much coffee to send someone all at once, the bags are small and the beans are fresh. (Though it’s impractical for most, in a perfect world, Heart recommends using the beans three to 14 days after the roast date.)

What’s inside: changes seasonally; options at this writing include Stereo Blend, Phono, Honduras Edwin Martinez, Ethiopia Wuri, Ethiopia Worka,  Kenya Ichuga AB, Kenya Gachuiro AA

Shipping: about $10 to all US states

A collection of high-end teas: Harney & Sons Best Sellers

Why it’s great: If you have a tea lover in your life, you probably can’t go wrong by giving them a selection of teas from family-owned Harney & Sons. Its Best Sellers collection (which we tried as sachets but is also available in loose-leaf form) features four crowd-pleasing, high-quality teas: English Breakfast, Earl Grey Supreme, Paris, and Hot Cinnamon Spice.

The English Breakfast tea was bright and clean, and the Earl Grey (a blend of black and oolong teas with Italian bergamot oil) was pleasantly aromatic. The Paris blend was tea-forward, with subtle hints of black currant and vanilla. And the Hot Cinnamon Spice was sweet and cinnamony but somehow still allowed the natural tea flavor to shine through. One of our testers who’s averse to flavored teas said, “This was easily the most enjoyable version of cinnamon tea I’ve encountered.”

Each of the four teas comes packaged in a colorful tin of 20 sachets. The tins fit snugly in an elegant black box with the Harney & Sons logo embossed on the lid. We think $30 for 80 servings of high-quality tea, not to mention extremely elegant reusable packaging, is an excellent value.

What’s inside: Earl Grey Supreme, English Breakfast, Hot Cinnamon Spice, Paris teas

Shipping: free

A sleek matcha set: Ippodo Tea Essential Matcha Kit

Why it’s great: Ippodo is a revered tea shop based in Kyoto, Japan, that has been around since 1717 and is known for its matcha, the fine powder made from crushed green tea. The Ippodo Tea Essential Matcha Kit delivers on that reputation. Every item is made with intention and designed to work seamlessly with everything else in the box: The cream-colored ceramic bowl is crafted by Japanese artisans to be just the right width and depth for the whisk, the strainer latches onto the lip of the bowl so you don’t have to hold it, the whisk is made from a single piece of bamboo, and the whisk stand, with its hollow bottom, is a perfect home for drying and storing the whisk after you’ve used it. The bowl and whisk feel particularly special, ethereally light and delicate.

The tea itself, a variety of Ippodo matcha called Horai, is described as an accessible starter matcha on Ippodo’s site. It’s lovely, and it tastes grassy and just a little astringent. Once whisked, it becomes slightly frothy and turns a deep, translucent emerald color. Of course, this set is about the experience of making tea as much as it is about tasting tea. The multiple involved steps are fluid: Scoop out matcha with the ladle, sift it into an even finer powder with the strainer to remove any lumps, add the water at just the right temperature, and quickly whisk the matcha into a frothy tea. Ippodo provides instructions for using the tools, as well as advice to make variations on the drink—thin matcha, thick matcha, lattes, or iced—that sound equally enticing.

What’s inside: 20 grams of Matcha Horai, chawan (matcha tea bowl), chasen (bamboo whisk), chashaku (bamboo tea ladle), chasen-tate (whisk stand), tea strainer, tea cloth

Shipping: free

Staff writer Anna Perling, who wrote our original guide to gift baskets in 2018, previously covered food and lifestyle topics for Saveur and Kinfolk magazines. For this guide, she collaborated closely with Wirecutter supervising editor Winnie Yang, who has worked in the food industry and has written for Art of Eating, Saveur, and Condé Nast Traveler, among others. Winnie is also something of a gift-basket expert because she has sent and received many of them. For our original guide, we asked a panel of 16 Wirecutter staff members to weigh in on gift baskets and to consider their presentation, taste, variety, and value.

Senior staff writer Michael Sullivan contributed to our 2020 update. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry and was an editor at International Culinary Center in New York City before becoming a staff writer at Wirecutter in 2016. Additionally, Wirecutter editor Marilyn Ong and senior editor Marguerite Preston taste-tested all of the new gift baskets we included in our 2020 update.

In 2021, Wirecutter editor Gabriella Gershenson also contributed to this guide. Over the course of her career, most recently as a columnist for The Wall Street Journal’s Off Duty section, her recommendations have been featured in many a gift guide. Since the early aughts, she has been covering food for publications including Time Out New York, Saveur, and Rachael Ray Every Day, and she is a James Beard Award nominee.

We began our research for this guide by asking Wirecutter staffers about the favorite gift baskets they’ve given or were happy to receive. We combed through online guides and reviews of gift baskets from BestProducts.com, Bon Appétit, BuzzFeed, Cooking Light, Saveur, The Spruce, and Top Ten Reviews. We also checked offerings from notable purveyors and looked at Goldbelly, a site that ships specialties from restaurants all over the United States. For our original guide in 2018, we considered 56 nominations for gift baskets with contents ranging from specialty fruits to small-batch whiskey to hand-harvested sea salt. For our 2020 update, we considered more than 50 additional baskets and tested eight. In 2021, we considered 13 and tested five.

When we set out to find the best gift baskets, we had several criteria. We looked for baskets under $150 (an amount that would cover many occasions) that were a good value (meaning they offered a lot for their price), with a decent variety (offering either different versions of the same item from a quality brand or several different options). We also looked for those that were nicely packaged (and not necessarily in actual baskets) and, of course, those that we thought would taste great. Overall, we searched for baskets that were interesting or unusual from companies known for quality and attention to detail. We also focused on baskets that were immediately consumable. We reluctantly eliminated alcohol gift baskets because they can’t be shipped to many states and can be iffy gifts unless you know that a recipient partakes.

In 2018 we evaluated the different gift baskets by asking 16 Wirecutter staffers to taste and comment on each one. We brewed tea and coffee, and we sampled condiments. During our tasting, we discussed each basket in depth (Wirecutter staffers have a lot of strong opinions, as it turns out) and asked everyone to fill out surveys ranking each basket. We combed through this feedback to determine our picks. We also noted what each basket contained, along with potential allergens; always check with a purveyor if you have serious allergy concerns. Our 2020 update occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, so Wirecutter editors Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong taste-tested the new gift baskets we considered. In 2021, Wirecutter editors Marilyn Ong and Gabriella Gershenson and staff writer Anna Perling taste-tested new gift baskets.