There are many ways you can approach gift-buying for coffee lovers, but there’s one strategy that's not as well-explored as it should be: coffee gift baskets!

A DIY coffee gift basket is an excellent way to add diversity and color to your gift. It allows you to personalize the gift experience and gives you the chance to turn a thoughtless gift into an intentional, thoughtful one.

I’ll show you how to put together the perfect gift basket, whether the recipient is a casual coffee lover or a super-enthusiast coffee connoisseur.

We'll cover things like... 

• How to assemble a basket of relevant and diverse coffee gifts
• Gift basket ideas that'll delight even the most hardcore connoisseurs
• A massive problem with gifting coffee beans (+ how to avoid it)

The key is to fill the basket with items that are diverse, yet all connected. Accomplishing this is just a matter of collecting a few different kinds of items. I’ll show you how to do that, along with some ways you can customize the basket to you and your recipient’s tastes.

Gift Basket Item #1: Fresh Coffee Beans

Let's start with the beans, because it's so easy to accidentally give stale, dull tasting coffee beans.

Coffee beans have a short shelf-life in terms of peak freshness. Whole beans only have 2-3 weeks in this super-flavorful time frame after being roasted. After that, the flavors fall apart and disappear very quickly.

Many coffee gift baskets are built weeks in advance, which means that bag of coffee beans isn’t going to be in peak freshness once the gift is actually given 10-20 days later. Sad!

You don’t want to gift stale beans alongside the other thoughtful items. You want to give your coffee lover the best, freshest beans you can.

Instead of buying a couple bags of beans, purchase a gift coffee subscription instead. That way, the coffee is always shipped to your connoisseur as soon as it’s roasted instead of sitting around for months.

That’s how it works with the JavaPresse Coffee Subscription. We ship coffee beans within 2 hours of roasting - something most companies aren't set up to do - to make sure coffee lovers get their beans at peak freshness and flavor.

Our coffees are sustainably sourced, roasted with craftsmanship, and are connoisseur-approved.

You can check out the gift subscription here.

Gift Basket Item #2: A Coffee Brewer

A coffee brewer is always an excellent gift, because most people stop buying brewers for themselves after just one. Buying a second or third brewer just feels irresponsible, a want but not a need - and that makes it the perfect gift! 

Since you’re building a gift basket with multiple items, you probably want to keep the cost of this brewer on the low side.

Here are a few brewers we recommend that made great gifts, while not completely emptying your wallet. They’re simple and approachable for coffee newcomers, but refined and beloved enough for connoisseurs.

Read: How Manual Coffee Brewing Can Change Your Life

For the Casual Coffee Lover: French Press

This classic, idyllic brewer is very easy to use and brews incredible coffee. It doesn’t really get any more picturesque than the french press, so this is a great brewer to gift to design-savvy folks.

Brewing is simple: you combine coffee and water, wait for about four minutes, press down the plunger, and pour the coffee out. The resulting coffee is full-bodied and full-flavored, thanks to the stainless steel filter that lets the natural coffee oils through to the final mug.

For the Coffee-Loving Traveler: Aeropress

The Aeropress may be the best travel coffee brewer out there. It’s light, small, and insanely durable. It’s a little more hands-on than the french press though, and may be better suited for people who are familiar with manual coffee brewing. It’s extremely well suited for people who approach coffee with a craftsman mindset.

Read: 5 Reasons The Aeropress Is The Ultimate Brewer For Coffee Connoisseurs

To brew using the Aeropress, you combine coffee and water in the brewing cylinder, wait two to three minutes, then plunge the coffee into the mug below. It takes some force to press the coffee through the filter, but the results can be quite versatile.

With this brewer you can make hot coffee, iced coffee, and even something that’s close to - but not exactly - espresso. The main downside is the capacity: only 8 ounces.

For the Advanced Brewer: Pour Over

Pour over brewing is something many want to explore, but are afraid to. This kind of brewer takes the financial risk away from a hesitant coffee lover by giving them the main tool they need: the actual cone.

Brewing pour over coffee involves slowly pouring water over the coffee bed for 1-2 minutes in slow, concentric circles. The coffee brews and drains through the cone into a mug below. It’s meditative, entrancing, and actually has some emotional benefits.

Read: Is Pour Over Coffee Brewing Worth The Effort?

The resulting coffee is crisp, clean, and full-flavored. This one’s also hands-on, but that’s not a bad thing. It really draws you into the moment and causes you to feel a sense of fascination and appreciation for your daily brew.

One of these brewers won’t run you more than $20-30 and will make for a great coffee gift basket centerpiece.

Gift Basket Item #3: A Brewing Accessory

A great way to show you’ve really thought this through is to add an accessory or a relevant brewing tool.

One of the best things in this category is a manual coffee grinder. Since coffee beans are only at peak freshness for 2-3 weeks, it’s very important to wait to grind the beans until you’re ready to use them - otherwise the flavors decay quickly. Pre-ground coffee is basically stale as soon as you open the bag!

If your gift basket recipient doesn’t have a grinder, this is a must!

Even if they have a grinder, gifting a small, light manual grinder still gives them the power to grind fresh coffee when they travel. Simply put, a manual grinder is an inexpensive, yet very empowering tool.

📢 We're giving away our Amazon.com #1 Rated manual burr coffee grinder for FREE when you buy a Signature Coffee Trio as a gift. See the sweet deal here.

If a grinder doesn't sound quite right, there are a few other options.

• The bamboo paddle is a simple tool that's perfect for stirring coffee, so it'd be a great companion to a french press. They’re inexpensive and give the recipient the ability to stir the grounds in the press without having to worry about accidentally breaking it with a metal spoon.

• Reusable metal filters are a great gift for AeroPress users. They're easier to travel with, create no paper waste, and are a breeze to use.

• Glass coffee servers are fun and fancy to use, and a great gift for coffee lovers of all intensities. 

Other relevant tool ideas: a special mug, a thermometer, or a cool coffee scoop.

Gift Basket Item #4: A Sideline Gift

The sideline gift shouldn’t be coffee-related, but it should still be relevant. For this one, ask yourself: “What do I enjoy with my coffee?”

Here are a few ideas:

Fancy Chocolate Bar

Chocolate always goes great with coffee and is actually very similar in that it’s a complex agricultural product. Seek out chocolate that comes from “bean to bar” sellers if you can.

Crunchy Biscotti

Biscotti are double-baked pastries that are long, thin, and sweet. They’re a great dipping companion to a rich mug of coffee and can be purchased pre-packaged without sacrificing quality since they’re designed to last for months.

Cake or Pastry Mix

If your coffee lover doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty to make good food, a DIY mix for scones, cake, or some other pastry may make a great sideline gift.

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You now have all the elements needed to create a fantastic coffee gift basket. Lay down some old beans in the floor of the basket, pile in the gifts, and wrap it all up.

When gifting time comes, your coffee lover won’t believe how well-crafted your basket is.

Happy gifting!