Quite a title right? We aren’t kidding either. This is absolutely the best, most comprehensive Christmas gift guide you’ll find for 2014. Regardless of who you’re buying for, we’ve got you covered. We’ve got a section for pretty much every type of person – gourmets home cooks, techies, outdoorsy types, fashion fanatics, pop culture geeks, borderline alcoholics – whatever type of person you’re trying to buy a gift for, we’ve got a list of the best possible 2014 Christmas gift options for you.
Anyways, we’ll cut to the chase. Here’s it is:
2014 Christmas Gift Ideas for the Gourmet Home Chef
Cuisine R-Evolution Molecular Gastronomy Kit
Is your gift-receiver food obsessed? Does he/she want to try and recreate that dish that you ate at a michelin star restaurant orto experiment with turning salmon into powder or beetroots into jelly? Does your special someone know what Xantham Gum and Soy Lecithin and Sodium Alginate is from watching way too many episode of Top Chef/Anthony Bourdain/Mind of a Chef? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to get them this kit. It comes with 40 different molecular gastronomy related food additives, 3 pipettes (what the heck is a pipette?), a bunch of tools for you to play with, and a molecular gastronomy DVD with 50 recipes on it. Sounds pretty cool to me, and I don’t even understand half the things I typed!
Buy The Cuisine R-Evolution Molecular Gastronomy Kit
The Molecular Gastronomy Kit sells for $49.95.
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
When you go out to eat with the person you’re buying this gift for, are they always talking about how the meat/fish/vegetables are overcooked or undercooked? Has he/she ever uttered the words the _____ on this _____ is uneven in reference to a plate of food? If they have, then you need to get them the Anova Sous Vide. The Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator is a home sous vide device that allows a home cook to get whatever their cooking to the absolute perfect temperature – no ifs, ands, or buts. You take a pork chop, dump it into a ziplock bag, put it into a pot with some water in it and stick the Anova inside – press a few buttons, wait a few minutes (or hours) and wah-lah. 100% perfect pork chop 100% of the time. There are a couple of these kinds of devices on the market now, but many cooking enthusiasts agree that the Anova is the best model.
Buy The Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
The Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator sells for $199
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5 Quart Dutch Oven
This one speaks for itself. If you’re friend is a home cook and he/she doesn’t have a decent dutch oven, you should get one for them. If they talk about their dutch oven getting worn out, they’ve got a subpar one – you should get them this one. This thing will probably last you forever – we’ve heard stories of dutch ovens being passed down from grandmother to grandkid in an unbroken line all the way back to Socrates (ok, we may be exaggerating). But seriously – if you take care of it properly, a good dutch oven can last 20-30 years – so you’re basically paying a couple of cents a day to use one of the most essential and versatile pieces of kitchen equipment you’ll ever see. Go get one now.
Buy The Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French Dutch Oven
The Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron 5 Quart Dutch Oven sells for $279.95
The Original Bacon Kit
Yup – the world is glorious and good, because this is a thing that exists. It’s a DIY kit to make your own bacon. Why aren’t you already paying it? You need us to sell it more? Well, it pretty much contains everything you’ll need to make your own homemade bacon other than the pork belly. It comes with the cure that you apply to the pork belly, maple sugar if you want maple-bacon, a handy bag for you to put your bacon in, and a thermometer. You never need to eat low quality grocery store bacon again (although that stuff is still pretty good) – you can go gourmet with your bacon right now. This is very exciting. We are very excited.
Buy the Original Bacon Kit
The Original Bacon Kit sells for 39.99.
2014 Christmas Gift Ideas for the Borderline Alcoholic
Brooklyn Brew Beer Making Kit, Everyday IPA
This is pretty straightforward. Homemade brews continue to be all the rage in the beer world – now you can jump on the bandwagon with the Brooklyn Brew Beer Making Kit. It comes with pretty much anything that you’ll need to start brewing at home – hops, grain and yeast, glass fermenter, a thermometer, and a bunch of other stuff that’s essential to homebrewing. The kit makes it super easy to get started, and with all the right equipment, making your own beer at home becomes a breeze. This kit brews about 1 gallon of beer, and is reusable (except for all the ingredients that goes into making the beer itself). the perfect gift for the sophisticated beer drinker. The Brooklyn Brew shop also sells a bunch of other kits with different flavors, so you can pick your favorite type of beer and learn how to brew it at home.
Buy the Brooklyn Brew Beer Making Kit Everyday IPA
The Brooklyn Brew Beer Making Kit sells for $39.99.
Personalized Whiskey Barrel
Does the person you’re buying a gift for love whiskey? If so, this is pretty much the perfect gift for him/her. This personalized whiskey barrel gives you three large letters for initials, and some space for text underneath as well. It’s not just for display either – there is a stopper at the top, and beautiful old school wooden dispenser at the bottom. Barrels are made of genuine oak and the largest size holds up to 3 liters of whiskey. There’s no better gift for a whiskey drinker this holiday season.
Buy a Personalized Whiskey Barrel
The Personalized Whiskey Barrel sells for: $81.95
Homemade Gin Kit
Gin seems to be experiencing a resurgence across the country right now. There are plenty of gin bars popping up all over the place with creative new cocktails and high quality gin. But did you know you can also make your own gin at home? Unlike Whiskey, Gin doesn’t need to be aged, which makes it the perfect liquor to try and make at home. The Homemade Gin Kit contains two 375ml glass bottles, a strainer and a funnel, juniper berries, and a ‘secret’ botanical blend that the company uses. The kit can be used to brew 750ml of gin, and the instructions are clear and straightforward.
Buy the Homemade Gin Kit
The Homemade Gin Kit sells for $56.99
Air Cork Wine Preserver
We’ve neglected the wine drinkers so far, so here’s one for you. This thing looks pretty silly, but it really works incredibly well. As far as we know, there is no other product out there that works as well to keep the bottle completely air tight, and it keeps wine drinkable (from a taste standpoint) for up to 3 days. The balloon itself does absolutely nothing to the flavor of the wine, and it’s easy to clean up after use. This is a great gift for wine drinker’s who often leave bottles unfinished. We all know how quickly a good bottle of wine can change due to oxidization – this is the best way to preserve the taste of a great bottle of wine bar none.
Buy the Air Cork Wine Preserver
The Air Cork Wine Preserver sells for $24.95
Great Xmas Gifts 2014 for the Tech Obsessed
Amazon Fire TV Stick
This is (in our opinion) the best (and best value) streaming stick on the market right now. It’s dual-core, has 1 GB of memory and an 8GB flash drive. It’s compatible with pretty much any streaming service that any of us have heard of. There are also a bunch of games that are available. Obviously, the Amazon Fire TV Stick also has excellent integration with Amazon itself, so whether you’re using it for Netflix or you want to order movies and series a-la-carte, you’ll find this streaming stick intuitive and easy to use. It’s more powerful than the Chromecast, and better value than the Roku. It also comes with a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime, which means that if you buy it now, you can get all your Christmas presents delivered super quickly for free (in the US). In fact, if you’re planning to buy enough stuff on Amazon this holiday season, what you save on shipping from the Prime membership might even cover the cost of the stick itself. Prime is also the home of critically acclaimed TV shows like Transparent and Alpha House So, what are you waiting for? Go get it!
Buy the Amazon Fire TV Stick
The Amazon Fire TV Stick sells for $39.00.
UE BOOM Portable Speaker
This is a 360 degree, waterproof, stain-resistant portable speaker with wireless functionality. Basically, it’s the only portable speaker you’re ever gonna need for trips to the beach or on hikes. The sound quality is pretty good for a portable speaker, and the bass in particular isn’t weird and fuzzy like a lot of these kinds of speakers – instead, the bass sounds are rich and deep. This thing is waterproof enough that if you get it dirty, you can literally wash it under the tap. It comes with a 15 hour rechargeable battery which is enough for the majority of activities that you’d want a speaker for. You can also link a bunch of these together, so it can be used even at large gatherings/events. It comes in a variety of color combinations, and there’s probably at least one version that you’ll love the look of.
Buy the UE BOOM Portable Speakers
The UE BOOM Portable Speaker sells for $197.99
Rotibox Outdoor Bluetooth Beanie
This is another one of those things that we looked at and at first we though ‘Why is this a thing?’ But when we thought about it further, it suddenly all made sense. Christmas is winter time. People can’t live without their smartphones. In winter time, to talk on the phone, you need to expose your ears. Well, no longer will we merely accept this as a fact of life. the Rotibox Bluetooth Beanie is a beanie, headphones and mic all in one. Your ears never need to be cold ever again. You can answer the phone, listen to music, and stay warm all at the same time. The Beanie is Bluetooth enabled, has pretty good sound quality, and is USB chargeable and washable (after you remove the little speakers). One bonus functionality that they don’t mention that we feel is important to note is that you don’t have to look like a hands-free Bluetooth headset wearing twat.
Buy the Rotibox Outdoor Bluetooth Beanie
The Rotibox Outdoor Bluetooth Beanie sells for $45.99.
Doxie One – Standalone Paper & Photo Scanner
OK, bear with us – we understand if you’re wondering who the heck still uses paper in today’s world. Truth is, a huge number of businesses, organizations, and grandparents (or maybe parents depending on how old you are) still use paper. Aren’t you sick of it? We certainly are. So go do something about it. The Doxie One is a super easy to use, lightweight, convenient scanner that can help your older and more antiquated friends/relatives go paperless. The software that comes with the scanner is also pretty good – easy to use but still powerful enough for the vast majority of people. Scanner’s don’t have to be big bulky behemoths that take up all your desk space – the Doxie takes up really little space and will fit on pretty much any desk without using up significant real estate.
Buy the Doxie One Scanner
The Doxie One sells for $99.
Amazing Christmas 2014 Gift Ideas for the Outdoors Folks
BioLite Wood Burning Campstove
This stove is the perfect device for outdoors folks who are also tech savvy. What does it do? Well, you put in things that can be set on fire, and it charges your stuff. That’s right. You put in wood, twigs, leaves – anything that you can set on fire safely. In exchange, you can charge pretty much anything that connects via USB. It’s the perfect blend of old school and modern. Oh, it can also boil water if you’re into that kind of thing. The BioLite Campstove also has an internal battery that gets the fire going, so you don’t need to spend half an hour trying to light it yourself with a flimsy match. The perfect gift for modern outdoors enthusiast.
Buy the BioLite Wood Burning Campstove
The Biolite Wood Burning Campstove sells for $129.95.
Ultimate Survival Technologies 30 Day Lantern
This is the
droid
lantern you’re looking for. Having a good light source is an essential component of any survival gear, and this fits the bill perfectly. On the lowest setting, it lasts a whopping 30 days. It’s water and impact resistant and comes with four modes – low, medium, high, and SOS. Straightforward, no frills, and does everything you’d want it to do. What more is there to say? It uses LED bulbs so you won’t have to worry about replacing the bulbs for at least a couple of years. This is the perfect emergency outdoors light source that you’ve been looking for.
Buy the UST 30-Day Lantern
The UST 30 Day Latern sells for $37.99
Leatherman Charge TTi Multitool
One of the most important considerations for outdoors folks is whether a piece of gear is lightweight or not. With the Leatherman Charge TTi Multitool, you get pretty much every tool you can think of outside of a chainsaw, all in one practical, compact package. By popular consensus, the Leatherman Charge TTi is one of very best multitools on the market, and it’s easy to see why. All the tools comes out nice and easy, and the excellent durability and quality of the Charge TTi is clear for anyone to see. If you’re looking for a great gift for serious outdoorsmen/women, this is it.
The Leatherman Charge TTi Multi-Tool
The Leatherman Charge TTi Multitool sells for $159.85
EnerPlex Kickr IV Portable Solar Charger
The name is pretty self explanatory here. Is the person you’re buying a gift for someone who likes to go camping but can’t live without twitter? Do they have a compulsion to share the superb views that they see when hiking on instagram? Do they often tell stories about how annoyed they are that their phones ran of battery and how they couldn’t take pictures of some obscure bird? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to get them this portable solar charger. It’s lightweight and very portable, waterproof, and works with most USB chargeable devices. With the Enerplex Kickr IV, you can ensure that everywhere there’s sun, there’s twitter.
Buy the EnerPlex Kickr IV Portable Solar Charger
The Enerplex Kickr IV Portable Solar Charger sells for $129.99
Top Christmas Gifts 2014 for Pop Culture Geeks
Star Wars Signature Series Force FX Lightsaber
Star Wars is back in vogue – the internet is abuzz with excitement about the trailer of the new Star War movie (coming in Dec 2015). If you want to seem pop culture relevant, you better be buying at least one Star Wars themed gift this holiday season. Our personal favorite is the Signature Series Collectible Lightsaber – it doesn’t really do anything useful, but who wants a useful present anyways. Buy this lightsaber on any other Christmas and the person you’re giving to would be pretty pleased. But this Christmas? It’s the Christmas of Star Wars nostalgia, and all Star Wars themed gifts are 10x more relevant – plus, let’s be honest – you probably want to play with it too.
Buy the Star Wars Signature Series Force FX Lightsaber
Star Wars Signature Series Force FX Lightsaber sells for ~$140 (depending on which character’s lightsaber you want)
Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery (on Blu-Ray)
Haven’t you heard? Twin Peaks is coming back. For those of you who are too young to know, Twin Peaks was a cult-favorite, with some of the most die-hard and enduring fans of any series out there. Showtime is
remaking
continuing Twin Peaks on it’s 25th anniversary – the new series will have a limited 9 episode run, and will act as a continuation of the previous series. So, yes, that means that if you want to understand what’s going on when it comes out, you will have to watch all of the original. Luckily for you, the DVD Box set is readily available. The best thing about buying this gift for someone else? You can basically force them to watch it with you.
Buy the Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery
Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery (on Blu-Ray) sells for $84.96
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1
So, Guardians of Galaxy was a huge, unexpected hit. It’s a thing. You remember when you were watching the movie and found yourself grinning for no good reason? I think most of that was due to the killer soundtrack that the movie has. In fact, the soundtrack was so popular that it made your parent’s music taste cool again – The Guardians Awesome Mix Vol.1 was actually on the charts for some time after the movie came out. So, go buy the soundtrack on Amazon – there’s options for buying digitally, buying the CD, or buying vinyl, so young people, old folks, and hipsters are all accounted for.
Buy the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1 sells for $6.99-$24.88
Sherlock Limited Edition Gift Set
In case you haven’t heard, the beloved Benedict Cumberbatch has been pegged to play Doctor Strange in the next set of Marvel movies. He’ll be getting a stand-alone film and will presumably also be in the Avengers movie that comes out in 2018. To celebrate this (what we think is) excellent casting, we should all refresh our memories of how Cumberbatch hit the big stage in the first place. His superstardom really began with the first season of Sherlock on the BBC. Oh, take a look at that! If for whatever reason you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 years and haven’t watched it, there’s a complete Sherlock Limited Edition Gift Set that you can buy and pore through to find out why people are such big fans of this odd-looking fellow. It also comes with two art cards and two busts of Sherlock and Watson, as well as a whole bunch of bonus footage – gag reels, deleted scenes, and all of that good stuff that you expect from a box set. Seriously – if you haven’t seen Sherlock, go buy it right now.
Buy the Sherlock Limited Edition Gift Set
The Sherlock Limited Edition Gift Set sells for $136.29
The post Super Ultimate Guide to the Best Christmas Gifts 2014 by Flokka appeared first on Flokka.
