Holiday Gift Guide for Coffee Lovers ($500+)
Coffee Gifts $500 and Up
Need a gift for that coffee nerd in your life? We’ve compiled a few of our favorite products into three gift guides. This last guide is a series of gift ideas that equip the recipient with some of the best equipment out there but require a higher budget.
Check out our other gift guides if you’re on a smaller budget.
Under $50
$50-500
The Whole Nine Yards
Or, as I like to call it, the Zero to Hero. The following would be a full pour over bar set up that has the capacity to make coffee better than most coffee shops.
Fellow Stagg XF Coffee Dripper ($59)
Fellow Stagg Carafe ($39)
Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle ($149)
Fellow Atmos ($35)
Acaia Pearl ($140)
Baratza Encore ($139)
Third Wave Water ($15)
Coffee! (Check out our first guide for coffee ideas)
Baratza Vario W Grinder ($549)
On our previous guide we recommended the Baratza Encore as the perfect intro grinder. The Vario W is the one we recommend for mastery in the home.
The W in Vario W stands for weight, as this grinder comes with a built in scale to ensure your dose is perfect every time, and with 230 grind settings, it is perfect for getting your coffee dialed just right.
The Forté from Baratza is similar to the Vario W but engineered for higher volume. The next step from here would be to go for a grinder made for a commercial setting.
Linea Mini Espresso Machine ($5400)
The La Marzocco Linea has been the gold standard of commercial espresso machines for decades. In 2015, La Marzocco released their miniature version of this classic machine.
The Linea Mini is a dual boiler machine which means the temperature of your brewing water is incredibly stable, giving you the opportunity to make perfect, consistent coffee. It has an internal pump and a water reservoir, making it practically a plug-and-play espresso machine. Although you can also plumb it in if you prefer to not deal with the reservoir.
This is the dream machine to a lot of home espresso enthusiasts, but it does keep the capabilities of the machine fairly contained. As you’ll see below, there is a machine that will open up many more possibilities to the nerdiest of coffee fanatics
Decent Espresso Machine ($2,999)
The Decent Espresso Machine (DE1+) is the most controllable espresso machine we’ve ever seen. It comes equipped with a tablet to help keep control on everything. And I mean everything: pressure, temperature, flow rate, and volume.
It has incredibly high steam temperature, even compared to commercial machines. Drier steam means less water in the final cup means creamier cappuccinos.
There are dozens of other bragging rights this machine has, including a five minute heat up time, but let’s sum it up like this: it’s the perfect machine for the extreme coffee nerd. Sure, it can function like any other machine if you choose to have more of a default machine, but all the control, the bells and whistles, is what makes the DE1+ worth the price tag.
Texas Coffee School’s Espresso and Milk Skills class ($550)
Especially valuable to the coffee fan who has everything, education is always a worthy gift. Texas Coffee School has a great reputation for delivering a lot of value in a fairly short amount of time. I know several professionals who started their career by taking classes here.
According to Texas Coffee School’s website, participants can expect to “come away from this barista class feeling confident using an espresso machine, calibrating an espresso grinder, steaming/texturing and pouring milk, making all the classic espresso based drinks, and cleaning and maintaining equipment!”
As of the time of this writing, these classes are still taking place in person, so you could get your giftee on the schedule for next month if you’d like. Or, since we don’t know what the next few months look like, you could always wait to sign them up for a post-pandemic class!
HAPPY GIFTING!
*This post contains affiliate links
