The clock is ticking on holiday shopping. Time to put down that pint of beer, glass of wine or mug of nog and get the darn list done. Here are 10 last-minute gift ideas to please the drinker in your life.
1. Beer sampler pack. Give the dedicated Budweiser drinker in your life a 12-pack of Project Twelve, a selection of three Bud tribute beers named for the zip code in which they were originally brewed. Or, give the craft beer drinker in your life Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.’s 8-bottle sampler pack that includes UCBC’s Winged Nut, Zwickel, STLIPA and Schnickelfritz. Both sampler packs are available at numerous area grocery and liquor stores.
2. Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars. To the cocktail connoisseur in your life or the vodka-tonic drinker you’re looking to convert, give this new cocktail book written by Sanctuaria’s bartender Matt Seiter. Pick it up at Sanctuaria to get it in time for Christmas. Bonus: It’s an excuse to sidle up to the bar at Sanctuaria for a quick one.
3. To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion. Cocktail historian Philip Greene will keep the literary lush in your life quite entertained with liquor-filled stories about Papa Hemingway, his novels and even recipes for drinks referenced in his works. Get it at either Left Bank Books location.
4. Pomaçai Vodka. Don’t judge your flavored vodka drinker friend. Purus vodka’s newest product that combines the flavors of pomegranate and açai is for her, not you. Admit it, though: The bubble wrap look of this glass bottle is cool. You’ll find it at all major area liquor stores.
5. Volére wine. This boxed wine in the shape of a handbag (pictured below) is for your friend who cares more about fashion than anything else. The Volére that Saint Louis Cellars has in stock is a blend of Merlot and Pinot Noir, if she cares to know.
6. EdgeWild Wine Club membership. For the friend – perhaps a braggart in-law – who does care about wine and likes being part of a club, check out this membership. The membership means a bottle a month, plus a bunch of privileges. Fill out the paperwork at the Chesterfield restaurant while you enjoy a glass yourself.
7. John E. Fitzgerald Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Your bourbon pal always appreciates another bottle to add to his collection. Give him this newer small-batch, high-proof, wheated bourbon by Heaven Hill that you can get at most well-stocked liquor stores. Make him open it in front of you. Ask him to share.
8. Brew Pub T-shirt. If your pal wears t-shirts that read “Beer is My Friend” or “Irish I had another beer,” help him, please. Upgrade his garb by going to the Brew Pub T-Shirts website and ordering him a t-shirt with the iTap logo, or be a best friend and plunk down the money so that each month for the next year, he can don a different t-shirt sporting the logo of a cool stop on the local beer drinking circuit.
9. Cheese box sets. This is not just any old cheese sampler. For each of its three cheese box sets, St. Louis-based North Light Specialty Foods includes three, 8-ounce cheese blocks chosen for pairing with red wine, white wine or beer. If you want a set in time for Christmas, call 314.932.7133. If your motto is “better late than never,” order online at www.northlightfoods.com.
10. ReTrailer organic tea blends. There’s always a teetotaler on the list. Make your wholesome friend happy by hitting up the ReTrailer Tea at the Schlafly Winter Market & Holiday Fair this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Bottleworks. Among the mobile tea parlor’s tea blends, look out for the playfully named Drop It Like It’s Hot hibiscus tea and Pour Some Sugar On Me tea.
This article appears in December 2012.