Tag: Christmas Gift Idea

Haier Premium Collection – Wine Cooler Bucket and Wine Accessories set

alcoholic drinks, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Drinks and Mixers, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Home & Garden, kitchen appliances, Mother's Day, Stocking Fillers, Valentine's Day Gifts

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

I’ve used many corkscrews over the years to open bottles of wine. Cheap ones (which have been known to break before we’ve even got the cork out of the bottle), more expensive ones and my trusty Swiss Army knife, with a very basic corkscrew which has saved us on many occasions! Ultimately though, what is important is being able to open a bottle easily so you can enjoy a nice glass of wine without bits of cork floating around in it.

I’ve no need for my Swiss Army knife this Christmas though – our house has gone high tech on the wine front with an electric wine bottle opener from Haier.

The rechargeable corkscrew is nicely packaged as part of a gift set, making it a great present for any wine lover. The black accessories are stylish and modern and inside the box is everything you need to enjoy a glass of wine at home.

Inside the box are the following wine accesories

USB Rechargeable Bottle Opener, this is a dream to use, simply hold the corkscrew over the bottle, press the button and hey presto the cork is removed. It will remove both natural and synthetic corks with ease and open 30 bottles from just one charge making it perfect for parties.

Tulip Wine Aerator Pourer – allows the wine to quickly obtain oxygen for a better tasting experience.

Foil Cutter – makes easy work of that tricky task, meaning you can get the bottle opened all the sooner.

I don’t always finish a bottle in one sitting so I’ll make great use of the vacuum pump and reuseable bottle stoppers. They fit snugly and even when I turned the bottles upside down there was no leakage.  

Less high tech but just as useful is the Haier Wine cooler bucket. Just pop it in the freezer for an hour and it will keep the bottle perfectly chilled. Made of rustproof stainless steel there is plenty of room for ice and it can even be popped in the dishwasher.

As a wine lover myself, I know these items will make a lovely gifts and will come in very useful over the Christmas period!  

There’s also 25% off the Christmas gifts if you use the code XMASGIFT25 (until 25 December)

6 in 1 Rechargeable Wine Accessories Set £34.99

Wine Cooler Bucket £20.99

Bonne Maman Advent Calendar 

advent calendar, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Bonne Maman are known for their exquisite jams and spreads and more recently for thoughtful gifts too. This limited edition advent calendar contains all you need for a festive December where all 24 windows have a delicious treat inside!

This year, Santa’s elves have created a calendar of Santa’s workshop, complete with Christmas trees surrounded by helpers who are making jams and spread and transporting them to households worldwide. Behind the windows you’ll find not just jams but savoury spreads and even 6 varieties of tea bags. The jams and spreads are more than just what you’d find on the Bonne Maman shelf in the supermarket as some of them aren’t available in the UK so don’t be surprised by what the elves have made! Some of the specialties include Apricot & Banana Spread, Fig with Cardamon, Mara des Bois Strawberry and even Quince With Chunks for the savoury lovers.  The teabags are also specialities too including Morning Blend, Quiet Moment and Christmas Blend.  Behind window 24 for Christmas Eve, there’s a special surprise too…

The Bonne Maman Advent Calendar is available to ship to the UK only.  It arrived in a massive box too, probably to accommodate the size of the two leaves that open out to make the whole Santa’s Workshop landscape.  The windows hide a glass 30 gram jar of each of the jams and preserves, so you have the excellent quality of Bonne Maman which is kept fresh and safe from perishing. The glass adds to the weight of the calendar but is worth it for the mixture of jams and spreads inside. You’ll never get bored of the different flavours!

Speaking of flavours, I have never seen such a mix of fruits.  There’s not just the usual strawberry and raspberry jams (although they are included!) but delicacies such as fig, nectarine and peach, all of which are mixed with different spices to give whole new flavours.  If you only occasionally eat toast or scones but appreciate good jam and don’t want to open a whole jar each time, this is a brilliant gift. It’s also good for food connoisseurs who love trying new flavours or cooking with different jams. For example, the Apricot & Lavender spread would be scrumptious on a gammon joint to bring out the flavours.  Chestnut and orange would also be perfect for Christmas Day lunch or a Sunday Roast to add to the stuffing or as a side to the Yorkshire Puddings.

Once you’ve indulged in all the spreads, don’t forget the teas. I think there’s a reason each of the herbal teas are based around calming, soothing flavours at Christmas time, so make sure you make full use of them!

Available from £33.00: https://www.bonnemaman.co.uk/advent

LoveRaw Advent Calendar 

advent calendar, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

LoveRaw have produced their first ever vegan advent calendar for 2023 on the back of their meteoric rise to chocolate heaven since 2013. LoveRaw have sent us one of their new advent calendars to review and the back story of how the LoveRaw team came about.

Back in 2013, Rini and Manar had what they called a ‘crazy idea’ to create vegan chocolate, but for it to also not taste vegan at all. This included using unconventional products (for the time) and trying to get the attention of lots of buyers. Along the past 10+ years, they have rejected Dragon’s Den offers, developed tons more products and probably become sick of the sight of chocolate to come to this point where they are able to sell vegan chocolate to the masses.

LoveRaw’s chocolate is made with no palm oil and no artificial ingredients. All of the base ingredients are plant based (such as chickpea protein concentrate) and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. In fact, they say that it’s suitable for everyone, including ‘Unvegans’ who aren’t vegan at all but happy to eat something that has been produced in the vegan way.  Their chocolate contains sugar, but beyond that there are no other ingredients which you might want to. Stay away from. There’s a whole list of ingredients on the back that you’ll recognise.

The LoveRaw Advent Calendar is. The usual 24 windows we are familiar with hide medallions of LoveRaw vegan chocolate behind a foil covering which keeps them fresh as well as increasing the anticipation as you open them! LoveRaw isn’t aimed specifically at children, but the chocolate pieces are decorated with Christmas themes, just like the ones we had as children.  The pieces are only about the size of a 2 pence coin (3.3grams per piece) so there isn’t an indulgent amount that will spoil dinner but still gives you the chocolate hit. 

What was the chocolate like? I took it upon myself to try several pieces and I can confidently say that it does indeed taste like chocolate! The advent calendar is milk chocolate flavoured (we know there is no actual milk in it though) but the flavour is slightly more of a darker chocolate flavour, but not at all bitter. I think because there is added sugar, the LoveRaw chocolate tastes sweeter. There is no bitter aftertaste with it though, like some vegan chocolates have.

Whether for an adult or children, the LoveRaw advent calendar ticks all the boxes and no one will notice the difference between vegan and ‘unvegan’!

RRP £6.99

Just Spices Coffee Kiss and Pumpkin Pie Spice 

Autumn, Children, Christmas, coffee, Family Life, Food & Drink, Halloween, Home, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

You may not think of Just Spices as a company who produce ‘treats’ especially at Christmas time, but did you know that in addition to the spices and toppings they create, they also make sweet additions to your baking?

This autumn, Just Spices have two versatile blends to liven up your coffee, and beyond.  Coffee Kiss and Pumpkin Pie Spice are as close as you can get to the barista-style toppings everyone loves to indulge in this time of year.  We were sent both to try from the lovely people at Just Spices, who seem to come up with new ideas every week of how to improve cooking, baking and generally eating!

Coffee Kiss is a blend of spices which you add to coffee to enhance the flavour.  Containing ground almonds, cocoa powder and cinnamon, it adds a winter spice to coffee to create a slightly sweeter, chocolatey taste to your morning brew. It can also be added to other drinks such as hot chocolate (as seen here), over ice cream, to smoothies and with fruit or muesli. It would also go very well with porridge on a cold day when you want to mix up the flavours slightly but don’t want to over do it with flavour.  I like this mixture of the chocolate and cinnamon flavours because they not only complement each other, but they feel warming to taste and remind me of Christmas.

The Pumpkin Pie Spice mix is just as autumnal and so appropriate for this time of year! If you’re a lover of the pumpkin flavoured drinks in the famous coffee shop chains, then this is the spice for you. Containing cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg, it has that authentic autumn/winter taste to it with the mix of sweet and spicy. This is a spice not just for coffee but you can use it in hot chocolate too, or even with baking. If you’re making Thanksgiving treats such as pumpkin pie or even pumpkin soup, then the Pumpkin Pie Spice mix adds all the festive flavours without you having to gather all the ingredients yourself and try and get the right combination first time.  It’s a treat for any coffee lover, or lover of autumn altogether.

Coffee Kiss currently on sale online at £3.99: https://www.justspices.co.uk/coffee-kiss.html

Pumpkin Pie Spice currently on sale online at £4.79: https://www.justspices.co.uk/pumpkin-pie-spice.html

Joy of Christmas Hamper Gift Box

alcoholic drinks, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Gluten Free, Home, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Hampers are such a good idea at Christmas. I remember receiving a few over the years when I was a child as ‘thank you’ gifts at Christmas so that the whole family could enjoy them. I don’t particularly remember what was in them but it was so exciting rummaging through all the ruffled paper to find something else. Then there’s the obvious questions to my Mum, ‘What is this?’ It would turn out to be something like a posh chutney, or a type of Christmas dessert we never had in our house. I remember loose tea being in one hamper and my mind automatically thought you had to assemble your own tea bags from it. What was the point of that?

Hampers have come a long way since then but they’re just as popular as gifts and there’s so many varieties to choose from. The Goodness Project use lots of vegan and gluten free products for their gift boxes, and there are plenty of gift boxes available on their website so you’ll find one within your price range and suitable for any occasion.

We were sent their 2023 Joy of Christmas Gift Box to try out.  This £28.50 box is deceptively full with treats for Christmas!  There’s everything you need including:

  • A bottle of Bottega Gold Prosecco (20cl)
  • Angelic Chocolate and Orange Biscuits (vegan)
  • Love Cocoa Peruvian Dark Chocolate (71%) 
  • English Truffle Potato Crisps
  • Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix
  • Lottie Shaw’s Deep Filled Mince Pie (70g)

The box is enough for one person to eat themselves or two people to share, but the bottle of Prosecco is probably only enough for 1 glass each! The Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix was a surprise with how lovely they were. There was a mixture of different nuts, but they were roasted and flavoured with herbs which made them different to what you can usually buy on supermarket shelves. The English Truffle Potato crisps from English Heritage have won the Great Taste award for 2023 probably due to the quality of the potato and then the delicious truffle flavour. If you’ve never tried truffle crisps before, then if I describe them to you as posh mushroom but not as strong, you’ll know that the taste is pretty tame and even children would enjoy it.  

For the sweeter snacks, there’s the Deep Filled Mince Pie from Lottie Shaw’s.  Bigger than the mine pies you get in the supermarket in packs of 6, this is deep filled and baked in Yorkshire to a family recipe.  It’s great for the mince pie aficionado who loves to compare all the varieties on the market each Christmas! There’s also the Angelic Chocolate Orange Vegan cookies which are also dairy, nut and gluten free. The packaging says they’re safe for the top 14 allergens which is good to know if you’re buying the gift box for a teacher or family you don’t know that well. There’s two packets of biscuits in the box (which is all recyclable) and 4 cookies in each making 8 in all. Plenty for a snack throughout the Christmas period but also great for entertaining!

Lastly there’s the Peruvian Dark Chocolate from Love Cocoa. With a weight of 75 grams it’s about the size of tuckshop confectionary but at 71% it’s a dark chocolate from one of the best chocolate makers around.  It’s very smooth and very strong so even if you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, you probably won’t want to eat all of it in one go.

The final item in the Joy of Christmas Hamper Box is the Bottega Gold Prosecco which is also organic and vegan. A light, sparkling wine which compliments the mix of Christmas flavours in the other items in the box, it’s a welcome alcohol addition to round off Christmas. It is 11% though so best keep it away from the children!

Rather than buy another ever-decreasing size box of chocolates and the dreaded Panettone

 for your neighbours or family friends this Christmas, splash out on a bit more and send a Goodness Project gift box and forget about having to wrap it – their gorgeous ribbon box is sent directly to them for you!

Available online for £28.50 at: https://thegoodnessproject.co.uk/shop/joy-of-christmas-hamper-gift-box

NOMO Christmas Chocolates

Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gluten Free, Stocking Fillers, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

NOMO (No More Missing Out) have brought out a lovely range of Christmas chocolates for 2023, aimed at anyone who is allergic to the main allergens (dairy, gluten, egg and nuts) or lives a plant based life. We were sent some of the selection to review, and frankly, it’s the best part of our job when we have to force ourselves to eat chocolate!

The selection of NOMO Sharing Boxes contain 140 grams of chocolates, each individually wrapped and there’s about 12 chocolates in each box.  There are three flavours of the sharing boxes; Choc Orange Crunch, Caramel and Mint. All of the sharing boxes are vegan chocolate, plant based and free from eggs, dairy nuts and gluten so are suitable for the whole family.

If you’re familiar with the ‘big brand’ chocolates then you’ll recognise what type of confectionary these flavours are based on. The Caramel flavour is milk chocolate with a soft caramel filling. They’re arranged as two squares for each of the sweets, so you can take your time over eating them and the chocolate is surprisingly thick.  The Choc Orange Crunch isn’t a fondant filling but more of an enriched chocolate filling with piece of – you guessed it – crunchy flavoured orange pieces.  The last box is the Mint flavour which was my favourite. Again, there was generous chocolate but also a lot of the mint fondant filling which was soft at room temperature and reminded me of another famous brand.

We were also sent the NOMO Reindeers in Choc Fudge and Cookie Dough flavours. These individually wrapped chocolates weigh 33 grams and 30 grams respectively and are also vegan and free from eggs, nuts, gluten and dairy. They’re perfect for adding to children’s stockings or for Christmas parties where you don’t know if the kids are all able to tolerate conventional milk chocolate.  The Cookie Dough flavour is soft with slightly crunchy pieces covered in NOMO milk chocolate.  The child in me insisted on eating the reindeer ears first but there’s no obligation! The Choc Fudge flavour was my favourite though as it was rich, deep fudge that was slightly gooey and very indulgent. It’s a real chocolate lover’s treat.

The sharing boxes are an excellent idea no matter what time of year and are just the right portion size to be eaten after dinner over the Christmas period. They’re also great for school lunchboxes or for anyone who’s never tried plant-based chocolates before.  For those of us who are always scrambling for last minute gifts for the neighbours, these NOMO sharing boxes mean you don’t have to worry about offending anyone with an allergy by giving them something they can’t enjoy!  The NOMO Reindeers are a great pick-me-up for the supermarket too, or to enjoy on car journeys throughout the festive period.

NOMO are continuing to make great fun chocolate that’s appealing to everyone and more importantly, more accessible. There is indeed No Missing Out anymore when it comes to chocolate.

NOMO Chocolate Advent Calendar 

advent calendar, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’ve never heard of NOMO, then this Christmas you will certainly see the brand in the shops and especially on the advent calendar section of supermarkets.  NOMO stands for No Missing Out and relates to the fact that their chocolate is vegan and free from dairy, gluten egg and nuts. So no one who has any of those major intolerances will miss out on chocolate this Christmas.

The same size as most advent calendars, the NOMO chocolate advent calendar has 24 windows to cover the whole of advent.  Behind each windows is a scrumptious creamy chocolate drop made with Rainforest Alliance cocoa and is entirely plant based, hence there aren’t the allergens that other chocolates contain. The chocolate instead contains rice powder, shea oil, sea salt and flavourings with a dash of sugar too.

You really can’t taste that the NOMO chocolate is any different to traditional chocolate. It’s still smooth and creamy, still has the milk chocolate taste and no after taste.

At £5 for the calendar it compares to other brands too. If you’re giving this as a gift to someone you don’t know very well, it works perfectly because anyone can eat it no matter their intolerances or allergies!  Children will love the chocolate behind each window but adults will love it just as much as the packaging isn’t just for children. Father Christmas is dressed in blue though – like the NOMO logo colours!

You can find not just advent calendars by NOMO this Christmas but lots of other chocolate sweets which we’ll be reviewing later this week. You can find NOMO in supermarkets such as Waitrose, Co-Op, Morrison, Holland & Barratt, Nisa, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. 

Available from £5 at: https://nomochoc.com/products/advent-calendar-2

Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar 

advent calendar, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Plastic free

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

One of the more brilliant ideas for discovering new foods, flavours or in this case teas is to ask for an advent calendar before Christmas. Bird & Blend Tea have created 24 days of different tea flavours for you to try, which circumnavigates having to spend money on a box of teabags you might not like.  This is becoming an increasingly clever way of trying new products without having to spend the time choosing something new, and is often much cheaper too. 

Celebrating Christmas and perhaps helping you buy the gift for the person who has everything (including excellent taste in tea!) the Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar also acts as a tasting menu.  Not really designed for children, although older teenagers who love tea will probably appreciate this, it’s decorated in yellow and blue with two teabags behind each of the 24 windows. The size of the calendar is bigger than the usual chocolate calendars, so taller than A4 and about letterbox side in width. As you’d imagine with teabags though, it’s pretty light and can be posted easily and not get ruined in the post.

Inside there’s instructions on how to read the teabags. Each bag has a key of how much caffeine they contain, how many minutes they should be brewed for and whether you should add milk. If you’re a real tea expert, it will also tell you the correct temperature to brew at, as apparently some need more heat and therefore 80 degrees centigrade is needed. Within the doors, there’s even a scoreboard for the top 5 blends you enjoy so you know what to buy later.

When you open the windows, there are two identically flavoured teabags behind them.  They’re not individually wrapped and each of them are plastic free so they’re compostable too. Some of the flavours include Chocolate Digestive, Treacle Sponge, Apple Strudel, Banana Bread Chai and of course, the Great British Cuppa!  My personal favourite (although I do appreciate a good British Cuppa) was Gingerbread Chai. You can tell that a lot of thought has gone into this selection with the mix of winter, Christmas and classic flavours. I don’t think any of the flavours are repeated and some of them I’ve never seen before. 

Whether you’re just a big fan of tea, or looking for something different to try during the winter, the Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar is a great choice and sure to make anyone smile this Christmas!

Available for £38 at: https://www.birdandblendtea.com/products/tea-advent-calendar

Disney Advent Calendar Game & Puzzle

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Calling all Disney lovers!  This years’ advent calendar for Disney characters is also a game and puzzle.  

Instead of the usual chocolate advent calendar, this Disney toy is a game where you collect 16 Disney characters to build up a board game to play on Christmas Day.  The object of the game is get all the toys under the tree, playing in teams to move around the board.

There are 24 windows and a surprise behind each one.  The Disney characters are from past movies such as Frozen and Toy Story (Ariel, Woody, Elsa, Anna) and old favourites (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald) from the Disney Mickey and Friends as well as Disney Princess. There’s an added Snap game made from the windows doors, which can keep the children occupied whilst they collect all the parts throughout December. 

Inside the advent calendar box you’ll find the puzzle game board, 4 dice, 4 card stands, the perforated snap card game and the game rules as well as the characters hidden behind the windows. The set is aimed at children aged 4 and over because there are small parts and accommodates 2 to 4 players. 

It makes a refreshing change to not have oodles of chocolate in a month that’s already heavy on the treats, and building up the game creates anticipation although I think the younger children will get frustrated at not being able to play the game from December 1! However, with each figure that’s revealed, and the windows that create the snap game, it adds to children’s imagination to be creating games with the pieces as they accumulate.  Each of the pieces really look like the movie characters and even if you’re not a big Disney fan, you’ll still recognise who they are.  The game is easy to play, so even if you’ve got loads of board games this Christmas, you’ll love the simplicity of this on Christmas Day and not having to get your head around it. The children will appreciate not just the Disney aspect but how playable the game is.

Want a quieter Christmas Day with less noise and flashing lights? The Disney Advent Calendar Game and Puzzle allows children to create their board game throughout Advent and will hopefully give you a quieter Christmas.Available from £29.99 at: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/disney-advent-calendar/5411068302367.html?gclid=66df5ae9c83d1e18d2693fcf49c3bbc4&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=66df5ae9c83d1e18d2693fcf49c3bbc4

Maxtris Chocolate Advent Calendar from Sacla

advent calendar, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Everyone knows European chocolate is the best there is. It’s the ingredients, the way it’s made and a centuries old history that elevates it above all else out there.  The Maxtris Chocolate Advent Calendar from Sacla is Italy’s finest confectionary, all bundled up in Christmas in the form of 24 drawers each filled with chocolate.

The A4 sized boxed chocolates are extremely pretty, with doors that open up to reveal the 24 windows for each day of advent. Behind each drawer there is a chocolate from a range that includes Extra Dark 70%, Milk, Pistachio and Noisette. Each of the chocolates are reminiscent of another brand of round, individually wrapped European chocolates, with a coating of chocolate around a filling of softer fondant chocolate which melts at a lower temperature. After having tried several of the chocolates for this review (yes, I know it’s not Advent yet but I am testing them after all!) I can confidently confirm that these chocolates are actually much nicer. Maxitris chocolates don’t have the processed taste to them, they feel more natural and have the sweetness of the chocolate coming through instead of the added sugar that other brands have. They taste more authentic.

The advent calendar itself is gorgeous. The bright red packaging, which is very sturdy and suitable for posting, is well made and recyclable. The little drawers behind the doors are individually numbered save for a few which you can work out as you hunt for numbers. There’s cartoons of Santa, elves and a reindeer plus a shiny gold metallic finish to each of the illustrations. Once you get to drawer 24, Christmas Eve, there isn’t an extra special prize unfortunately, but if you felt like it, you could always add something yourself as the drawers aren’t fixed and can be opened and closed without ruining them.

This is a lovely calendar for adults or children. Children will like the bright colours and discovering what’s inside each drawer whereas adults will appreciate the exquisite chocolates.  The whole calendar can be re-purposed as well, either adding something different or extra to the drawers, or keep the whole calendar for next year when you put something different in it, even if it’s not chocolate or sweets. It’s not gender specific nor does it have any year assigned to it so this could be used again and again!

A perfect gift for chocolate lovers, anyone who loves Christmas or anything to do with Italy. Looks very pretty on the mantel piece too!

Available from £25.00 at: https://www.sacla.co.uk/products/advent-calendar-by-maxtris?variant=43821577175270

Pact Coffee Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Christmas, coffee, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Coffee makes a lot of people happy. I have an office which runs on either coffee, chocolate (or both) and the discussions around the finer points of both food stuffs are both daily and endless. Which is better, filtered or cafetiere coffee? South American or Kenyan? Dark roasted or lightly roasted? (apparently that’s a thing) and more importantly, where do you buy your coffee from?

Pact Coffee, the British coffee roasters have brought out their most extravagant coffee advent calendar to date.  Packed with 25 different coffee roasts, I wondered how it was going to arrive with enough coffee included in each day to allow at least one cup of coffee to be made. Surely they weren’t little windows like the chocolate calendars have?  Well, last week a box arrived and my questions were answered. Inside the slightly bigger than shoebox sized calendar were 25 filed packets of individually sourced coffees from around the world. If you can’t get your head around how they’re presented, have a look at the photo and it makes sense!

Now you might be wondering why there are 25 packets and not the usual 24? Well Pact Coffee have decided to include their Special Christmas Blend so that you can sit back on Christmas Day and enjoy a coffee, in the knowledge that you have spent the whole of December sampling everything from specialty coffees to luxury and rare coffees. Sourced from 8 countries and all carefully selected, the coffees showcase the best of stock that Pact have to offer. On the inside of the lid is a QR code so that you can access the menu online and choose to buy the coffee at a later date. There’s up to 200 different roasts to choose from online at any time and the menu changes over the year too.

For example, Day 1 is the Kiri coffee. The card has the packet attached, clearly stating that it’s Day 1 (so if they become slightly dislodged in the box, you can still match them up). The card explains that Kiri is grown by a collective of smallholder farmers in Kenya and on the back it gives more of a background – hints of blackcurrant jam, light roast and even the variety.  It’s grown in the high altitudes and the cooperative who grow it operates with a luxuriously lengthy washing process.

I tried several of the coffees over the weekend, but there are so many, it’s best to follow them in order and one a day if you want to get the full benefit! The best one out of the handful I tried was Kibirizi Washed. The Rwandan coffee has a hint of orange marmalade and is only lightly roasted with a silky mouthfeel. Divine!

If you’re not into advent calendars then this would make a lovely gift for a family or to create conversation in the office before you purchase a Pact Coffee subscription. It’s really easy to find the roasts online to be able to pick out anything you want from their menu, and the variety of coffees is a great way to sample something other than your usual. Coffee lovers will adore it!

Currently available for £29.95 at: https://www.pactcoffee.com/christmas/ground-pact-coffee-advent-calendar-23

Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Stocking Fillers, Winter

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Are you the type of family who open advent calendars in the morning before school? When coming in after school? Or do you wait until after dinner to indulge in the daily Christmas chocolate? In our house, we always had chocolate after dinner but now that I’m an adult I have to remind myself that I can have chocolate any time of the day, even when it’s not Christmas!

Cadbury make a whole range of different chocolates and this Cadbury Heroes Share Good Times is an ideal adult or teenage gift.  The Heroes range of chocolates include Eclairs, Fudge, Wispa, Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Twirl, Dairy Milk Caramel, Double Decker and Crème Egg Twist.  These are all the miniature varieties of the bigger bars but just as delicious and probably better for your health overall! They’re individually wrapped behind 24 windows and make up 230 grams in total of chocolate inside.

Probably aimed at older children, teenagers and adults, the variety of chocolate bars appeals to anyone who loves chocolate. Even if there’s one or two you don’t like, there are 9 different bars to choose from so you can guarantee there’ll be another one the next day that you will.  If like me you don’t usually buy chocolate bars throughout the year, you’ll be surprised what’s on the market now. I’d never seen Crème Egg Twisted before, and it’s been a long time since I had a Double Decker so these brought back memories!

I really like the idea of having so many different bars in one calendar, and yes, they are much smaller than the full sized bars but they’re just the same taste, and give the same chocolate hit I’m always looking for mid afternoon.  It’s reminded me how much I love a Fudge bar or Twirl and made me look forward to opening the next window in the Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar throughout Christmas.

Available from £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-heroes-advent-calendar.html

Yankee Candle Advent Calendar Wreath

advent calendar, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, Home, Winter

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Atmospheric autumn nights turn into festive Christmas advent when 1 December comes around. As the children delight in their chocolate advent calendars, Yankee Candle have grown-up versions for adults which will spoil you just as much. The Yankee Candle Advent Wreath has 24 days’ worth of pretty candles to light up your evenings.

The wreath, which has fixtures on the back to be able to be mounted on a wall, contains 24 scented tealight candles of 8 different fragrances, and one glass tea light holder, which is in the window on 1 December.  The scents are all Christmas themed and include Letter to Santa, Christmas Cookie, Twinkling Lights, Christmas Eve, Amber & Sandalwood, Silver, Sage & Pine, Soft Wool & Amber and Pink Cherry Vanilla. Each tealight weighs enough to give you over an evenings’ worth of burn so you can keep them going night after night or save up until you have several of the same scent and dot them around the room to give a luscious scent throughout the house. The addition of the glass tealight holder means that you still have an attractive candle vase long after Christmas and can purchase more Yankee Candle tealights in the New Year to use around the home.

This is a lovely indulgent gift for anyone who loves candles or Christmas, and doesn’t want chocolate or alcohol at Christmas time.  Although the box is large and an awkward shape, it is still fairly easy to post because it’s not very heavy or thick.  There’s a lovely array of different scents which will evoke Christmas and the festive spirit even more once you have the decorations up.  I think this is lovely for teenagers who might just be getting into candles but don’t want childish chocolate or toys at this time of year.

The candles and scents are beautiful and are a fabulous alternative to sweets plus they can be enjoyed by the whole family!

Available from £27.99 at: https://www.yankeecandle.co.uk/yankee-candle/gifts/candle-gift-sets/advent-wreath/ORCL_1738653E.html

Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate and Chocolate Coins

Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Who here DIDN’T have chocolate coins for Christmas as a child?  Were they part of your stocking? Perhaps Gran gave you some chocolate as part of your Christmas present along with a few notes when you were a teenager?  I know I used to get a bar of chocolate at Christmas with something monetary sellotaped to it because that’s all I wanted by the time I was that age!

Cadbury have a range of chocolate gifts for every occasion and you’ll be pleased to know that their famous chocolate coins are still going strong.  Available everywhere for the festive season, there’s something nostalgic about getting the coins, then trying to prise open that plastic netting that I swear is stronger than steel… only to have to spend the next half hour delicately peeling off the foil from each of the coins before devour them. I’m not sure they were ever meant to be an exercise in dexterity, but the satisfaction of getting the foil off of a chocolate coin on one go without bending or tearing it is something every child should experience.

The Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate bar and grab bag are relatively new to the range.  Slightly crunchy shells are covered in a light dusting of sugar and filled with milk chocolate to give a contradictory crunch and smooth chocolate sensation.  Deliciously more-ish, they’re perfect for stockings, Secret Santa or as a part present for either adults or children. Whichever Cadbury chocolates you choose, don’t forget they won’t be around for the rest of the year, so snap them up when you can!

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-bar-110g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-chocolate-family-sharing-bag-296g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chocolate-christmas-coins-bag-70g.html

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Advent calendars aren’t just for children anymore. They mostly are, but now we have these bigger, more sophisticated marketing calendars that cater for all kinds of whims and fancies.  Adults who love chocolate are spoiled for choice though. Cadbury have an extra special Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special which contains squares of Dairy Milk chocolate chunks which are individually wrapped. There’s caramel, Dairy Milk or wholenut contained in random behind the 24 windows. 

This advent calendar is aimed at chocolate lovers but not necessarily children, so it’s great for teenagers, adult children or even partners. There’s no gimmicky marketing with this calendar, just the 24 windows with little individual bars behind each of them.  The packaging is largely recyclable, apart from the wrappers and the cocoa is 100% sustainably sourced.

If you love milk chocolate and especially for adults who love chocolate, this is a great gift! There’s a whopping 259 grams of chocolate in this calendar, which is more than 2 bars worth.  The individual chunks of chocolate make it easy to share this calendar too, and if you don’t want to eat the pieces, you can save them for later.  The individually wrapped chunks are the same Dairy Milk chocolate and quality you’d expect from Cadbury, and I, as a chocolate lover, especially love the fact that there is this variety of flavours to look forward to each day too. It also helps that the Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special also has the proper 24 windows, not the new trendy 12 days of advent!

For chocolate lovers, adults, teenagers and anyone whom you’d want to treat, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar For Someone Special is a must this Christmas. Available online for £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chunk-advent-calendar-258g.html

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Christmas wouldn’t be the same for children without the excitement of getting a chocolate advent calendar, which in our house was always from my grandparents! As we got older, family friends would always send chocolate advent calendars to us and eventually it became a group amongst all our friends to have a children’s chocolate advent calendar.

Cadbury are the Grand Masters of advent calendars.  We were sent 3 out of a range of calendars to try, all of them with delicious chocolate which you would recognise behind every window. The first of those was the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar – a staple in any family home.  Each of the 24 windows has a small piece of Dairy Milk Chocolate molded into a Christmas shape such as a gingerbread man, present or snowman.  There’s pictures behind the windows and the chocolate is hidden behind tin foil to keep it fresh, although it also adds to the anticipation for little fingers to prise it open and reveal the chocolate!

The cocoa in this Dairy Milk Advent Calendar is 100% sustainably sourced and Cadbury partner with the Fairtrade Foundation to promote fair growing for farmers and friendly farming for the environment.  The packaging is recyclable, although the foil wrapping isn’t just yet.  On the back of the calendar there’s a simple puzzle for children to complete, although I would imagine most children would just be interested in the chocolate inside! There’s 90grams net of chocolate inside, so no overloading on lots of sugar before bedtime.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for children available online from approximately £4.92 from supermarkets and: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cadbury-Dairy-Chocolate-Advent-Calendar/dp/B076X55SZB/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=cadbury+advent+calendar&qid=1694531043&sr=8-2

Just Spices Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Advent calendars are getting more and more exciting these days. No longer do we have the calendars of youth with just an illustration behind a window, or a little snowman shaped chocolate. Instead, every major retailer and even department store has something on offer. 

Just Spices have launched their 2023 Advent Calendar again, with the full 24 days to look forward to. If you’re not familiar with their products, Just Spices produce a range of seasonings, toppings and mixes to liven up any mealtime.  It’s not just spices though, it’s a mix of spices and salts which add both flavour and nutrients to your dishes.

The Just Spices 2023 Advent Calendar is bursting with samples from their range.  There’s pizza topping, curry seasoning, Texas BBQ mix to add to chicken or beef, and a whole host of other products which are for both sweet and savoury dishes. Each sachet is enough for one meal, which you can save for after Christmas. For door number 24, there’s a full sized spice mix which can be added to your store cupboard.

The Just Spices 2023 Advent Calendar differs from other manufacturers because they actually supply 24 days’ worth of gifts – most high end retailers opt for just 12 days now.  The cardboard calendar is easy to post or transport and recycle too, and the sachets last for ages. You don’t have to use them on the day you receive them! The full size mix will last you for weeks too, but you’ll probably find it handy to use over the Christmas festivities anyway. I love the range of seasonings available, often for dishes which I would never normally think of adding extra flavour to, like avocado on toast, and the variety of sachets means I get to try the whole product line without having to buy them individually, which can end up pricy and take up a lot of room at home. 

The Just Spices Advent Calendar would be great for older teenagers who are learning to cook or who are away at university and could benefit from some extra flavour to their meals, or for those who love cooking and perhaps don’t have the room for a full spice cupboard. Adults will love this calendar due to it not being completely reliant on chocolate, sugar or alcohol and actually something they can, and will, use throughout the rest of the year.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Home & Garden, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Edifier have a huge range of headphone and earbuds available for all budgets, so this Christmas you’re bound to find a pair that are a suitable gift, or perfect for yourself!

The Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds are among the cheaper headphones (RRP £69.99) but still have all the features you’re looking for.  The in-ear buds are Bluetooth and able to pair with phones, laptops or gaming computers.  They’re especially good for gaming (or watching TV) because of the low latency connection between sound source and ears.

That’s not the only feature the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds have.  Students will love these for studying or listening to lectures because they have active noise cancellation and environmental noise cancellation. If you’re not used to headphones which cancel out surrounding noise, then it comes a quite a shock when you can’t hear the traffic outside or the TV in another room. The sturdy earbuds are dust and splash proof, so work excellently in the gym or out for a run.

The earbuds come in a presentation box (as seen in the photo) where the charging cable, instructions and different sized spare earpieces are stored. The actual Edifier earbuds are in their own carry case which is where the charging happens. Each earbud ‘click’s into place by magnets in the case and you charge them using the USB cable provided.  10 minutes of charging gives an hour of play on the headphones, and a full charge gives 24 hours of play with the ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) switched off, or 16 hours with ANC turned on. Long enough for a long haul flight or train journey from one end of the country to the other!

Connecting the headphones is easy. There’s a QR code on the back of the packaging or in the Instructions that allows you to download the Connect App to your device, or on my laptop they just connected when taken out the carry case and my laptop Bluetooth mode was switched to “Discover Mode”. The earbuds have a really useful feature whereby they can tell if you are taking them out, they automatically pause what they’re playing, the start again when you put them back in your ears. 

Buying the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds won’t break the bank and you don’t need any extras with them such as a case or spare sets of ear pieces. The different size ear pieces make it easy to adapt them to any size ear whether for children or adults. The carry case fits nicely into a pocket so the only problem I would see with these earbuds is if you lose one!

The sound quality is excellent, so it’s surprising that they cost as little as they do, plus they’re on sale at the moment on Amazon for £49.99. As with all Edifier headphones, they’re not just a one trick pony whereby they deliver sound, but they have extra features that make them more comfortable, less frustrating and easily adaptable.

Available online for £69.99 (£49.99 at Amazon on sale):