Best gifts for coffee lovers

(CNN) —  

Never have we ever spent more time at home obsessing over how to make coffee. Hot drip, pour-over, cold brew, iced, espresso, single-serve pod, dalgona whipped… We’ve tried all the ways. And for those on your gift list who love coffee, there’s never been a better year for a bean-specific holiday gift.

From stocking stuffer-appropriates to true splurges (that also benefit charity!), here are our picks for holiday gifts for coffee lovers. Want some more gift ideas? Check out our gifts for him, gifts for her, gifts for pets, practical gifts, gifts for foodies, Nordstrom gifts, 5-star Amazon gifts and gifts for everyone else.

Starting with beans…

Ethical Bean Fair Trade Organic Lush Medium Dark Roast Ground Coffee ($8.99; amazon.com)

We have drunk a lot of coffee during the pandemic. This is one of our favorite new brands: It’s Fair Trade Certified (so that the farmers who grow it earn a fair wage) and USDA organic — and it comes with a code you can scan on your phone to source each bag of beans. Plus, it’s relatively affordable.

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World Explorer’s Coffee Sampler ($32; uncommongoods.com)

Can’t travel the world this year? Taste it through global beans. Each gift box contains four 4-ounce bags of single-origin coffees, one from each flavor profile: balanced, fruity, bold, classic, sourced and roasted by Driftaway Coffee in Brooklyn.

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Reserve Coffee Gift Set JR Reserve & Kona ($49.95; peets.com)

Sort of like the distiller’s select of coffee, for a discerning connoisseur: Peet’s Roastmaster Emeritus Jim Reynolds selected lots of rare beans to create one of these blends, and the other is a superb Kona from Hawaii.

They like variety, and having their beans arrive by mail? A coffee subscription lets them try different options and extend the gift themselves if they like it.

Atlas Coffee Club 3-Month Gift Subscription ($45, originally $60; atlascoffeeclub.com)

The Underscored team loves Atlas Coffee Club from firsthand experience: The brand delivers coffees from around the world with notes on each bean selection. Your giftee can try a starter sub of three months’ worth. (There are lots of other coffee subscriptions we love too, with terrific creative gift options.)

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Blue Bottle Subscription (starting at $11 per shipment; bluebottlecoffee.com)

Our winner for the best coffee subscription of 2020, Blue Bottle can send a variety of blends and espresso assortments right to your door, starting at just $11 per shipment.

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Grounds & Hounds Coffee Club Subscription (starting at $16.99; groundsandhoundscoffee.com)

Twenty percent of proceeds from this coffee subscription service fund doggy rescue organizations around the country. Gift a three-, six- or 12-month subscription, individual bags of beans, cute puppy toys and apparel or all of the above.

There’s tons of great coffee gear out there, obviously. In no particular order, we love these (and they make affordable gifts).

Thang Long Vietnamese Coffee Filter Maker Press ($10.99; amazon.com)

If authentic Vietnamese-style coffee and pho sound like their dream winter routine, this easy-to-use small press is a nice stocking stuffer.

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AeroPress Coffee & Espresso Maker ($29.99; bedbathandbeyond.com)

Some coffee geeks’ favorite simple coffee maker, the AeroPress makes espresso, hot and cold brew coffee through total immersion of the coffee grounds in water, for maximum extraction and flavor but lower acidity.

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Chemex Pour-Over Glass Coffee Maker ($45.95; surlatable.com)

A midcentury modern design original since the ‘60s, the Chemex makes a terrific and fairly affordable gift.

If they need a new automatic drip coffee maker, we tested and rated over a dozen in quarantine, at different price points. There’s one for everyone on your list!

Braun BrewSense Drip Coffee Maker ($71.96, originally $89.95; amazon.com)

This midprice machine was our overall favorite automatic drip machine in our best-of roundup, based on function, design and price.

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Cuisinart Touch-Screen 14-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker ($129.69; amazon.com)

If they’re a sleek touch-screen type even before their morning coffee, this is an excellent daily brewing option.

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Technivorm Moccamaster 10-Cup Coffee Maker ($247.20, originally $359; amazon.com)

If midcentury modern design is their primary focus and price isn’t an issue, we can’t get enough of the Moccamaster.

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Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Coffee Maker ($29.99; target.com)

This budget buy made an excellent pot of coffee — and the device is well sized for smaller kitchens.

We also tested burr coffee grinders, the ones the experts say are a must for creating the best grind at home. Our favorites from that experiment also make great gifts.

Baratza Virtuoso+ Conical Burr Coffee Grinder ($249; amazon.com)

In our test of coffee grinders, this one came in best in show, with 40 grind settings, a digital timer, European-manufactured burrs and a motor.

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Bodum Bistro Burr Coffee Grinder ($100, originally $143; amazon.com)

Stylish and easy to use, with 12 grind settings, this one is a more affordable burr grinder. Want something with a small footprint? Check out this Bodum Bistro grinder for $24.99.

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Porlex Mini Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder ($80.99; amazon.com)

For those who like a manual touch, this was our favorite hand grinder. Made in Osaka of stainless steel, it’s handsome, compact and precise.

And yes, we tested 10 single-serve coffee makers too (we had a lot of time on our hands in quarantine). Need a gift for someone who lives alone or just wants one cup at a time? These were our top three, and we’d be happy to see them arrive at our doorstep on a holiday morning.

Nespresso VertuoPlus Deluxe by Breville ($125.99, originally $179.99; bedbathandbeyond.com or starting at $134.96, originally $179.95; amazon.com)

The Cadillac of single-serve coffee devices, this Breville Nespresso machine ranked as our best overall single-serve coffee maker. It makes four sizes of cup: espresso, Lungo, Mug and Alto, comes with an Aeroccino 3 frother and uses special technology to perfect a brew for any of the volumes.

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Sboly Single-Serve Coffee Maker Brewer ($58.95; amazon.com)

At a fraction of the cost of some others, and a much smaller size to boot, the Sboly was our best budget pick for single-serve machines. It’s highly functional and uses either K-Cups or fresh grounds through a filter attachment.

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Technivorm Moccamaster One-Cup Coffee Brewer ($175.20, originally $219; nordstrom.com)

Rather than using pods, the Moccamaster employs the same technology as with its standard automatic drip machine — a copper boiling element that rapidly heats water to just the right temperature for perfect extraction, to brew a perfect 10-ounce cup in four minutes. Yep, it was our best luxury single-cup pick.

We tested cold brew machines over the summer too — and our winners make very affordable and chic gifts.

Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Pot (starting at $16.95, originally starting at $21.50; amazon.com)

For the price of about four to-go cups of cold brew, this handsome Japanese glass brewer yields about four cups and is slim enough for any counter space.

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Ovalware Airtight Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker ($29.99; amazon.com)

This design-forward one looks nice at the brunch table.

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Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker ($15.99, originally $19.99; amazon.com)

A plastic carafe option that makes for a good weekend-away gift.

And some more coffee-related stuff we love…

United by Blue Enamel Steel Candle Mug ($15.20, originally $38; kohls.com)

This lumberjack-chic steel mug houses a soy wax candle with cedarwood, leather, moss and spice scent. And after that deliciousness burns down, they’re left with a coffee-drinking utensil. Plus, the maker of the mug, outdoor apparel/gear brand United by Blue, removes a pound of trash from our oceans and waterways for every product purchased.

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BoutiqueSadieUS Books and Coffee Sweatshirt (starting at $23.37, originally starting at $27.50; etsy.com)

Weekend goals.

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Illy Art Collection Stefan Sagmeister Set of 2 Espresso Cups ($65; illy.com)

Graphic artist Stefan Sagmeister, who has designed packaging for the Rolling Stones and the Talking Heads, partnered with Illy for a collection of titanium-and-precious-minerals coffee cups, and they make very cool gifts.