The Best Artisanal Food Gifts of 2015

For the person on your list who appreciates artisanal and small-batch production, you’ll find a whole host of delicious and stunning gift ideas. The beauty of each of these items is the terrific story of an artisan or small business that they tell. Each is as unique as the people on your list.

The only way to have a good Old Fashioned, Champagne Cocktail, or Moscow Mule at 30,000 feet is with W&P Designs' pack-and-go kits.

$24 each; Old Fashioned Carry-On Cocktail Kit, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light; Champagne Cocktail Kit, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light; Moscow Mule Cocktail Kit, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Good coffee, great benefit: A portion of proceeds go to CCC’s efforts to support coffee-growing families around the world.

$14.50/12 oz box; counterculturecoffee.com

Pure maple syrup aged in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels. If you sip it straight, we won’t tell.

$38, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

A humble home for prized salts

$95; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Each piece in HAAND’s porcelain Cloudware Bowls collection is made by hand in North Carolina.

From $28; haand.us

The makers of one of our favorite bitters are on the next booze trend: tonics so good you don’t really need the booze.

$13/12.5-ounce bottle; hellabitters.com

Buttery, crispy cookies flavored with warm spices of cinnamon, clove, and cardamom. Each bite is worth savoring. A box makes the perfect gift for neighbors, colleagues, or teachers.

$20; Original Speculoos Cookies, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light; Vanilla Speculoos Cookies, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

For the spread head, single varietal jams in a range of unique flavors like Tayberry, Obsidian Blackberry, and Fresno Chili.

$13.50/jar; innajam.com

For the grillmaster, a kit to help him create the rich, nutty flavor of his favorite steakhouse dry-aged steaks in the comfort of home.

From $20; drybagsteak.com

Decadent and delightfully chewy, a bag of 10 sea salt caramels is the perfect add-on gift to round out any present (if you don’t eat them all first).

$5; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

An all-new jerky experience is just a bag away. Wind-dryed beef (not mechanically dehydrated the way most jerky is made) is every bit as meaty, flavorful, and filling. The texture is tender but toothsome, and your beef isn’t loaded up with unnecessary additives like preservatives or flavoring.

$10/bag, brooklynbiltong.com

Even if you can’t be home for the holidays, you can send your season’s greetings with Dancing Deer Baking Co.'s Sweet Home Classic Holiday Brownie & Cookie Gift. The collection of Dancing Deer favorites, including Caramel Sea Salt Squares and Molasses Cove Cookies, also comes with a Sweet Home Cookie, one of Dancing Deer’s items that benefits One Family Inc., an organization dedicated to ending family homelessness.

$48; dancingdeer.com

Just add water to Grady's bean bags for delicious cold-brew coffee at home—no equipment required.

$12/can; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Keith Kreeger’s Essential Bowls are beautifully crafted hand-shaped and painted bowls. Fortunately they’re not so fragile you won’t be able to use them. On the contrary, these should become a part of everyday kitchen.

Essentail 11" Serving Bowl, $120; keithkreeger.com

Mixologists and maple syrup addicts agree: Mixedmade’s Tree Knees Spicy Syrup is a flavor game changer. Syrup from the Catskill Mountains is gently infused with a mix of chili peppers for a one-of-a-kind blend of spicy and sweet. Add it to cocktails, marinades, even salad dressings.

$14; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Bags of tea are ubiquitous on grocery store shelves. They’re quality can be just so-so, but Piper & Leaf is changing the brewed tea game. With their sophisticated flavor profiles and unique collections of ingredients, the tea drinker on your holiday list will be very appreciative.

$10; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Chattanooga-based creator Kathryn Allison makes graphic printed textiles on 100 percent organic linen. This Spiral set comes in metallic gold and red. The colors and patterns blend beautifully with one another and your existing linens, too. Add a set of coasters to a bag of cookies or tie them to a bottle of wine for a special handcrafted gift.

$21/set of 4; rangemarktextiles.com

A gift for the folks who appreciate the art of locally made goods. Revolution Design House’s solid walnut saltcellar is handcrafted in Oregon, as is the delicious Jacobsen Salt. It’s gorgeous for tables, but definitely deserves a spot in the busy cook’s kitchen.

$50; revolutiondesignhouse.com

A trained chef with a passion for pasta and an experienced designer share their passion project: beautifully-sculpted, unique types of pasta. Our favorite: Emmer Reginetti. Emmer (also known as farro) gives the pasta a rich, nutty, complex flavor that makes this one of the most flavorful pastas we’ve ever had.

$10, hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

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You’ve got your cozy fire going, so you might as well make the most of it with Ticket Chocolate’s S’mores Kits. Each kit—flavors include Chocolate Lover’s, Dulce de Leche, and traditional Artisan—serves 4. Give this as a gift, and you might get to reap the rewards.

$19; ticketchocolate.com

Heath Ceramics Shallow Salad Bowl is a positively gorgeous way to display salads, soups, or very deserving fruit.

From $132; heathceramics.com

Famed pastry chef Jacques Torres’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix strikes the perfect balance: slightly crispy on the edges, yet oh-so soft and chewy in the center. This iconic American treat is made with the famous pastry chef’s large chocolate discs that create irresistible, chocolatey goodness in every bite.

$18; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Elevate your home bar with small-batch, hand-crafted tonics, cherries, and bitters from Southern favorite Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. Our favorite is the Elderflower Tonic. The flavor profile is especially suited to sipping in winter months because it’s bold flavors make a rich gin and tonic, but it also pairs well with bourbon and our favorite combination, rum.

$16; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light

Vermont maple is beautifully hand crafted into elegant rolling pins and hand dipped in either white or sea foam.

$50; hamptonslane.com/cooking-light