Kitchen Gift Ideas for Tea Drinkers, Coffee Lovers and Home Cooks

A gift that adds to a habit is easy to get right. A loose leaf tea drinker will reach for a new infuser; someone who makes coffee every morning will notice a mug they like, or a place to hang the mugs that crowd the counter. A person who cooks most nights gets more use out of a tool for a small job they do every week than out of an appliance they have to find room for.

If you do not know their kitchen well, choose something that works with what they already own: a tool that fits any mug, jar or bottle neck and needs no counter space.

Loose leaf tea needs something to hold the leaves while they steep. Our manatee tea infuser is made from silicone rubber: its flippers rest over the rim of a mug and keep its face above the water, while the perforated lower body holds the tea.

It measures 1.67 x 1.98 x 4.25 in and comes as one infuser; the mug and tea are not included, so add a tin of their usual loose leaf tea if you want the gift ready to use.

A clear mug shows the tea as it steeps. In our double-wall glass mug, the amber of a black tea sits in an inner cup and seems to float above the table.

Our double-wall glass mug holds 350 ml, about 11.8 fl oz, enough for a morning latte or an iced coffee. The drink sits in an inner cup that ends above the base, so from the side you see clear glass between the coffee and the table. The whole mug is heat-resistant high-borosilicate glass, made for hot and cold drinks, and it is sold as a single mug.

The small sealed point on the underside is a normal mark of how double-wall glass is made, not a chip, so it is worth a word in the card.

For someone whose mugs fill a cabinet or crowd the counter, a wall rack gives them a place by the coffee maker. Our wooden mug rack has 13 rounded pegs on an accordion frame that expands up to 3.5 ft, so it can be spread to suit the wall. It is made for wall mounting, so it suits someone who can hang things where they make coffee. Mugs are not included.

The platypus jar scraper is a silicone spatula 8.27 in long and 1.34 in wide. Its narrow yellow bill reaches into jam and nut butter jars, and the flexible blade spreads what it scoops across a slice of toast. It is dishwasher safe.

The mushroom funnel is for refilling oil bottles. Set the hollow stem in the bottle neck and flip the silicone cap up to open the bowl; when you are done, fold the cap down and it stores as a red, white-spotted mushroom. Wash it by hand or in the dishwasher.

A set of boards in three sizes means the cook does not bring out the largest board to slice one apple. Our bamboo set has a 14 x 11 in, a 10 x 8 in and an 8 x 5.5 in board, each reversible, with a smooth surface and no juice groove. Bamboo is hand wash only: do not soak the boards or put them in the dishwasher, and rub them with mineral oil now and then.

A dish brush wears out and gets replaced, which makes it an easy gift. Our gnome dish brush has a curved red hat to hold while you scrub, white bristles for a beard and a peach-colored nose. It comes with a blue drip tray that gives the wet brush a resting place beside the sink.

The brush is plastic and dishwasher safe. Rinse it before the first use and keep it away from direct flame.

Taco shells tip over while you fill them. Our taco holders are three stretching cats in white, gray and black, each with a cradle between the front and back of the body that holds one shell upright. They are made from polypropylene and set out three tacos at once.

The bamboo boards work on the table too: the large board holds a bread-and-cheese spread, the small one a few slices of fruit.

Our 40 oz insulated tumbler is printed with an image you upload, and you see the image on the cup before you buy. It is stainless steel with double-wall vacuum insulation and a handle, and it fits a standard cup holder.

Pick a photo they will be glad to carry around: a pet, a favorite place or a family picture.

It is made to order. Because it is printed for you, it is outside our 30-day return; we replace it if it arrives damaged or the print is wrong.

The smallest gifts here are the manatee tea infuser, 4.25 in long, and the platypus jar scraper, 8.27 in long. Either fits in a stocking with room left for a treat.

Glass is better wrapped and placed under the tree than pushed into the toe of a stocking.

For holiday gifts, order by Thursday, December 10 for the best chance of delivery by December 24.

If you are giving the gift in person, have it sent to your own address, so you can look it over and wrap it before the day.

Unused items can be returned within 30 days. Return shipping is on the buyer unless the item arrived damaged, defective or wrong.

Sizes and care are given where we have them.