The holidays are upon us! It’s the season of gift-giving, and I think it’s important to show the love creatively and responsibly. Need ideas for good gifts this year? Read on!
Tours & Experiences
Make some memories by taking someone on a tour or by making something together!
1. I’m partial to Columbus Food Adventures because a.) I love their tours, and b.) I launched the breakfast tour with them this year! These culinary tours are a great way for long-time residents and visitors alike to get to know our city’s food trucks, ethnic eats, unique neighborhoods, and more. UPDATE: early 2015 dates for the breakfast tour have just been announced!
2. Just like CFA, Columbus Brew Adventures offers excellent tours of local and regional breweries and distilleries. (Bonus: you might get me as your guide!)
3. Go on your own tour: Middle West Spirits, Brothers Drake Mead, Watershed Distillery, and Signature Wines all offer regular tours of their facilities. Makes for a fun evening learning about them and sampling their wares.
4. Make your own: go in with a group to buy a session of brewing at North High Brewing or winemaking at Camelot Cellars.
5. Gather a group and book a ride on the Pedal Wagon. Bike your way around Short North and other neighborhoods to visit different watering holes.
Arts, Crafts, & Books
Columbus’ strong arts and crafts vendors offer a multitude of options for unique gifts.
1. Shop at stores like Wholly Craft and Celebrate Local. By supporting them, you’re supporting hundreds of Ohio vendors. You’ll find everything from crafts and clothes, to drinks and snacks.
2. Visit the Snow House gift shop at Igloo Letterpress for their hand-made cards, posters, coasters, and more – all made on old school printing equipment.
3. I love getting books as gifts! Pick up books from local bookstores like The Book Loft or Cover to Cover. Along with the shops mentioned above, they also carry the remaining copies of a certain breakfast book.
4. Buy someone a class or workshop at the Cultural Arts Center. Their in-depth and inexpensive classes focus on everything from jewelry-making to ceramics, painting, printmaking, and more.
5. Buy a membership to Wild Goose Creative. You’re not only supporting an important arts center, you’re also giving someone exclusive access to performances, galleries, workshops.
Beer, Wine, & Spirits
Columbus’ brewing, distilling, and winemaking scenes are strong and getting stronger. Every year there are more places to visit and more options to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
1. Cans: bring a 4- or 6-pack of Columbus brews to any holiday party or give them as a gift. Four String, Elevator, and Seventh Son breweries all can their beers. (I’m especially partial to Four String’s Brass Knuckle pale ale.)
2. Bottles: Elevator, Rockmill, Actual Brewing, and Columbus Brewing Company bottle their products, too!
3. Growlers: growlers let you pick up almost any beer to give as a gift or bring to a party. Fill up at spots like Growl!, The Daily Growler, and The Ohio Taproom. Ohio Taproom features a counter-pressure system that keeps beer fresh up to 90 days.
5. Wines: Signature Wines and Camelot Cellars produce their own wines for purchase. You can even get custom labels made at Signature Wines.
5. Spirits: in addition to Watershed, Brothers Drake, and Middle West Spirits’ creations, track down Mill St. Distillery‘s moonshine or new grappa.
Give a Gift(card)
1. Take someone to dinner at one of Columbus’ fabulous Dine Originals restaurants.
2. Get a magazine subscription to local or national magazines like Columbus Crave, Columbus Monthly, Beer Advocate, or Roast magazines.
3. Sign someone up for Green BEAN Delivery, where they’ll get fresh produce delivered to their door weekly.
Coffee
Coffee is a gift that keeps on giving!
1. Good whole bean coffee is a standing item on my Christmas list. Seek out a local coffee roaster and pick up a pound or two of beans: Thunderkiss Coffee, Stauf’s Coffee Roasters, Cafe Brioso, Roaming Goat, and Luck Bros.
2. You can get growlers of cold brew coffee, too: Crimson Cup and One Line Coffee sell bottles of cold brew; Thunderkiss is usually available at Cravings Carryout Cafe.
3. Crimson Cup is offering home brewing and global coffee gift boxes.
