Gifting season is upon us — We’ve got the coffee aficionado, nature lover, and foodie in your life covered. See below for details on this year’s hottest holiday gifts from Char & Stave, Backcountry Cocktails, and Poi Dog Sauces!
FOR THE COFFEE-HOLIC
Gift-givers looking to find a unique addition to any coffee enthusiast’s lineup can look no further than Char & Stave, the Pennsylvania roastery and full-service café-by-day, cocktail bar-by-night helmed by Jared Adkins of Bluebird Distilling. Influenced by Adkin’s distilling experience, Char & Stave makes “coffee by whiskey people,” with its Barrel-Aged Roasts that utilize a process strikingly similar to the aging process of Bluebird Distilling’s wide catalogue of brown spirits. Char & Stave’s flagship Four Grain Bourbon Aged Blend is aged in brown spirit barrels used to make the distillery’s noted whiskeys and bourbons.
In addition to the roastery’s barrel-aged blends, Char & Stave also offers five signature roasts, including Bluebird Morning ($18), Everyday ($18), Workout Fuel ($19), Dark Voodoo ($18), and Adventure Espresso ($18).
At $18-$25 per bag, beans are available for purchase nationwide!
Char & Stave | PURCHASE ONLINE HERE | www.charandstave.com | Instagram: @charandstavecoffee
FOR THE NATURE LOVER
Backcountry Cocktails: Civilized Drinks for Wild Places
Those who love being one with nature, but also don’t want to forgo boozy beverages can add Backcountry Cocktails: Civilized Drinks for Wild Places ($28) to the packing list to find creative recipes and helpful tips to cure any camping blues. Penned by booze baron Steven Grasse and award-winning food and travel writer, Adam Erace, this is the only book that teaches readers to make killer cocktails — while not getting killed by a bear.
Link to purchase on Amazon — also available everywhere good books are sold including Main Point Books in Wayne PA.
Backcountry Cocktails has over 40 cocktail recipes perfect for all skill levels, in addition to camp-side culinary creations, portable and packable recipes, tips, and tricks for surviving the wilderness (including How To: Scare a Bear), commentary from an array of wildlife experts, fun forays into foraging, and more! Written in collaboration with Tamworth Distilling’s mixologist and canoe guide, Lee Noble, Backcountry Cocktails ($28) is available for purchase on Amazon.
All recipes require relatively few ingredients, making them pack-able, portable, and batchable, ideal for enjoying on-the-go no matter what kind of adventure (or weather) is on the books. With an array of flavor profiles ranging from sweet to savory, there is something for everyone; spanning recipes such as the Maple Slush, White Mountain Watermelon Sangria, Appleseed Sour, frozen fizzes, foraged creations, and more that tie the imbibing experience directly to the environment.
Backcountry Cocktails | PURCHASE ONLINE HERE
FOR THE FOODIE AND AT-HOME CHEF
For the at-home chef: Poi Dog Sauces is the perfect essential for holiday entertaining — cooks who buy a 3-pack of each flavor will find there’s (almost) nothing you can’t improve with Poi Dog Sauces! The line of unique, island-inspired sauces includes flavors such as Chili Peppah Water, Guava Katsu Sauce, and the brand-new Huli Huli. These sauces are available nationally from $9 –$17.99 on Poi Dog’s website, as well as in select retailers in Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.
Poi Dog Sauces was born from the pandemic shuttering of Philadelphia’s beloved Poi Dog restaurant, which served people who missed and loved Hawai’i along the northeast corridor. Luckily, the heartbeat of Poi Dog continues in Aranita’s line of unique sauces. See details below:
- Chili Peppah Water ($9/5oz | Vegan, gluten free) — Chili Peppah Water is found on most tables in Hawai’i, nestled next to the shoyu. Something you’d hear in Hawaii a lot is, “chili peppah water over everything”, and “everything” refers to rice, meats, macaroni salad, vegetables, and more. This version lends everything a spicy, vinegary tang, a gingery kick laced with Hawaiian Sea Salt and it is made with seasonal peppers so batches will change depending on when they are brewed. Rice vinegar is infused with a variety of chilis to create a savory, not-too-spicy vibrant condiment that kicks a refreshing boost into everything and anything chefs can think of, from poke to avocado margaritas.
- Huli Huli ($17/12 oz | Vegetarian) — Huli Huli sauce is a pineapple-based marinade and dipping sauce that marks the newest addition to Poi Dog Sauces. Its versatility makes it the perfect “secret” ingredient for chefs — it brings a deep, sweet savoriness to basted chicken, marinated vegetables, mushrooms, and even burgers. Huli Huli can be used simply as an umami-rich ketchup replacement or as the foundation for an innovative dish. Inspired by Chef Kiki Aranita’s home in Hawai’i Kai, a suburb of Honolulu, Poi Dog’s Huli Huli sauce bottles memories from her childhood, resulting in a sauce packed with sweet pineapple, deeply savory miso, and fragrant Chinese five-spice. Huli is Hawaiian for ‘turn’ with “Huli Huli” referring to many turns and the method of cooking Huli Huli Chicken over an open flame — just one of the many methods to use the sauce.
- Guava Katsu Sauce ($16/12 oz | Vegan) — Chefs looking to “beef” up their condiment lineup can pick up a bottle of Guava Katsu, a tropical, umami-rich, fruity and gingery Japanese-style BBQ and dipping sauce. Made with guava, miso, ginger, tomato, and dried mushroom, this sauce is meaty, rich, and deeply flavorful — but it happens to be vegan!
Poi Dog Sauces | PURCHASE ONLINE HERE | www.poidogphilly.com | Instagram: @poidogforever