Food and drink gifts UK 2022: best Christmas food and drink hampers from Marks and Spencer, Hotel Chocolat
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From December 24, we all love nothing more than spending time with our loved ones and enjoying our favourite tipples and sweet and savoury treats. Although, let’s be honest, most of us start indulging way before Christmas Eve or Christmas Day as food and drink is a big focal point all throughout the festive season.
Hampers are great presents for the foodie in your life because they contain lots of lovely little luxuries, all presented in a beautiful way and usually in a wicker basket that they can keep and reuse for many years to come.
It’s a win/win situation - someone else has done all the hard work of putting together a delicious selection of products and the lucky recipient has everything they need to treat themselves this Christmas.
Hampers are also the perfect thing to buy in for yourself and your family if you always find yourself short of time in December and struggling to find the time to browse the shops looking for the perfect treats and snacks.
All of the hampers below can be ordered online for delivery throughout December so all you have to do is click a few buttons and relax, knowing everyone will have something wonderful to eat and drink this year.
No one does Christmas quite like Marks and Sparks, and this luxurious food and drinks hamper is the British institution at the top of their game.
Booze covers opening drinks to later-evening wine, with crisp bubbly, white wine and red wine all paired to accompanying nibbles.
There’s a clever cool bag with cold goods in it.
Christmas lunch sorted, all in one handy shop.
Order now for delivery from December 20
- Champagne Delacourt Brut (75cl) (Alcohol content- 12.50%)
- Clocktower Sauvignon Blanc (75cl) (Alcohol content- 14%)
- Côtes Du Rhône Villages (75cl) (Alcohol content- 14%)
- British Orchard Apple Pressé (750ml)
- Collections Jewelled Fruit & Nut Cake (755g)
- Collection Crackling Chocolate Logs (1.37kg)
- Collection 6 Mince Pies (334g)
- Collection Liquid Dusted Salted Caramels (120g)
- Collection Fig, Apple & Balsamic Fruit for Cheese (120g)
- Collection Chilli & Piquillo Pepper Chutney (235g)
- Collection Quince and Pear Fruit for Cheese (120g)
- Collection Rosemary & Olive Crackers (130g)
- Collection Serrano Chilli, Garlic & Lime Nut Selection (150g)
- Collection Salted Caramel Golden Blond Nut Selection (150g)
- Collection All Butter Parmesan and Chilli Shortbread (80g)
- Collection Scottish Mild & Delicate Smoked Salmon (300g)
- Cocktail Blinis (112g)
- Collection Extra Large Cured Pork Pie (780g)
- Continental Cheese Selection (540g)
- Collection Chicken Liver Parfait (175g)
- Whipped soft creamy cheese (150g)
- Wicker Basket
- Cool bag
We’re big fans of Kocktail here at Recommended - manufacturers, as they are, of ready-to-drink letterbox cocktails par excellence.
If you want to introduce a merry tipple to your Christmas celebrations, but don’t want to labour with jiggers and sugar syrup, the Kocktail mixed case will keep your celebrations swinging. It features six of their delectable concoctions, including:
Espresso Martini, Cherry Cola Old Fashioned, Winter Spiced Negroni, Chocolate Negroni, Rhubarb & Cucumber Spritz and Lychee & Elderflower Spritz.
The Espresso Martini is award winning - one sip and you’ll see why.
Kick off the festivities with flair, with this fun offering from M&S for a champagne breakfast.
With Delacourt Champagne Brut, smooth orange juice and luxury tea and coffee.
To eat, there are sesame sourdough bagels, Christmas tree-shaped crumpets, Cornish butter, whipped cream cheese and Scottish mild smoked salmon.
For ‘breakfast pudding’ (yes, it’s a thing) there’s strawberry and champagne jam or clementine and gin marmalade, plus luxury granola and rich Devonshire strawberry and lemon yoghurts to enjoy.
Order now for delivery from December 21
Do you have a loved one you’d like to send a bundle of edible goodies to? This is the hamper for you - or rather, them. It’s Christmas in a wicker basket.
With traditional mince pies, panettone, gigantic orange chocolate buttons and mint snowballs, they’ll be able to indulge themselves at any occasion over the Christmas season, or always have something to pull out of the cupboard to delight visitors.
Let us not mince words: sometimes, when presenting someone with a food or drink hamper, you want to wow them on sight.
Such it is with a Harvey Nichols hamper, where the recipient will know in an instant that they’re in for a spectacularly delicious time.
The Merry Christmas gift box houses superlative wine, liquor and champers, to make for a merry little Christmas. A no-brainer
- Harvey Nichols Premier Cru Brut Champagne NV 750ml
- Harvey Nichols Mulled Wine 750ml
- Snow Globe Orange & Gingerbread Gin Liqueur 700ml
- Harvey Nichols Cucumber & Lime Tonic Water 200ml
- Harvey Nichols Elderflower & Pomegranate Tonic Water 200ml
- Harvey Nichols Orange & Lavender Tonic Water 200ml
You may - and who could blame you - want to make up for this past miserable year by truly pushing the boat out for celebrations this year. This, then, is the hamper for you.
With a bottle of Dom Perignon Vintage 2008, multiple delicious spirits, including Hendricks gin, Balvenie Doublewood whiskey, and plenty more - along with Toho wines.
The treats and savoury snacks are equally gorgeous including Amaretti biscuits, mince pies, cheeses and a phenomenal Christmas pudding. Heaven
If you’re teetotal - for whatever reason - it can get a bit irritating, the vast quantities of plonk sloshed around at Christmas time.
Entry: the Selfridges booze free hamper, perfect for indulgence without a trace of ethanol. Pleasures galore, it contains Turkish delight, Christmas pudding, condiments, coffee, orange flavoured hot chocolate, almonds - and more, all alcohol-free.
The perfect present for any chocolate lover this Christmas, this bountiful hamper includes a selection of some of the finest and highest quality chocolates, including salted caramel chocolate puddles, the 70% dark chocolate slab selector and the 70% dark fruit and nut nano slab.
There’s also decadent drinks in the form of a hot chocolate sachet and a cocoa tea pillow pack.
Oh, this is sun-drenched delight. The Rita Farhi gold hamper is groaning with the most delectable dried fruits and nuts, all draped lovingly in dark or milk chocolate.
The chocolate dates are a particular stand-out, as are the sugar-coated almonds ... and those dried orange slices robed in dark chocolate, like a posh chocolate orange. Actually, every morsel is delish.
We’d call this one more of a gift to ourselves - we were thoroughly wowed by Cook’s pre-prepared Christmas dinner, a veritable feast you simply have to unwrap, pop in the oven, and wait 90 minutes before dining on.
The roasties were perfectly crisp, the pigs in blankets snaffled and snuffled in moments, the brussel sprouts buttery and delish, and the parsnips sumptuous. The stuffed turkey breast - never our favourite part of Christmas dinner -was moist and perfectly seasoned. Gift yourself an easy Christmas: this is Christmas dinner wrapped up.
Regency do hampers very, very well - and they’re very keenly priced. We were absolutely delighted with the sample sent to us, in a gorgeous wicker basket - thoughtfully curated and blissfully indulgent. We happily manged on the chocolates and sweet treats while guests tucked into the chill peanuts and we all enjoyed a glass of crisp white white. You can choose your poison - Prosecco, red, white - or if sending to a friend, their favourite tipple. Brilliant value for money.
Contents of the Festive Cheer Hamper (Prosecco version):
- 1Zonin 1821, Prosecco Doc Spumante, 37.5cl
- 1 Filbert’s, Chilli & Lime Peanuts, 40g
- 1Four Anjels, Double Chocolate Biscuits, 100g
- 1Walkers, Pure Butter Shortbread Fingers, 160g
- 1Cottage Delight, Strawberry Extra Jam, 113g
- 1Cottage Delight, Classic Orange Marmalade, 113g
- 1Lily O’Brien’s, Sticky Toffee Chocolates in Pouch, 110g