Always a fan of giving thematic presents, I present a perfect trio: Fancy coffee, a fancy cup to put it in and the perfect fancy chocolate to have with it. All from local folks, of course.
1. A gift card for Go Coffee Go is perfect for your coffee-snob friend who needs his or her single-bean, microroaster fix—and can not live on Four Barrel alone. The mail-order website, just launched by SF'ans Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian, includes Ritual Roasters, but also Verve out of Santa Cruz, Zoca out of Seattle, PT's out of Topeka (and the 2009 Roast magazine "Macro Roaster of the Year," for what it's worth).
2. A few bars of Ginger Elizabeth's most delicious chocolate creations. Ginger Elizabeth Hahn is a young, Sacramento-based chocolatier who works out of Sacramento and her bars are addictive. As a coconut fanatic, I love the cripsy coconut–kaffir lime (painstakingly made with candied coconut and candied kaffir lime zest), but Jessica is a fan of the vanilla bean–toffee almond. Hahn also makes what she calls bon-bons (and others call truffles).
3. Wrap it all up with a whimsical handless coffee cup from local ceramicist, Diana Fayt, who happens to be having a holiday sale next week! (11–6 p.m, December 8–9, 15–16, 2390 C 4th Street at Channing St., Berkeley, 510-848-2390).
