The gift-giving truth is, drinkers are easy. If you find yourself the Secret Santa for someone with a penchant for the spirits or hops, you could always just wrap up a bottle of fill in the blank here. But there’s no reason to take the easy way out. Not this year, when there are so many great gifts for the booze hound in your life. Here are 10 of our favorite accessories for your favorite tippler.
Topo Whiskey Kit $130; Topo Distillery Age your own whiskey kits are all the rage. The smaller barrels speed the aging process by allowing for more whiskey to barrel contact. Instead of waiting years, you can get aged whiskey in months, even weeks. The Topo kit comes with a couple of bottles of wheat whiskey and the cutest charred barrel you’ve ever seen.
The Brauler Beer Growler $60; Zythos Project Elevate your brew with this stainless steel refillable growler. Because glass is so 2012. We like the optional FreshCap, which keeps your beer carbonated by injecting CO2 into the growler.
To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion $18 at Amazon This book is worth it for its insight into the drinking life of America’s greatest author, but you’re really picking this tome for its recipes—some pulled from his novels, others culled from Hemingway’s personal drinking habits.
Death Star Ice Mold $11 at Amazon Drinking whiskey chilled by an oversized ice cube that looks like the Death Star from Star Wars is the best reason yet to join the Dark Side. And the Death Star is just one option. Millenium Falcon ice, R2D2 ice…may the Force be with you. SY355.jpg” src=”http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/41JGIy-M%2BfL.SY355.jpg” width=”355″ height=”355″ class=”mt-image-center” style=”text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;” />
Mason Shaker $29; Mason Shaker A four-piece shaker that practically makes you speak with a Southern drawl. Put on your seer sucker, and shake up something with lemonade. And sweet tea. And bourbon.
Kikkerland Luchador Bottle Opener $9 at Amazon Is a mini masked wrestler who opens your beer cheesy? No, it’s not. It’s awesome.
Bike Six Pack Holder $24 at Etsy It’s true that this leather strap can cinch a variety of things to the frame of your bike (it was originally made for holding polo mallets), but the accessory has really found its niche as a carrier of beers. Just as God intended.
Travel Bar Set $120 at Uncrate It’s hard to imagine a situation where anyone would need this nine-piece traveling bar set (complete with two martini glasses), but I think it’s important to try. There you are, on a train barreling through India, and the British woman sharing your car says she would “kill for a martini.”
Pretentious Beer Glasses $171 for full set on Etsy Kentucky-based glass artist Mathew Cummings has created a set of stylish, whimsical glasses, each designed to enhance a specific style of beer. The Hoppy glass has fingerprints etched into it, the Subtle glass looks like it’s melting, and the mustache on the ale glass is just classy.
Beer Pong Table $499 on Etsy Beer pong is for immature college kids sloshing through Solo cups of Natural Light in the basement of a frat house. Unless you’re playing on this sleek, stylish piece of art. The custom-made Chippewa Five High Design Beer Pong Table transcends the game of your youth by introducing “the skeet shot.” Look at those curves!
