The Best Subscription Gifts Keep on Giving All Year Long
From fresh seafood to cocktails, it will be like Christmas every month.
After all the presents are opened and the wrapping and ribbons are tossed, the excitement is decidedly over. But, it doesnt have to be that way—after all there’s no better gift than one that keeps on giving. Enter the subscription gift and a recurring delivery of your favorite things from spices to wine to mac and cheese. It can feel like the holidays every month if you play your cards right. Here are some of the very best of the genre.
Fresh Alaska salmon can be delivered directly to the door of your favorite seafood-loving family member or friend. And, it’s not just salmon: Choose from 4.5 pound boxes that include species like Pacific cod, Dungeness crab, halibut, spot shrimp, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, and more. The selection depends on the season of course, but there’s always something fresh to be had. The quality is sushi/sashimi grade, which means it is just as suitable for your poke bowl or rolls as your salmon caesar.
Buy someone a round of drinks every month with a cocktail subscription. Go all in with booze included, or just send the mixes and accouterments that allow anyone to make mixologist-worthy cocktails at home. It’s also a great way to stock their bar over time by adding on glassware, bar tools, garnishes, and more, a la carte. Subscribers can fill out a profile specifying their favorite drinks and spirits to receive a tailored box of goodies in the mail. It's a truly excellent way to stock someone's bar long distance, while exposing them to new techniques and ingredients.
Murray’s Cheese is the place to look for the most luxuriously cheesy macaroni and cheese specimens, and it’s now available on a monthly basis, delivered directly to your doorstep. Each month receive a classic mac and a specialty mac (like truffle mac or French onion mac). It’s an especially pleasing gift for those people too far away to drop off a casserole or comfort food on a regular basis. You’ll be there be in spirit, but more importantly, the macaroni and cheese will actually be there.
Those looking for new and exciting wines will be delighted to receive wines selected by the sommeliers at Michelin-starred COTE in New York city. Victoria James and Mia Van de Water, two stars of the wine world, hand pick each shipment of this collaboration between wine shop Convive and COTE. They’ll keep you plugged into the wine world’s trends while introducing new regions, winemakers, and farmers. They’ll guide you through the bottles received each month, and you’ll get a 10 percent discount on any other purchases (you may want seconds). It’s a relief, honestly.
For anyone who loves to cook, Burlap and Barrel’s seasonal spice subscription is the holy grail of gifts. They’ll enjoy four yearly shipments of four jars of the company’s sustainability-sourced spices, plus one of their new collaborations with chefs and companies (like Smoke ‘N’ Herb with Ghetto Gastro or Spicy Mango Chutney with Brooklyn Delhi). Recipes and the stories behind the spices’ origins are also included so that cooks can get cooking ASAP.
Share your love of snacks—be they crunchy, salty, spicy, or sweet—with someone deserving this year. Mouth’s snack subscription box delivers a variety of snacks each month, from kettle corn to spicy pickles to pimento cheese potato chips. There’s also the option to hone in on type of snack: The pickle of the month box is a tangy, crunch treat that goes beyond just cucumbers, bringing in carrots, cherry tomatoes, and more pickelable fare.
Nashville’s Porter Road Butcher set up shop in trendy East Nashville over a decade ago, offering some of the finest local cuts to chefs and home cooks. Over the years they’ve expanded their business to include national shipping, which is a gift in itself. Give the gift of handcut meats from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennysylvania delivered to your loved one’s doorstep. Choose your frequency (2, 4, or 8 weeks) and your box, based on price and contents. We love the Weeknight Heroes box that includes the likes of pork chops, a beef taco blend, and dry-aged hot dogs, among other things. Or, go premium with dry-aged ribeyes and bacon—there's no wrong answer, here.
Frog Hollow is known for its organic, tree-ripened fruit—particularly its glorious stone fruits like peaches, apricots, plums, and nectarines. Have sunshine in a box sent directly to your fruit-loving friends via a subscription. Choose the amount and frequency (it’s available as often as every seven days) and prepare for juicy, fresh fruit. It’s seasonal, obviously, so fall and winter bring apples, pears, citrus, and offerings from similarly-minded growers. Unlike other fruit you buy on grocery shelves, Frog Hollow’s fruit is picked when it’s actually ripe and delivered swiftly to you—it’s truly magical to receive a box of dreamy, sun-ripened Frog Hollow fruit on your porch.
Northern California’s legendary creamery continues to produce highly sought-after cheeses that are part of the incredible network of farmers and makers along the coast. Their cheese club is a quarterly subscription that delivers three kinds of cheese from Cowgirl and other quality producers in the region, along with cheeseboard-friendly accompaniments like local olives, honey, jams, crackers, and more.
Every product is independently selected and vetted by editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.
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