Gift Guide: Gadget Lovers

It's the holiday season, and if you have a coffee lover in your life, you know there is tons of fun stuff to choose from. I'll be rounding up some of my favorite gift ideas (to complement a copy of my book, of course) over the next few weeks. First up? Gifts selected especially for coffee folks who love new toys and special features. All three of these happen to be part of my personal equipment collection.

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KitchenAid Precision Gooseneck Digital Kettle | $169.99

KitchenAid released this bad boy relatively recently, and it has all the options you could ever want in an electric gooseneck kettle. First, you can digitally set and hold temperatures in 1-degree increments. This is perfect for switching it up between brewing tea and brewing coffee and for those coffee freaks who want to be able to play with temperature as a variable in a very precise way. It also comes with a built-in flow restrictor, which you can set to three different flow rates. This helps you control your pour, especially when you are first starting out with pour over. Plus, it's pretty and on sale right now for $99.99 on the KitchenAid website.

Acaia Pearl Digital Scale (Black) | $150

This is the Cadillac (or do I mean Lexus?) of digital coffee scales. Actually, it's probably the Tesla of digital coffee scales, seeing as how it's Bluetooth enabled and comes with a suite of apps to help your brewing. There's also a bunch of different features (like the ability to track and graph your pours), many of which I haven't even tried out on the one I have at home. One of the most convenient features, though, is the built in timer. It displays right next to the weight, so you don't need to mess with your phone or a separate timer when you're brewing. The technology and accuracy are top notch, the battery seems to last forever, and you won't find anything sleeker to adorn your countertop. 

Baratza Virtuoso | $229.95

This is Baratza's higher end conical burr grinder suited primarily for coffee brewing. The Encore, which is about $100 less expensive, is also a great grinder, but I think if you are into coffee equipment, the Virtuoso is worth the upgrade. The Sette series, if you are curious, is primarily for espresso making, which requires very fine grounds. However, the Virtuoso can also grind fine enough for espresso, if you are looking for range. It has 40 different grind settings! It also minimizes the amount of fines / chaff that cling to the grounds compartment and get stuck in the grinder. Not a huge deal, but the difference between the Encore and Virtuoso is significant.