Need a last-minute gift for the foodie in your life? Fret not, for it’s easy as pie to find one in Santa Fe, one of the country’s top food destinations. With specialty shops devoted to gourmet foods, chocolate, coffee, tea and other delectable items, Santa Fe offers a delicious smorgasbord for any epicurean. Shop hungry, as you can sample some of the fare in these stores to make sure you’re buying just the right gift. You’ll find that these delicacies are so good, you’ll want to buy a few things for yourself, too. During the current COVID lockdown, most of these businesses offer curbside and/or shipping.
Small Batch Coffee
Know someone who’s cuckoo for coffee? A gift from Ohori’s Coffee Roasters will get you a hug, and hopefully a cup of small batch, fresh roasted gourmet arabica coffee as thanks. Ohori’s offers original dark, medium and light roasts with beans from around the world—Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as well as the Americas, Indonesia and the Pacific Rim. so you can choose the perfect blend for your gift recipient. You might select the Aged Indonesian Blend, a signature Ohori’s coffee bearing a complex earthy flavor, or the Moka Java Blend, a malty, berry-toned flavor with beans from Java, Indonesia and North Eastern Africa. French Roast is Ohori’s top choice for brewed coffee, and the smooth, balanced Santa Fe Blend provides the perfect end to any meal. You can shop responsibly here, as Ohori’s offers a selection of certified organic and shade grown coffee. Not sure what your coffee-lover would like? Ask for assistance as the folks at Ohori’s are happy to help and they know their beans. After all, they’ve been roasting gourmet coffee since 1984.
Tea to Treasure
The Teahouse has a wonderful menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner fare, but it’s best known for its impressive menu of exceptional teas—some 150 of them—from around the globe, including China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka. Choose from green tea, white tea, black tea and oolong, along with mate, rooibbo, pu erh and flowering teas. Lupsang Suchang? Yup. Russian Earl Grey? You’ll find that, too, along with English Breakfast, Scottish Breakfast and Himalayan Darjeeling. You’ll also find exotic offerings such as Himalayan Snowflake, one of the world’s rarest teas, as well as the malt-flavored Golden Monkey; Yunan Black Gold, with hints of chocolate and flowers; and Sencha Sakura, made with ground fragrant cherry blossoms. You’ll have fun tasting a variety of different teas so you can put together the ideal gift for your tea-drinker.
The Best Balsamics and Olive Oils
The chef on your list will love anything you give them from the Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co., which offers carefully curated selection of extra virgin olive oil and balsamics from around the world. Choose from 20 flavored extra virgin olive oils, including New Mexico Green Chile, New Mexico Red Chile, Mesquite Smoked and Tuscan Herb. You could opt for the Santa Fe Blend, a combo of Hojiblanca and Arbequina varietals that will make a perfect staple in any kitchen. Or select the award-winning Tierra Callada, one of the leading extra virgin olive oils from Spain.
The balsamic selection includes vinegars that can be used in salad dressings as well as marinades for poultry, meat and more. The smooth and satisfying 18-Year Balsamic from Modena could almost double as a digestif. There’s also Black Truffle Balsamic, Chocolate Balsamic, Lavender Balsamic and that’s only the beginning of all that’s available. White balsamics include Honey Ginger, Sicilian Lemon and Apricot, while fruit and wine vinegar selections run the gamut, from Cranberry Pear to Grapefruit Rosé.
After you’re done tasting all these tantalizing flavor combos, put together a gift basket of your favorites. You can add some gourmet specialties, too, such as Ghost Pepper sea salt, green chile mustard and artisanal Italian pasta, including Rainbow Linguine, Zebra Farfalle and Olive Leaf Pasta.
Chocolate Joy
If a chocolate-lover is on your list, then Kakawa Chocolate House is your destination. This specialty chocolate shop offers a treasure trove of treats, from truffles and dark chocolates to caramels and an impressive range of drinking chocolate elixirs made with historic recipes. Who wouldn’t love a box of handcrafted truffles—Earl Grey, Espresso, Classic French Dark and seasonal specialties—or agave-sweetened caramels—Rose, Piñon, Chile, Smoked Salt, Himalayan Sea Salt and other flavors?
Kakawa is famous for its historic drinking chocolate elixirs, made from recipes that date back to Pre-Columbian, Mayan and Aztec eras as well as to 17th-century Europe, Colonial America and Colonial Mexico. Contemporary elixirs showcase exciting flavors such as mescal, pomegranate and hibiscus flower. Choose a gift set of Kakawa’s most popular elixirs, a trio of MesoAmerican, classic and contemporary favorites—American Elixir, Tzul Elixir and Chile Elixir. Or opt for the Chocolate Lover’s Set, a sampler of caramels—Sea Salt Chocolate as well as New Mexican Piñon—along with seasonal truffles and an American elixir. Kakawa’s Signature Truffle Sampler showcases regional ingredients and seasonal favorites in eight truffles, including Horchata, Prickly Pear, Cherry Chile and Mescal.
Everything here is made in small batches by chocolatiers who are passionate about what they do and the result is so delectable, you just may have to buy two of everything you choose so you can indulge, too.
This article was posted by Cheryl Fallstead
