[HOT LIST] Your EID Holiday Shopping Guide

Two James Spirits. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

There's one week until Christmas - time to start shopping!!! Allow me to make it easy on you: buy them booze. Why? Because everyone likes booze. (Except people who don't drink. Don't buy them booze. But everyone else likes booze.) Here's a few (several!) ideas for booze-themed gifts to give this holiday season.

Schramm's Made in Michigan basket.

#1 Buy them booze baskets
Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a basket full of booze. Schramm's Mead in Ferndale is offering two different gift baskets in $40 and $60 price points. The larger basket features all items made in Michigan. 8 Degrees Plato in Ferndale has customizable gift buckets (as in ice buckets), which you can choose to stock full of craft beer and any combination of artisan foods, beer stemware, beer-themed gift items like beer bottle cap jewelry made by a local artist, beer books, and more.

Merchant's Fine Wine in Dearborn is making customized gift baskets from their extensive assortment of imported and craft beers, as well as wine, coffee, tea, chocolates, cheese and sausage, and whatever else they carry (which I don't  really know because I never make it past the beer section…it's a big store!). The Wine Garden in St. Clair Shores also has customizable gift baskets which can include anything from their selection of craft beer (they pay extra close attention to the Belgians) as well as their large selection of wines, their custom-built cigar humidor, and their exceptional selection of whiskeys and bourbons (one of the best in the state - get your George Dickel bottles there right now, and nowhere else).

Specialty meads from Superior Lakes at the Wine Garden.

#2 Buy them straight-up booze
Alcohol is the perfect holiday gift for those you don't know what to buy. It says, "I don't really know what you like, but I know you like to drink." Michigan's craft booze scene - beer, mead, cider, spirits, even wine (yes, wine counts) - has been exploding in recent years, and, as is typically the case with fast-growing industries, this has been the biggest year yet. This holiday season, give the gift that says you're thoughtful, you support the local economy, and you also have taste.

While Founders and Bell's get all the accolades from the chest-thumpers on Beer Advocate and the media outlets that troll them for their listicles, the reality is New Holland's Dragon's Milk is probably the best bourbon barrel aged stout being made in our state. (SHHHHHHHHHH, DON'T TELL ANYONE.) But don't take my word for it. (No but really, do.)

Valentine Distilling in Ferndale now has two vodkas, a gin, and a whiskey on store shelves, but stop by the distillery itself to pick up some of their barrel-aged gin, an extra-special gift for spirits connoisseurs. Or give them a taste of Detroit history with a bottle from Two James Spirits, the first licensed distillery in the city of Detroit since before Prohibition. The bottles alone are pieces of art. Plus they come with booze in them.

Heed the mead with a little something special (as in, special release) from Schramm's, B. Nektar, Superior Lakes, or Kuhnhenn. Or brave the crowds at Kuhnhenn this weekend for their special Winter Solstice bottle release - all the big, burly beers and meaty meads their rapid fans wait all year for. It's kind of a big deal.

Craft Box + custom buckets from 8 Degrees.

#3 Buy them booze subscriptions
What's better than the gift of booze? The gift of booze 12 times. 8 Degrees Plato now offers a monthly "Craft Box" club membership. With a one-time membership fee of a whopping $5, members get access to a monthly Craft Box selection featuring craft beers, ciders, artisan foods, and beer-themed goodies. The boxes are $45 each month.

Great Lakes Coffee in Midtown now offers BWC (beer - wine - coffee) clubs. Sign up for a monthly subscription for beer ($25), wine ($40), coffee ($30), or all three ($85), all of the exceptional quality and quirky caliber you've come to expect from the folks at IFAD. Email andrew@greatlakescoffee.com to get signed up, or to sign someone else up.

#5 Buy them books about booze
First, buy the two books I was somewhat involved with: Ann Arbor Beer: A Hoppy History of Tree Town Brewing and Belle Isle to 8 Mile: An Insider's Guide to Detroit. Both are amazing. Because they in some way involve me.

Aside from those, also pick up the newly-released Detroit's Historic Eastern Market, written by Eastern Market's vice president of business development Randall Fogelman and writer Lisa Rush. This book is part of the Images of America series from Arcadia Publishing.

Also newly-released is Michigan's Best Beer Guide, a comprehensive guide to all of Michigan's breweries and brewpubs. (But with how fast this industry is growing, it won't be comprehensive for long.)

#6 Buy them furniture made out of booze barrels
DEAR FRIENDS, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BUY FOR ME, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. New Holland (I LOVE YOU GUYS) has started re-purposing their used barrels into crafty furniture pieces - with a special emphasis on Dragon's Milk, MICHIGAN'S BEST BBA STOUT BUT DON'T TELL ANYONE BECAUSE THEN IT WILL BE RUINED. The BarrelWorks Project shop is now live.

#7 Buy them booze clothing and accessories
Got a man who likes his ties as much as he likes his whiskey? BAM - whiskey ties. Detroit tie lab and international sensation Cyberoptix has whiskey and beer-themed ties. Order them online or pick up the whiskey tie at the Emerald, an independently-owned store inside the Park Shelton in Midtown. Hugh in Midtown has all sorts of crystal beerware, cocktail accoutrements, and vintage ice buckets, but I'm particularly partial to the tiki mugs, because tiki mugs.

#8 Buy them booze-infused foods and mixers
Speaking of Hugh, they are the first retail outlet to carry Wolf Moon, a local partnership with McClure's Pickles producing artisan cocktail mixers. Just add booze! (For that, see #2.) Read more about Wolf Moon here. And speaking of McClure's, it's still the best damn Bloody Mary mix on the market, the end. Always good for gifts with a nice bottle of vodka. (Or gin! Tequila even, like Blue Nectar, another Michigan-made product.) And speaking of mixers! Order a hand-crafted seasonal syrup (or six) from Voigt's Soda House, available for pick-up in store or delivery (for orders over $50). For sodas. But really for cocktails.

You still have time to order some beer mustard, beer soap, and hop candy from Founders. Plus, Rock City Eatery will be selling bourbon/butterscotch/pecan and sweet potato whiskey pies (and two other flavors not boozey) on December 23 and 24, first-come first-serve. (He sold out within minutes on Thanksgiving so, you know. Can only make so many pies in that oven and spend so many hours not sleeping.)

[HOT LIST] A Very Beerie Gift Guide

Detroit neighborhood rocks glasses from City Bird.

Last year I recommended some made in Michigan gift baskets for gift-giving ideas (I'm a big fan of the personalized, thoughtful gift basket). This year I'm going straight beerie.

#1 Clubhouse BFD "Ultimate Beer Bucket"
On Tuesday, December 11 starting at 7 p.m., Clubhouse BFD's "Ultimate Christmas Beer Bucket"goes on sale for $100. Sound pricey? It is. But consider what you get: (1) Founders KBS, (1) Founders Boltcutter, (1) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, (1) Mikkeller + Three Floyds Boogoop, and (1) $20 "Johnny Cash Clubhouse BFD" Gift Certificate, all packaged nicely in a Clubhouse BFD beer bucket. This is truly the most beeriest of gifts for your most beeriest of friends. No substitutions; very limited quantity. First come, first served; limit one per person. Once they sell out they will release their next bucket (there will be 3-4 more beer bucket packages leading up to the holidays).


#2 Jolly Pumpkin Cafe Rare Beer Charity Auction
Also on December 11, also at 7 p.m. (so I recommend you find yourself a beerie partner and split your time accordingly): the rare beer charity auction at the Jolly Pumpkin Cafe in Ann Arbor benefitting the Peace Neighborhood Center. We're talking aged, cellared, secret stash kind of stuff. For the hardcore sour beer nerds in your life (hi), this is the most beerie gift of all. Plus all proceeds benefit charity, and we all like to feel good about our reckless spending benefitting charity around the holidays.

#3 Assorted gifts from Hugh
The newly-opened Hugh inside of the Auburn Building in Midtown has everything you need to honor the classic bachelor pad style of the 1960s, and that includes all of your essential barware, stainless steel cocktail shakers, vintage ice buckets, and also vintage Playboys. (The store's name is Hugh, guys.) Detroit's original pop-up(TM) and first-ever winner of Hatch Detroit, Hugh brings a whole different design dimension to Detroit retail. And that design dimension just so happens to be very beerie. (And bourbon-y and martini-y.) Gifts are available in a wide range of price points, from full glassware sets to smaller items like whiskey stones (throw them in the freezer and they'll keep your whiskey appropriately chilled without watering it down ... pro tip from Hugh owner Joe Posch: wash them a few times before using), and this handy "Drinking Man's Diet" (only $4.95).

#4 VIP tickets to Baconfest Michigan 2013
Remember Baconfest? Remember how much fun that was? Well, we're bringing it back on June 1, 2013 at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, and VIP tickets are now on sale. Please note: as of this blog post, VIP tickets are 75% sold out -- they probably won't last through the weekend. VIP ("Very Important Piggy") tickets include early entry, an expanded V.I.P. section with an exclusive bar, six drink tickets (and plenty of Michigan beer, including Jolly Pumpkin), a VIP-only badge and bag, and a signed and numbered limited edition Baconfest Michigan 2013 poster suitable for framing. This Christmas, give the gift of bacon!

#5 Detroit-themed rocks glasses from City Bird
Across the street and around the corner from Hugh is the Detroit-centric boutique City Bird, fully stocked with a wide variety of items ranging from jewelry and soaps made by local artisans, prints from local photographers, books from local authors, and clothing highlighting local sights and events designed and produced in their on-site studio. Also buttons and posters and prints and greeting cards ... you get the idea. You'll also find this collection of Detroit Neighborhood Glassware. These rocks glasses are $20 each (buy them in sets and they get progressively cheaper, up to eight for $120) and are etched with the names of over 55 different Detroit neighborhoods: sure, there's the popular ones like Corktown and Midtown, but there's also Hubbard Farms, Highland Park, Belle Isle, Warrendale, Rosedale Park and many, many more. Decanters are $60, and custom engraving is also available. Rocks glasses from City Bird + whiskey stones from Hugh = ready-made party (just add whiskey).

Holiday bonus round:

Beer baskets from 8 Degrees Plato Beer Company
You pick the theme and name your price range or even hand-select each individual beer and they'll put it all together beautifully in an ice bucket for you! They also have a range of snack items, many locally-made, so you can make a party picnic bucket, or go the more gift item route and pick out some beer-scented soaps, beer bottle jewelry and beer books.

St. Bernardus Christmas Dinner at One-Eyed Betty's
Granted, this is happening before Christmas, but would make a great early gift for beerie friends (or just a fun night out for you and yours). This Wednesday, December 12, OEB will pair six St. Bernardus beers (some of the best beer in the world) with six appropriately opulent holiday courses including escargot, duck fat goose confit, and figgy bread pudding. 7 p.m., $65 per person.

A trip to Grand Rapids, Beer City USA 
Grand Rapids takes their newfound (albeit shared) title of "Beer City USA" very seriously. Now through December 30, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is hosting the "Thank you, BEER!" exhibit that celebrates "beer, brewing and the meaning of life." Also check out the newly-reopened Grand Rapids Brewing Company, Michigan's first certified organic brewery and a revival of the historic old GRBC that first opened in 1893. And of course, while you're there: HopCat (one of the best beer bars in the country), Founders (one of the top-ranked craft breweries in the country and makers of one of the world's best beers), and Brewery Vivant (producers of one of the top beers of 2012 along with Founders). Need more info? I got you, boo. Here and here.

[HOT LIST] Made in Michigan gift baskets

Toasted Oak Grill's Michigan cheese platter. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Putting together a good gift basket is like putting together a good mixed tape. There must be a rhythm, a theme. You must really think about what it is you're trying to communicate with this offering. Not only are your selections a reflection on you and your tastes, but they also reflect the relationship you have with the recipient: what do you really know about them and their tastes; what are you going to give them that says "I enjoy this and hope you will too?"

Now, there's the good ol' Harry and David gift baskets you can fall back on: order online and have it sent straight to your recipient without ever so much as touching the basket, much less actually sampling any of the products, or really even knowing what products are included. (It's about as personal as a Visa gift card. Hell, I'd rather have the gift card.) But a proper gift basket, one that you actually put a little bit of thought and effort into, that means something. (After all, the way to pretty much anyone's heart is through their stomach.) Gift baskets abound at markets and specialty stores during the holidays, but these places are going the extra mile with thoughtful gift baskets highlighting Michigan-made products that can be custom-made and shipped anywhere in the country.

(1) Toasted Oak Grill and Market (Novi)
Cheese and charcuterie: there's really no way to go wrong. With a wide selection of Michigan-made and imported artisan cheeses and full selection of charcuterie made in-house (sausage and salumi, terrines and patés), Toasted Oak's holiday platters (served with house-made accoutrements like bacon caramel and lavender honey) are a crowd-pleaser for when you need to bring a dish to share. For gift-giving, their Picnic Tote includes two Michigan wides, a tartan plaid picnic blanket, a Toasted Oak signature cheese board cut in the shape of the state of Michigan, a cutting knife and a wine key.

(2) Motor City Wine and Foran's Grand Trunk Pub (Detroit)
Technically two separate businesses but I'm clumping them together just so that I can sneak a sixth on this list without it being obvious. Upstairs at Motor City Wine, you can choose from pre-made baskets or order one custom. Choose wines from their affordable boutique wine collection (with plenty of Michigan wineries to choose from, including bubbly from L. Mawby to put you in the holiday spirit) and pair with their Michigan-made pasta and pasta sauce for a proper Michigan meal in a basket, or select from several varieties of chocolates, organic olive oil, olives, crispbreads and T-shirts. They can also include local cheeses and cured meats if you are able to keep the basket refrigerated. Order online or by phone for curb-side pick-up. Downstairs at the Grand Trunk Pub, their baskets include four assorted Michigan craft beers, a bottle of Faygo, and a couple of bags of assorted Better Made Chips for $20. Custom baskets also available; contact Suzanne at 313-961-3043.

(3) Three Little Birds Fine Foods (Northville)
As if Northville could get any more adorable, here's Three Little Birds. Their all-natural handmade granola is wheat-free, dairy-free, oil-free and cholesterol-free (as natural granola should be) and is available in an assortment of flavors. They also support other local businesses, such as with their Made in the Mitten Baskets which includes McClure's potato chips, Dave's Sweet Tooth Toffee, Matt's Mix all-purpose seasoning, their signature granola, and a Pewabic Pottery ornament. Order at 248-739-9199.

(4) Plum Market (Bloomfield, Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield)
Plum Market has arguably the most extensive and wide-ranging selection of Michigan-made products of any of the grocery stores and specialty markets in the metro area. Browsing their selection even in the comparatively selfish summer months will make you instinctively think "These would make great gifts!" (Seriously, hats off to whoever does their displays: they serve their purpose in making me want to buy everything.) They have a fantastic assortment of different gift baskets available (order online and ship anywhere); there's the old stand-bys of fruits and chocolates, but they also have themed baskets like "Gluten Free" and "Go Green." The Michigan Made basket is packed full of some of Michigan's best artisan food products, like Kelly's Karamels and Guernsey Dairy Hot Fudge.

(5) Good Hart General Store (Good Hart)
Just north of Harbor Springs in the small coastal city of Good Hart, the Good Hart General Store is making some mean baskets. Available for shipping around the globe, the Pure Michigan Gift Basket features all Michigan-made products like maple syrup and goat's milk soap, and their Homemade Preserves basket features all of their own local fruit preserves made in-house. They can also make custom baskets, like the Virgin Mary Basket ($52) with McClure's Bloody Mary Mixer and Michigan pickled asparagus. Just add vodka! (Valentine, naturally.)

Bubbling under Western Market (Ferndale), Merchant's Fine Wine (Dearborn), Zingerman's Creamery (Ann Arbor), 8 Degrees Plato Beer Company (Ferndale), Chateau Chantal (Traverse City), Papa Joe's Gourmet Market (Rochester, Birmingham), Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace (St. Clair Shores, Troy, Clinton Twp.)