Each year our staff and contributors round up their best gift ideas for cooks, eaters, and the kitchen-curious. Read on for the best advent calendars for counting down the holidays.
Nothing sparks joy and jumpstarts the Christmas season like a cardboard box filled with 25 tiny compartments each housing a festive treat or token hidden behind a perforated door. I’m talking, of course, about advent calendars. And if you’re thinking of ordering one to enjoy this year, the time is now—there’s just one month left until December 1st, and you’d be surprised how quickly these things sell out or get backordered every year.
Trust me, I love a classic grocery store advent calendar filled with chocolates in fun novelty shapes. Sure, those chocolates typically arrive dusty and stale, but the fun is mostly in the opening of the treats, not in the treats themselves, right? Well, not necessarily. The best advent calendars contain high-quality sweets, booze, condiments, snacks, teas, or coffees you’ll be genuinely excited to consume. And who knows, they might even introduce you to a product you’ll want to buy on repeat once the holiday season has come and gone.
Jump straight to some of my favorite food advent calendars
This list is filled with advent calendars for every type of food and beverage enthusiast, many of them from brands we’ve long known and loved: a chile crisp-filled calendar from Fly By Jing, a Bonne Maman calendar filled with mini jam jars, and a chocolate advent calendar for Wicked fans from LA-based chocolatier Compartés. Pick one up for yourself, or snag a few to gift to friends in the lead-up to the holiday season.
In this story
Sweets
Compartés
Compartés’s beautiful gift boxes and uniquely flavored chocolate bars make appearances in our gift guides (and on our personal wish lists) year after year, so it’s no surprise the brand makes a great advent calendar—or rather, three great advent calendars. Choose between a Nutcracker or Winter Fox theme, both of which include their own limited-edition flavors. Got a Wicked stan in your life? Compartés has an advent calendar for that, too, filled with on-theme truffles in flavors like Munchkinland Magic (Lemon Poppyseed), Emerald City Elixir (Matcha Tea Latte), and Flying Monkey Fudge (Banana & Roasted Peanuts).
Walker’s Shortbread
Walker’s has made its signature shortbread for over 125 years, which is unsurprising if you’ve ever tried the stuff—it’s timeless and delicious. The brand’s advent calendar is a cookie lover’s dream, full of six varieties in an assortment of festive shapes that’ll go great with your morning cup of coffee or a mug of hot cocoa.
Lakrids by Bülow
Lakrids by Bülow Danish Licorice Advent Calendar
We try not to play favorites here at BA, but I’ll be honest: This is the advent calendar fellow commerce writer Wilder Davies and I most look forward to receiving every year. If you’ve never had Lakrids by Bülow, allow me to explain. Every perforated door reveals a pack (or four) of spherical licorice candies, each coated in a white or milk chocolate shell flavored with passion fruit, strawberries and cream, salted caramel—you get the idea. These candies are indescribably delicious and guaranteed to convert even the most staunch licorice haters.
Delysia
If you’re looking for a fun, interactive take on the classic chocolate advent calendar, check out Delysia. The Austin-based chocolatier releases a new themed calendar every year that acts as a guessing game, with clues as to what each of the 25 truffle flavors is. This year’s edition is “Taste of America”-themed, and each chocolate corresponds to a state-specific or regional treat—think buckeyes (from Ohio), shoofly pie (from Pennsylvania), or even barbecue brisket (from Texas).
Hotel Chocolat
If you’ve got a hot chocolate lover in your life (or if that hot chocolate lover is you), this advent calendar from UK-based chocolatier Hotel Chocolat is the move. It contains 24 single-serve sachets of the brand’s signature velvety hot chocolate mix in a range of flavors, including some limited-edition seasonal varieties. The calendar is also available for purchase in a bundle that includes the Velvetiser, a machine specifically designed by the brand for making creamy, European-style hot chocolate at the touch of a button.
Beverages
Vinebox
If you’ve ever dreamed of embarking on a month-long wine tasting, Vinebox’s wine advent calendars make that a reality. Choose between two 12-day options (“Bold” or “Bright”), or opt for a 24-day set that includes both. The wines are sourced from all over the world, and each bottle contains 100 milliliters. If you’re curious to learn more about a particular variety, the advent calendar grants you access to sommelier-led virtual tasting videos to accompany each wine.
Flaviar Whiskey
Flaviar’s Whiskey Advent Calendar 2025
Whiskey enthusiasts will love Flaviar’s luxe advent calendar, which includes 24 whiskies from all over the world, including pours from Japan, Ireland, and Finland. Along with the liquor, each kit comes with a set of two collectible Glencairn glasses, a free year of access to the brand’s Flaviar Black membership, and a tasting booklet with information on each variety and a QR code you can scan to learn more and purchase full bottles of anything you love.
Straightaway
Straightaway Cocktails 12 Nights of Cocktails
We’ve previously recommended the amaro from this Portland, Oregon-based craft cocktail brand, so it’s no surprise that they make a great advent calendar too. Straightaway’s 12 Nights of Cocktails calendar would be a welcome offering for any drinks lover in your life who’d appreciate the gift of 12 iconic cocktails, without the fuss of actually making them or acquiring all of the ingredients to do so. Each Straightaway cocktail is single-serve and ready to open, pour, and sip—no measuring required.
Palais de Thés
Palais de Thés Advent Calendar 2025
Palais de Thés’s advent calendar makes our recommendation list year after year for a few reasons. For one, it’s beautiful and luxe-feeling while ringing in under $40. But the main reason is the quality and variety of what lies within each perforated door: an assortment of 24 tea bags that are, in commerce writer Wilder Davies’s words, “genuinely lovely.” Each calendar includes a mix of classics and more interesting festive blends far removed from the stereotypical holiday flavors that so easily stray into Bath and Body Works scented candle territory. Consider this the ultimate way to settle into cozy season.
Nespresso
Nespresso Vertuo Advent Calendar Coffee Pack
The Nespresso devotee in your life will delight at the chance to try a different classic or limited-edition coffee capsule every day in the lead up to Christmas. The last day contains a special gift, which I won’t spoil here. But here’s a hint: It’s a coffee ritual addition that will help extend the holiday magic into the new year.
Bean Box
2025 Onyx Coffee Lab Advent Calendar
Coffee purists (as in, those who scoff at the idea of the Nespresso gift above) will prefer this advent calendar from Bean Box made in collaboration with Onyx Coffee Lab. Each of the 24 days includes a signature blend or an exclusive Advent-only single-origin release, perfectly portioned for a 24-ounce pour over.
Food Favorites
Murray’s Cheese
12 Days of Murray’s Cheese
12 days of cheese? Sign us up. This calendar from Murray’s Cheese sells out every year, so we’d recommend snagging one while you still can. It’s filled with a host of cheeses (like Parmigiano Reggiano, Gruyère, and truffle cheddar) and accouterments (like apple butter and oat cakes) that you can fashion into a festive cheeseboard or enjoy one by one. And don’t worry, it arrives in an insulated shipper, but you do have to keep the whole calendar in the fridge throughout the holiday season.
Bonne Maman
Bonne Maman Advent Calendar
There’s a chance you’ve seen this calendar from Bonne Maman on your Instagram feed, and we can confirm it’s worth the hype. The 24 mini jam jars are adorable, of course, but what we really love about this set is the unique flavors it includes—flavors like apricot lavender, cherry pink peppercorn, and raspberry lychee that you can’t find in Bonne Maman’s regular lineup.
Williams Sonoma Chuck’s Luxury Advent Calendar
Williams Sonoma Chuck’s Luxury Advent Calendar
This luxe advent calendar from Williams Sonoma has a little bit of everything. Balsamic vinegar from Modena? Check. A bundt pan-shaped ornament? Also check. This is the calendar to splurge on if you can’t decide whether you want chocolate or trinkets.
Uncommon Goods 12 Days of Hot Sauce
12 Days of Hot Sauce Advent Calendar
We all have that friend who seemingly can’t eat a meal without dousing it in hot sauce first. Get them this advent calendar from Uncommon Goods, which contains a mini bottle of hot sauce behind each of its 12 doors. These aren’t your average Cholulas or Tabascos. Instead, you’ll find flavors like Sweet Onion Habanero, Pineapple Papaya BBQ, Plum Reaper, and Psycho Curry, all ranging in spice level from sweet and mild to very hot.
Fly By Jing
Fly By Jing 2025 Limited Edition Advent Calendar
Give the gift of 12 days of chile crisp and chile crisp-adjacent surprises with this advent calendar from one of our favorite spicy condiment brands. It contains an assortment of mini sauce jars, packs of the brand’s best-selling noodles, and some limited edition surprises—so even if your pantry’s already stocked with Fly By Jing, you can find something new to love here. This calendar sold out by October 15th last year, so we’d recommend buying one sooner rather than later.
