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From boozy bundles to selections of British cheese, give the gift of indulgence with a hamper
There’s nothing quite as exciting as opening a gorgeously presented hamper packed with delicious food and drink, no matter the occasion. So, we have gathered some of the best options around, with a variety of themes and for a variety of budgets, so you can find the perfect treat.
There are small hampers, perfect for a bit of me-time while binging Netflix; there are hampers that will thrill your host if you’re heading to a party, and there are giant hampers packed with everything you need for a party or sharing with the family.
The hampers come in all shapes and sizes, from a bundle that will create the perfect cheese and wine evening to a basket filled with larder goodies, or boxes packed full of wine or cocktails to crack open.
Whether you’re sending a hamper as a gift or picking one for yourself, we’ve rounded up the top food and drink hampers this year.
Just don’t forget to breathe in between bites of cheese and biscuits.
We are constantly sampling boxes and hampers packed with delicious food and drink – it’s exhausting work – to bring you our final thoughts on some of the best hampers available. We looked at how many products each hamper holds and, of course, the quality of the contents.
One of the cutest additions to our hamper line-up is the Bellini Box from Fortnum & Mason. What better way to celebrate with breakfast than a morning cocktail? We love a bellini, made with sparkling wine and peach puree.
Inside the box, you’ll find Fortnum’s own prosecco plus Alain Milliat peach nectar. The sweet nectar pairs wonderfully with the more dry Prosecco a lovely indulgent breakfast, or gift to take over to a friend’s house for a brunch date.
Cutter & Squidge is an IndyBest favourite at this point. Hampers are packed with decadent treats that are all handmade in London. The vibrant colours of the packaging are always a treat to open.
The afternoon tea hamper is made up of four fluffy scones that with deliciously sweet strawberry jam and clotted cream, plus signature squishy cakes and savoury treats such as cheese twists. Eat along with cups of Cutter & Squidge’s own English breakfast tea.
Whoever came up with the genius idea for a raclette party in a box needs some kind of reward. Packed with cheeses, meat and potatoes, you can prepare your very own meltingly delicious spread complete with glasses of excellent wine.
We cut the raclette cheese into slices and melted it in a pan before smothering it over spicy black pepper coated saucisson, crispy potatoes made in the air fryer and the crunchiest tortilla chips. The wines were a particular highlight: a fresh and perfectly balanced riesling and a bottle of Saint Veran clos de chateau, a dry, oaky chardonnay that paired perfectly with the smoked raclette.
Easter food definitely leans towards chocolate eggs and plenty of sweets, so the savoury-toothed are rarely catered for. Enter Snowdonia Cheese Company, a North Wales based company that has a selection of hampers which feature its delicious cheeses alongside other treats.
The champagne and cheese celebration hamper has four Cheddar cheeses, three chutneys, crackers, biscuits, milk chocolate figs and a bottle of champagne. We loved the roasted garlic and herb Cheddar the most but all were very moreish. And the rhubarb and gin chutney is divine when paired with one of the buttermilk crackers and Cheddar. It all went down a treat with the very drinkable Henriot Brut Souverain NV Champagne, too.
The milk chocolate figs add something a little decadent for the end of the cheese and champagne evening.
Iconic French macaron maker Ladurée has launched its hamper and gift box range, with beautifully packaged boxes tied with pink and green ribbons and overflowing with sweet treats to have a Marie Antoinette-style tea party.
In the imperial hamper, there is a box of 12 of the brand’s classic macarons – we adored the raspberry, vanilla and pistachio, plus more chocolate treats like milk chocolate coated candied lemon, a box of six Eugénie which are chocolate-coated shortbread biscuits in a variety of flavours with a melting heart centre. We loved pairing the sweet treats with the fabulous Earl Grey tea.
New Theory is rapidly becoming one of our favourite wine producers. The brand utilises grapes grown in South Africa for its delectable wines. The starter pack includes three bottles: pot luck is a pet nat made with pinotage grapes with gorgeous fruity notes and a satisfying sparkle. Love bite is a juicy red that is best served chilled. Our favourite is the skin contact orange called white lies which we drank with our cheese board with notes of peach and grapefruit that we couldn’t get enough of.
We are big fans of Biscuiteers’ endlessly charming biscuit and baked-goods creations, so we were excited to try our hand at decorating biscuits ourselves.
This is a sweet date night idea for you and your beau to get creative together. Once the icing is made (which takes quite a bit of whisking), you can customise the look with the colouring paste and decorate the chocolate cookies with sugary hearts and glittering baubles.
This is a great, albeit messy, way to spend a romantic evening – and the eating part is good too! The box includes 14 blank chocolate biscuits – plenty for when you mess up a few during the testing stage. They also last up to the three months in the box.
With six expertly selected bottles of wine – a champagne, a rosé, two whites and two reds – this hamper is a great choice if you’re hosting drinks with friends.
The celebratory champagne is aged for five years and is the perfect way to welcome people into your home. The light Cotes de Provence rosé, served as chilled as possible, was a particular favourite with our testing party. The Inama Carmenere Piu wins the award for prettiest bottle and has deep fruity and spicy notes of plum and cassis – perfection.
Giving you a taste of The Newt at home, this hamper is stellar. Housing a selection of artisanal cheese from suppliers in the area, this hamper has everything you need for an excellent cheeseboard. From the Bath soft cheese and blue cheese to the Driftwood goat’s cheese, Merry Wyfe cheese and Solstice soft cheese (a real crowd-pleaser), the line-up is paired with cheddar and apple oatcakes, cheese biscuits and straws, fig and sultana cheese crackers, and jars of chutney, piccalilli and damson fruit cheese.
Topping off the celebrations, three bottles of cyder (fine, single variety and the award-winning ice blend) are found in the hamper.
If you’re after something a little more classic, The Newt’s classics hamper (£145, Thenewtinsomerset.com), complete with chocolate, wine, nuts and olives, is equally enjoyable.
An IndyBest favourite, Snowdonia Cheese Company’s hampers are great for lots of occasions and this one is perfect for a festive cheese board. There are three cheddars – one truffled, one extra mature and a rich cave-aged cheese – with a trio of chutneys that pair beautifully with each of the cheeses. The rhubarb and gin chutney is a highlight.
This made for a great cheese and wine night with friends and there are some distinctly festive flavours, including the fig and sultana toasts; the warming, fruity red wine; and the fig and apple chutney. There is even some chocolate to nibble afterwards.
If beautiful packaging is your thing, the Charbonnel et Walker scrumptious hamper will be an absolute delight to open. The beautiful round box is packed with a variety of chocolate goodies, from caramelised biscuit truffles to cocoa-dusted almonds. Highlights for us were the chocolate almonds and the delectable hot chocolate that comes in a very pretty tin. This is perfect to share with family or to send as a gift.
Your dinner party is completely sorted on the wine front with Imp & Maker’s a drink for every course hamper, which features five great wines that will take you from bubbles at the door through to a digestif after dinner.
This well curated box includes a bottle of Moet & Chandon imperial brut, the perfect way to toast, plus a crisp and fruity rose wine that was very drinkable. Our favourite was the 10 year old port with deep dried fruit notes, a warming fortified wine to sip the evening away.
On The Table curates gift boxes of food and wine that are perfect for sending to loved ones over the festive season or to share with your friends and family. We tried the ultimate food lovers gift box, which includes cheeses – the bix organic soft cheese was a particular favourite – alongside a delectable charcuterie platter, plus red wine.
We liked that you can make a whole meal from the hamper: start with a cheeseboard, then rigatoni and tomato pesto pairs well with cured meats, and a glass of one of the outstanding red wines included in the box. There is an excellent Cretan olive oil for extra drizzling, too.
While the price tag is slightly steep, we still think this is a great box for the foodie in your life.
This simple hamper includes a bottle of seriously drinkable Pure prosecco alongside a big bottle of Cartwright & Butler orange juice, to make breakfast glasses of buck’s fizz to sip in bed. Whether you like two parts wine to one part OJ or a 50-50 situation, nothing beats a sweet boozy bucks fizz in the morning.
The tin of sea-salted caramel truffles is delicious but maybe a savoury option would have paired well too – this is a personal preference, though.
Wine and chocolate is a pairing as perfect as a partridge and a pear tree, and this hamper from Darts Farm in Devon combines the two very well.
A selection of bean-to-barn artisan chocolate treats (made at the farm) comes with three bottles of wine – a red, a white and some bubbles – plus an extraordinarily delicious jar of raw honey. This is a great way to support a small farm business.
Anyone who knows Biscuiteers knows it has some of the cutest biscuits and adorable packaging around, and each gift box is really a joy to open. Inside the birthday treats box is nine meticulously iced biscuits in various shapes including balloons, a birthday cake, ice cream cone and more. The lemon biscuits pair beautifully with the bottle of Biscuiteers own-brand prosecco.
Featuring a beautiful bottle of Cygnet Welsh dry gin, this is an elegant hamper that features attractive Pempem de Choc chocolate selection, sashimi grade salmon, truffled honey and goat’s cheese.
Highlights include the Pempem de Choc chocolates, which are wonderfully colourful and intensely flavoured, the salmon which was perfect matched with the soft goat’s cheese that has a two-star great taste award. This is a lovely gift for someone who likes the finer things in life.
Meat specialists at Dukes Hill have created this dine in hamper fillet steaks, sticky toffee pudding and red wine. Impress your beau or bestie with a date night spread.
The steaks were tender and delicious when cooked medium rare and slathered with bearnaise sauce. The smoked salmon and cream cheese pate with crackers for dipping was very moreish. For dessert a sticky toffee pudding was perfect. Steak and red wine are a match made in heaven and this bottle of malbec was perfect.
From the Dorchester Collection, Cake & Flowers is the bakery and florists that now offer beautifully luxurious hampers for delivery in London. The combined efforts of designer florist Philip Hammond and executive pastry chef Michael Kwon, this hamper is comprised of a stunning overflowing bouquet of fragrant seasonal flowers, four charming cakes, a tray of chocolate ‘bon bons’ in a range of inventive flavours such as Earl Grey and yuzu and cherry blossom tea.
This all comes alongside a bottle of Bollinger la grande année 2014 champagne, a 10 year old brut with notes of rich fruits like peach and apple. The perfect bubbles for a luxurious celebration: think anniversaries or big birthdays.
This is an adorable mini hamper to gift your loved one for an intimate wine and cheese night. Serve up your cheese and crackers with two glasses of wine for an evening of romance.
The brie is heart shaped for an extra kitschy touch. The brie is creamy with a hint of tang and pairs well with the crunchy sourdough crackers. The rose is a delicious pinot noir with notes of red berries.
Whether you’re having some alone time or hosting a party for friends, there are tons of hampers to suit your needs, but there were several that stood out for us. For a lovely afternoon tea hamper you can’t beat the Cutter & Squidge luxury afternoon tea hamper, for its squishy sweet treats paired with a lovely cup of tea.
For wine aficionados, the Baxters of Scotland sommeliers selection hamper is unmatched – it’s the perfect way to stock up for a dinner party. And if you’re obsessed with cheese, The Newt cheese and cyder hamper makes for an excellent cheese board.
For more great food and drink options, check out the best recipe boxes and food delivery subscriptions