Festive Food, Treats and Drinks Guide 2020

Last Christmas I shared a festive food, treats and drinks guide, and it was so much fun to put together. I absolutely love talking about beauty products, but it’s nice to mix things up a little, and it’s always fun to talk about festive food and drinks. Just like last year, I have a great selection of food, treats and drinks to showcase today to give you some inspiration, and also give you an insight to some brands you’ve perhaps never encountered before.

Dunnet Bay Distillers Refill Rewards Club

If you have someone to buy for that appreciates a slightly more unique gift, the Dunnet Bay Distillers Refill Rewards Club offer a fabulous monthly subscription service. You can choose which spirit you want to receive each month, and how often you’d like to receive your subscription (monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly). Each box will contain your chosen refill pouch (700ml), accompanying mixers, garnish and a couple of surprises for you to enjoy too.

The pouch you receive is special because Dunnet Bay Distillers have set up a partnership with Royal Mail, allowing you to send your empty refill pouch via free post back to Dunnet Bay Distillers for them to be able to recycle the pouch to create other products.

You can subscribe to Dunnet Bay Distillers Refill Rewards Club for yourself, or you can purchase a gift certificate for a 3, 6 or 12 month membership. I’ve included a photo above, of what the gift certificate would look like, and you could pop it in an envelope and gift it to your loved one, and they can then choose which spirit they wish to receive, and set the subscription up themselves with their voucher.

I got an example month’s Dunnet Bay Distillers Refill Rewards Club subscription, which included a Dunnet Bay Distillers Rock Rose Premium Scottish Gin 700ml, two bottles of Franklin & Sons Tonic, a sachet of dried garnishes, a packet of Gardiners Coated Puff Candy and a packet of Hawkhead Whisky Smoked Firecracker Cashews.

I love the idea that you’re gifting an experience with the Dunnet Bay Distillers Refill Rewards Club, and they’ve thought of everything, right down to the garnishes, and the fact you can send back your empty pouches, so they can be reused is great for the environment too.

Pick ‘n Mix London Classic Selection Pack

I have the biggest sweet tooth, and would choose sweets and chocolate over savoury treats any day of the week. I really enjoy all sweets, and Pick ‘n Mix London are a lovely UK based traditional sweet brand offering a massive choice of pick ‘n mix favourites.

I don’t know about you, but there’s something so nostalgic about pick ‘n mix, and you can now recreate favourite moments from your childhood by filling up on the likes of fizzy strawberry pencils, chocolate jazzies and cola bottles – not to mention the selection of fudge and chocolate sweets – all from the comfort of your home.

Their sweets are available in London for delivery in as little as 20 minutes with Deliveroo or next day delivery for the UK, so you don’t have to wait for very long to get your sugar fix. If you know someone that loves sweets or pick ‘n mix, Pick ‘n Mix London have a really impressive range of sweets on offer, allowing you to choose sweets by flavour, colour, type, and they even have a selection of pre-made packs too.

The prices are so reasonable too, and you can choose how many sweets you want in terms of weights; 500g, 1 kg, 1.5 kg and 2 kg – that’s a lot of sweets. Look how colourful and varied the sweets are in this particular Classic Selection Pack. You have fizzy, foamy, jelly, licorice and hard sweets, and whilst we might not be able to visit cinemas like we once could right now, the Pick ‘n Mix sweets would be perfect for an at-home movie night.

Gun Dog Gin Raspberry Gin Liqueur

If you have a gin lover to buy for this Christmas, and you don’t fancy purchasing them a straight up gin, something like the Gun Dog Gin Raspberry Gin Liqueur would be a really great choice. Gun Dog Gin Liqueurs are made in Herefordshire using locally sourced fruit and vegetables which are then steeped in British gin.

In addition to the Raspberry flavour, they also have Blackcurrant, Rhubarb, Quince and Damson too. The flavours are so different to the usual gin liqueurs, and they are multi-use too. You can enjoy them mixed in your favourite cocktail, pimp your prosecco or you can enjoy them poured over ice.

Each of the different liqueurs are available in multiple sizes; 35cl £19.50 and 50cl £24.50, and you can even purchase them inside a miniature set featuring three different flavours for £15 too – and you can even choose your favourite flavours for the multipack set.

The Gun Dog Gin Raspberry Gin Liqueur is made using raspberries from Haygrove farms, featuring British gin and as little gin as possible. Master of Malt describe the flavour as being a sweet, fresh raspberry explosion, with a natural tartness. You can find all of the different flavours of the Gun Dog Gin Liqueurs right here.

Five Farms Single Batch Irish Cream Liqueur

I have to say, the Five Farms Single Batch Irish Cream Liqueur has wowed me so much it’s possibly my top pick in my whole Festive Food, Treats and Drinks Guide. I love Irish Cream anyway, and I’m always looking for new Irish Creams to try, and the Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur is unlike other Irish Creams as it’s the world’s first farm-to-table Irish Cream.

It is exclusively sourced and produced in County Cork, Ireland. County Cork is Ireland’s largest and southernmost county, home to family-owned farms that dot the coastline where the land meets the sea. The Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur has even been awarded the Chairman’s Trophy at the 2018 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, the premier spirits competition in the world. They received a score of 97, which is the highest score an Irish Cream Liqueur has ever received in the prestigious competition.

The Five Farms Single Batch Irish Cream Liqueur’s tasting notes from the Ultimate Spirits Challenge are; An inviting nose of butterscotch, caramel fondue, and vanilla bean jumps from the glass. The lush palate coats the mouth with flavours of coffee with fresh cream, Dulce de leche, coconut, maple, and Belgian waffles. I think this description is very fitting indeed.

It’s like liquid silk in a glass, with a subtle sweet caramel aftertaste. If you like Baileys, you’d never go back to Baileys after trying the Five Farms Single Batch Irish Cream Liqueur. It’s on another level, and ultimately, it’s heaven in a bottle, and must-have for any Irish Cream liqueur fans.

Hotel Chocolat The Milk to Caramel H Box

If I had to choose just one brand of chocolate to eat for the rest of my life, it’d have to be Hotel Chocolat. Their chocolate is divine, and they always have such interesting and unique textures and flavours. They offer a great selection of gift boxes, and the Hotel Chocolat The Milk to Caramel H Box is the perfect gift idea for any caramel lovers out there.

Priced at £12.95, the H Boxes are reasonably priced for such high quality chocolate, and they have so many different versions of the H Box to choose from. This particular box features fourteen different chocolates, and even comes with a cute tasting menu so you know which chocolate is which, and they’re all delicious; especially the Salted Caramel and Mousse Au Chocolat- they’re definitely my favourites.

Didsbury Gin Fruit Gins

I have another gin brand to showcase to you next, and this time it’s Didsbury Gin. Didsbury Gin have a great range including pre-mixed cans, and different flavours of their gin. They offer an Original blend, as well as multiple fruit flavoured blends too.

To celebrate Christmas, Didsbury Gin have created a number of gift packs, including the Didsbury Gin Spirit of Life Gift Pack which includes four x 5cl bottles of the Didsbury Gin range for £14.95. This cute little gift set includes the following flavours of their iconic gins; Original, Raspberry & Elderflower, Blood Orange & Ginger and Strawberry & Sicilian Lemon.

Described as being a range of bright, vibrant and zesty gins, made by gin drinkers for gin drinkers. You could even purchase this set and split up the four bottles to gift to four different people as stocking fillers if you wanted to too. The flavours are all so fruity and refreshing, and would be lovely all year round, and not just at Christmas – imagine how delicious the fruit flavours would be in the summer also?

Timothy Taylor’s Yorkshire Favourites Gift Box

My other half is a beer, ale and stout fiend, so whenever it’s his birthday or Christmas, I know that’s the way to go when it comes to finding gifts. There is so much choice out there, but the Timothy Taylor’s Yorkshire Favourites Gift Box would be a welcome gift for anyone from Yorkshire, or fans of a good quality, award winning ales.

Priced at £35, this Yorkshire themed hamper is packed with treats to both eat and drink over the festive period. It even comes with a Timothy Taylor’s branded Landlord Bottle Opener Fridge Magnet which is such a nice extra to be included, and will help you enjoy the four different bottles inside the hamper.

To create the Timothy Taylor’s Yorkshire Favourites Gift Box, the brand has teamed up with   Botham’s of Whitby (a Yorkshire based family baker) to create the Botham’s of Whitby Landlord Fruit Cake. Which features selected vine fruits steeped in Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Pale Ale, and they are combined with butter and ground almonds to produce a rich, spiced beer cake.

In my Timothy Taylor’s Yorkshire Favourites Gift Box I did get a different cake. I got the Lottie Shaw’s Christmas Pudding, which comes wrapped in a cute, festive tea towel. The pudding is made with plump, juicy fruits, citrus peel, vine fruits and mixed spices which are all soaked in Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Beer.

In addition to the fridge magnet and cake / pudding, you get four bottles of Timothy Taylor’s finest ales; Timothy Taylor’s Hopical Storm, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker and Timothy Taylor’s Knowle Spring.

Lastly, this lovely little hamper includes two condiments featuring Timothy Taylor’s ales; the Poulter’s Porter Orange Marmalade and the Landlord Chutney too, which are perfect festive accompaniments to the hamper. If you love ale yourself, or know someone that does, this is an amazing gift and is very reasonably priced for everything you get too.

Longtooth Gin Gift Box

I’m a massive animal lover, and have three monthly direct debits for animal charities alone each month. I’m always up for products that give back and help animals (like the Endangered Socks I shared last Christmas). When the Longtooth Gin team got in touch and introduced their brand, and the brand’s ethos, I knew it was a brand I wanted to promote here on my blog.

Longtooth Gin features a blend of twelve, carefully chosen, ethically sourced botanicals on a classic juniper base. Described as being a supremely smooth spirit, with a pinnacle taste which was inspired by the 1960’s favourite; Bengal Gin.

Developed by the creator of some of the world’s most successful and exclusive gin flavours, Longtooth has all the essence and integrity of the original Bengal Gin, revived and reimagined for the contemporary connoisseur.

Longtooth Gin is a luxurious, premium gin, and the brand give 10% of their profits to the WWF in a bid to help help double the number of wild tigers to over 6,000 by 2022 – the next Chinese year of the tiger. The tiger population is diminishing rapidly, with more than 95% since the beginning of the 20th-century. So with Longtooth Gin, not only are you getting excellent, high quality gin, you’re helping to make a difference for tigers and their habitats too.

The Longtooth Gin would be an exceptional gift as it’s presented so beautifully. The bottle had a flattened rectangular design with a super intricate tiger and floral design on the label. The label features foil accents which really catch the light, and the brand even decorates the insides of their gift box version of their gin, as they care about the finer details. You can purchase this stunning gin both in a gift boxes version, but also alone without a box should you not want one. The bottle alone is a piece of art, but the gin itself is on another level.

If you’re looking for some festive cakes this Christmas, Fatherson Bakery are well worth a look. Their baked goods are designed to give you a taste of homemade in the comfort of your own home. They have lots on offer on their website, as well as seasonal collections too.

I have two products from their seasonal collection to show you. Firstly the Fatherson Bakery Traditional Mince Pies which are made from Fatherson’s secret pastry recipe, and signature mincemeat these award-winning mince pies are individually hand made and hand-decorated. You get six mince pies int he pack like mine, but they do also have a twelve pack too should you be entertaining this Christmas. They’re one of the bestsellers for Fatherson Bakery, and they’re a must-have this Christmas.

Then you can’t have a Christmas spread without a fruit cake or two. Some people don’t like traditional Christmas cake because of the icing or marzipan, so a fruitcake like the Fatherson Bakery Large Rich Fruit Loaf is ideal, and it can even be frozen.

I really hope you enjoyed this Festive Food, Treats and Drinks Gift Guide and it’s inspired you to try something new this festive season.

All products featured on Gemma Etc. are PR samples or gifted items, unless otherwise indicated. This post may contain affiliate links. If you wish to find out more, please see my Disclaimer within my navigation bar.