At Equator we have a clear answer when asked what to give loved ones for the holiday season: coffee. We’re firm believers that there’s a perfect coffee waiting out there for everyone— be it a rich espresso, a Fair Trade & Organic blend, or a mesmerizing single origin selection.
And yet— there’s more to life than coffee. We have the great fortune of collaborating with brands and organizations throughout the year that align with our values and share our same dedication to excellence in their own respective crafts and causes.
With this in mind, we’ve gathered some of our favorite things to round out your holiday gift-giving. Here are our favorite gifts (coffee and beyond) for the 2025 holiday season, the sustainable brands behind them, and why we love them:
- Gifts for Coffee Lovers
- Gifts for a Sweet Tooth
- B Corp Giftables
- Gifts for our Hosts
- Experiential Gift Ideas
- Non-Profit Gifts
Gifts for Coffee Lovers
Equator Coffees
Especially popular during the Holiday season are our coffee brewing starter kits— Chemex or the Hario Pourover— which include everything the coffee lover in your life needs to brew a delightful cup from home, featuring our beloved Mocha Java Blend!
For more festive gifting, you can also save on our Holiday Cheer Coffee Bundle, including our Holiday Blend, Ceramic Mug, and Holiday Ornament. This year's Holiday Blend coffee bag was designed by Jack Hudson, a talented illustrator and director who lives and works in the small market town of Frome in Somerset, UK.
Plus, with a larger selection of single origin coffees than ever, this is a phenomenal time to explore what our planet's most celebrated coffee growing regions have to offer, from Colombia Las Flores Thermal Shock and Ethiopia Bench Maji, to the experimental Ecuador La Marquesa Fruit Punch Co-Ferment.
Plus, don't forget that you can Gift a Coffee Subscription to a loved one anywhere in the U.S. Our coffee team will curate & freshly roast a bag of coffee for them each month for three months.
Our top pick: Holiday Cheer Coffee Bundle
Breville
Do you know someone that's been talking about wanting to be able to finally make a quality latte and cappuccino from their kitchen? We believe that investing in a quality espresso machine by the masters at Breville is the way to go.
Navigating the range of options and features can be daunting (we break down how to choose the perfect espresso machine here), but we feel that the very best option out there for a beginner is the Barista Express, which does an exceptional job at providing integrated guidance with its intuitive touch screen display. This is the type of gift that will definitely transform the way somebody can start to experience high-quality coffee from home.
Still, for smaller kitchens or those shopping with a bit of a smaller budget, the Bambino delivers barista-quality performance at a more accessible price point.
Plus, your purchase of a Breville machine comes with two bags of Equator coffee!
Our top pick: Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine
Fellow
We love Fellow Products for their beautifully functional and fully intuitive lineup of coffee gear: drinkware, grinders, kettles, and scales. If you have that family member or friend that really appreciates specialty coffee but doesn't feel like they can ever create that same flavor at home, the Fellow Aiden may be their perfect solution. This precision coffee maker comes equipped with cutting-edge brew profile technology that brings out the best in your favorite coffee beans
And if you think a whole new coffee machine may be a bit too much for them, consider some of Fellow's classic home brewing accessories like the Stagg EKG Electric Kettle: a quiet, exact, and sleek electric kettle that is capable of quickly heating water to a specific degree, which is a must for more intentional home brewing.
Our top pick: Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker
Sweet Gifts for a Sweet Tooth
Dandelion Chocolate
Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker in San Francisco's Mission District. They are all about bringing our the nuances within their ethically-sourced cocoa as all of their chocolates contain just two ingredients: cocoa beans and organic sugar. We are proud to offer their chocolates in many of our SF and Marin locations.
For the holidays we recommend their Single-Origin Truffle Collection, which includes fifteen bonbons from five origins, beautifully wrapped and all ready to gift to the dark chocolate lover in your life.
Our top pick: Single-Origin Truffle Collection
Big Spoon
Big Spoon Roasters makes handcrafted nut butters and snack bars from scratch in Durham, NC with world-class ingredients sourced directly from local and like-minded producers who share their dedication to authentic quality and sustainability. We're proud to partner with them to create the Tigerwalk Nut Butter, which combines fresh-roasted California Mission almonds and Oregon hazelnuts with our flagship Tigerwalk Espresso.
Our top pick: Big Spoon Tigerwalk Espresso Nut Butter
wildwonder
wildwonder makes prebiotic + postbiotic sparkling drinks with organic Californian produce. Promoters of better gut health, they offer a range of flavors like Strawberry Passion and Guava Rose. We are big fans of their unique take on sparkling beverages and now offer their drinks at a number of our cafes. Their variety packs are the best way to find your favorite flavor, although their limited-edition Blackberry Violet Gift Set is undoubtedly their most exciting holiday offering, complete with glassware, custom cocktail picks, and a box of violet gummies!
Our top pick: Blackberry Violet Gift Set
B Corp Giftables
EO
Not only are they a fellow Marin County B Corp, but EO and Equator Coffees both got our start around the same time in 1995! Short for "Essential Oils," EO produces plant-based bath & body care products with a firm commitment to ethically-farmed ingredients and sustainable manufacturing that we admire.
For the Holidays, we recommend both their Sweet Dreams Bath Bundle and their Radiant Spirit Gift Bundle, the latter of which features a range of their body & hair care products. We are also big fans of their refill program, which helps to reduce plastic waste.
Our top pick: Sweet Dreams Bath Bundle
Ram's Head Winery
Located in an iconic stretch of Sonoma wine country, Ram's Head Winery is both a Certified B Corp and Certified Sustainable Vineyard with a longstanding commitment to stewardship and careful farming practices. In addition to the incredible array of wines in their Estate Collection and Cellar Note Series, they offer wine tasting and food pairing experiences at their beautiful 28-acre estate.
Our top pick for the Holidays is their Sparkling Gift Set: Ram's Gate's 2017 Blanc de Noirs packaged in an elegant black linen box.
Our top pick: Sparkling Gift Set
TCHO Chocolate
As a fellow certified B Corporation, TCHO leans on their founding value of curiosity to find new ways to use business to better the world through chocolate. We love their innovative approach to every part of the chocolate business: from responsible sourcing to expert roasting.
We recommend both their Snow Problema Gift Box and Dark & Milk Chocolate Minis Gift Box: both options are delicious, so it just depends on your preferences for larger bars vs. smaller samplers.
Our top pick: Dark & Milk Chocolate Minis Gift Box
Every Man Jack
The holidays can get messy. But with a great-smelling grooming collection from Every Man Jack, your look doesn't have to. With scents like Pacific Cypress, Sandalwood, and Hinoki Spice, there is something for every guy on your list. As a B Corp, they strive to make the cleanest, most effective, and affordable men’s care products: everything you need and nothing you don’t.
Our top pick: Winter Body Wash Kit
Gifts for the Host with the Most (who deserves even more)
Maker Wine
Maker Wine is a women-founded & led wine brand focused on sourcing award-winning wine from small producers — shipped directly to you in svelte, sexy, single-serving cans. We love how effectively they highlight the unique story behind each and every producer and are proud to carry their wines in our Marin cafe locations.
Like coffee, wine is an industry still lacking in representation of women in leadership. With this in mind, we're incredibly excited about Maker's Week of Women Owned Wine bundle: a curated selection of six incredible wines created exclusively by women winemakers or women-led wineries.
Our top pick: Week of Women Owned Wine
Golden Rule Spirits
Golden Rule Spirits was created with the simple notion of offering an authentic cocktail experience for wherever life might take you.
Their delicious Espresso Martini is a playful meeting point for the cocktail fans and espresso aficionados this Holiday season. This recipe was crafted around our beloved Tigerwalk Espresso, resulting in a bright and vibrant cocktail on-the-go.
Our top pick: Espresso Martini
Griffo Distillery
For those that love a good coffee liqueur, Griffo's Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur really delivers on its promise of a rich and smooth profile. This recipe was built around our Mocha Java Blend, which has long been a cold brew favorite throughout our cafes.
Our friends at Griffo Distillery have been crafting inspired liqueurs locally from Petaluma, CA since 2015.
Our top pick: Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
Experiential Gift Ideas
Online & In-Person Classes
Apart from being incredibly talented creators (that like to drink our coffee), some of the members of Equator's Tiger Collective also offer meaningful gifts for the Holiday season, both locally in the SF Bay Area, and online.
For some, the best gift is the experience of trying something new or learning a skill. Chelsea Andersson of ChelseaMakes - a member of our Tiger Collective and NBC’s Making It Season 3—walks you through the joy of miniatures in her new book, 50 Makes for Modern Miniatures. Don’t worry - if the gift recipient is less of a DIY type, you can also purchase some of Chelsea’s goods on her Etsy.
For the active person on your list, Tiger Collective member and Yoga Instructor Peter Walters offers yoga classes on-demand and live online.
And as the ultimate local gift for the adventure-lover in your life, we sincerely recommend booking an experience through Marin Outdoor Adventure, led by Tiger Collective member Nicki Clarke. In addition to being the No.1 surf school in Marin County, Marin Outdoor Adventure also offers popular mindfulness retreats and guided plant walks along our beautiful coastline.
Equator Cafes
Of course, one of the most valuable yet simplest gifts you can give is quality time. Invite your friend or loved one over for coffee, or send them an Equator Coffees Cafe Gift Card with a “meet me at the café!”
Non-Profit Gift Ideas
Mandela Partners
Suke Quto School Project
Throughout the month of November, $1 from every pour-over coffee purchased at our cafes — and 5% of Holiday Blend sales purchased anywhere — will go to our partners at Suke Quto, a coffee farm in the Guji region in Ethiopia. These funds will support the purchase of desks through the Suke Quto School Project which aims to improve the community's schools.
Suke Quto is owned and operated by Ato Tesfaye Bekele, one of the people that helped to put the Guji region on the specialty coffee map. At nearly 550 acres, Suke Quto coffee farm, washing station and dry mill have become a force in the highlands of Guji. Their focus is on the production of environmentally friendly coffee in an economically viable manner that benefits the community, and helps people earn a living income from sustainable coffee production. Suke Quto, and all the coffees in Holiday Blend, are certified organic
LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ+ Youth
