Flavorful Gift Picks

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The story below is from our November/December 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

Talented local artisans, makers and gourmet shops offer a range of exclusive, local food and beverage subscriptions, upcycled goods and unique culinary collaborations, perfect for gifting the discerning foodie in your life this holiday season.

Deciding on gift ideas for the discerning foodie in your life can sometimes feel like a tall order. But thanks to Roanoke’s breadth of talented food and beverage producers, artists and makers, and gourmet shops, you’re guaranteed to deliver a serious dose of holiday cheer. From exclusive bottle subscriptions to upcycled goodies to dream collaborations, these are our picks for a delicious season of gifting and receiving—and treating yourself.

MEMBERS ONLY

Forget jelly of the month club. Enroll the beverage connoisseurs in your orbit in one of these sip-worthy subscriptions.

Blindhouse Beer: “Laurel” Bottle Club

Founder-brewer Tyler Wert has earned a loyal following for his funky farmhouse ales and with Laurel, Blindhouse Beer’s first-ever bottle club subscription, fans can get exclusive access to limited edition bottles. Membership (six months or 12 months) includes two bottles of each release per month, like refermentations with local fruit, herbs and flowers and a selection of favorite single barrels. Other benefits include exclusive glassware and a tote bag, an annual member event, 10% off all taproom draft and packaged product and one free tasting for a member and up to three guests.

Asher’s Coffee: Coffee Subscription

Founder Jacob Asher Galbraith has grown Asher’s Coffee from a farmers market staple to a downtown brick-and-mortar, but the small-batch, locally roasted beans ethos remains paramount. A one-month coffee subscription includes a 12-oz. bag every week. You can opt for the same roast each week or mix and match favorites like Muddy Honey, an extra-caffeinated breakfast blend, Blue Sky Pie, a jammy light roast or Cuddly Llama, a low-acid medium roast. Drop by the shop on the second Saturday of every month for a tasting session to discover your new favorite roast.

Crystal Spring Grocery: Wine Club

Whether you choose a two- or six-bottle-per-month membership, CSG’s wine club promises to deliver an assortment of expertly curated wines. Each month’s selection comes with tasting notes and recommended pairings for each bottle, plus perks like five percent off half cases and 10% off full cases, available to mix and match from the shop’s entire wine inventory. There are three tiers available, including Bangers, introductory, easy drinking wines; Deep Cuts, general manager Devon Steiner’s current crushes featuring small production wineries and non-traditional varietals; and Posh, bottles destined to impress friends or age in your cellar. 

UPCYCLED GOODIES

We love it when beautiful, one-of-a-kind gifts also happen to make a positive impact on food waste and the environment.

Write to Your Mom: Handmade Paper

Shannon Settlemyre has always loved working with her hands and believes that writing letters is the ultimate way to show someone you’re thinking of them and share joy. Her handmade paper is made from a pulp derived from shredded paper, which sometimes includes paper clippings from Appalachia Press and Breadcraft pastry box liners. She loves experimenting with produce scraps; she creates natural dyes from the likes of onion peels and avocado pits (which yields a pretty pink hue) and creates patterns using things like corn cobs and cabbage leaves. The one-of-a-kind stationery is beautifully packaged and packed with plant-able wildflower seeds.

Sun and Spruce Soaps: Scrubs & Soaps

Many of Sun and Spruce Soaps’ bars smell (almost) good enough to eat, and those made with spent RND espresso grounds are no exception. The grounds give soaps like apple butter, vanilla latte and honey almond a subtle exfoliating quality, and impart a luxurious lather and invigorating aroma to body scrubs like the newly released coffee and brown sugar whipped foaming scrub. Owners Krissy and Wes Reynolds also use Yard Bull Meats beef tallow to add moisturization to their shampoo bars including scents such as honey oats and milk, rosemary mint, rainbow sorbet and herbal breeze.

FOODIE COLLABORATIONS

Roanoke’s food scene is rich with independent foodie entrepreneurs and makers, so when they team up, the result is almost just too good.

Big Lick Exotix x Spice Titan: Honey Ranch Blend

Antwan Fizer, owner of Big Lick Exotix, knew his assortment of international snacks would lend itself to local foodie collaborations. He sought out Matt Rose of Spice Titan to create a blend that would complement savory-leaning snack and they both loved the idea of ranch. Rose uses a super-fine buttermilk powder base, combines it with a duo of garlic and onion powders, then mixes in honey powder, dried dill and chives and finishes it with a pinch of black pepper and pink Himalayan salt. The tangy, sweet and garlicky flavors make it ideal for sprinkling on popcorn, chips, snack mixes and even chicken. Rose loves to combine it with Spice Titan’s Home Base blend, mix it into sour cream, then chill to make a slamming French onion dip.

Fermented Fire Hot Sauce x the River and Rail: Riveracha

When chef Tyler Thomas faced a sriracha shortage at The River and Rail, he tapped his friends at Fermented Fire Hot Sauce to dream up a replacement. For the winning formula, dubbed Riveracha, founder Jesse Feldberg fermented fresno chiles with carrots and loads of garlic, then processed it with apple cider vinegar for tang and a touch of brown sugar for a subtle sweetness. Feldberg says Riveracha is excellent on eggs, over rice bowls and stir fries, swirled in aioli and other dipping sauces and any savory dish needing an extra kick or flavor punch. The label also features local artwork by Erica Cundiff of Blue Honey Rose.

Spice Titan x The Salty Bee: Zesty Frog Balls

Michelle Rader of The Salty Bee first gained a loyal following for her honey, but the sleeper hit is the pickled brussels sprouts, aka Frog Balls. The original flavor utilizes a classic dill pickle brine, but when the time came to create a zesty version she partnered with Spice Titan’s Matt Rose to come up with a spicy pickle spice mix. The winning combination includes jalapeno and habanero powder, plus sweet red bell peppers and turmeric. Rader loves adding the sprouts to charcuterie boards, in a bloody Mary, in salads or chopped up and piled onto a pulled pork sandwich.

SUGAR & SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE

A nice jar of honey, a specialty sauce or a fancy spice mix always makes an ideal gift—it’s just the sort of pantry upgrade that people don’t think to buy for themselves.

Fermented Fire Hot Sauce: Plum on a Bun

Fermented Fire’s latest is Plum On A Bun, a barbecue sauce that starts by fermenting local tomatoes (from Sunray Farms) with garlic and onion before adding rehydrated dried chilies, pureed plum and various ingredients inspired by different barbecue sauce traditions. There’s apple cider vinegar (a nod to vinegary Eastern North Carolina), a mustard-heavy spice blend (an homage to mustardy South Carolina), and a trio of brown sugar, honey and raisins (repping sweet-leaning Western North Carolina). Use it as a wing sauce or marinade, stir it into a pot of beans or pair with any smoked or slow-cooked meat. Soon, it’ll take a starring turn on The River and Rail’s ribs. Oh, and the lovely label artwork is by Tandem Arts Collective.

Spice Titan: Cinnamon Sugar Blend & Hot Chocolate Mix

Cinnamon-and-sugar gives us all the nostalgic feels, whether it’s sprinkled on buttered toast or over ice cream. For this seasonal spice blend, founder Matt Rose employs Saigon cinnamon for an extra warming kick. He recommends using the mixture on baked desserts of all kinds, especially pies, or sprinkled over holiday favorites like sweet potato casserole. And because the holiday season isn’t complete without a cup of hot chocolate, stock up on Spice Titan’s raspberry peppermint hot chocolate blend for cozy sipping all season long.

The Salty Bee: Infused Honey

When Michelle Rader was researching the benefits of honey, she discovered the world of infused honey and went deep down the rabbit hole. She started with making a habanero honey, her take on hot honey, then experimented with various infusions including vanilla, elderberry,  lavender and cinnamon. She utilized the vanilla honey as a base for a turmeric-ginger blend to help address inflammation. The fan-favorite is the chocolate honey, which Rader says is best eaten with a spoon. These small-batch honeys are limited edition, so snap up flavors you love when you see them. 

KITCHEN UPGRADES

Whether your recipient is an avowed aesthete or loves to entertain, these handmade wares will bring joy to their kitchen.

The Slap Shop: Chip & Dip Platters, Mixing Bowls & More

Gabrielle King is a self-avowed lover of color, which is a philosophy that translates to the vibrant, fun glazes she uses on her hand thrown pottery. All pieces are hand-glazed, so no two pieces are alike, but King regularly makes gift-worthy mugs to elevate your morning cuppa ritual and serveware that’s guaranteed to step up your entertaining game. Think—garlic grinders to mix with olive oil and seasonings for bread-dipping, mixing bowls so pretty they double as serving bowls and chip and dip platters that can be used as a cookie board with icing for dipping. The pieces are as functional as they are beautiful—they’re both dishwasher-and microwave safe.

Cathy Dickerson Pottery: Pitchers & Mugs

We first discovered Cathy Dickerson’s hand hewn pottery at Sycamore Station, a café, community hub and retail space that proudly displays wares from local makers and artists, including pottery by Cathy Dickerson. We especially love the pitchers; the dreamy, drippy glazes make them a striking addition to a breakfast table, whether they’re filled with juice or flowers. The sturdy yet elegant mugs are another standout. They come in earth tones that fit seamlessly into a variety of kitchenscapes and would make an ideal gift paired with a bag of beans from Lexington roaster Roadmap CoffeeWorks (also on offer at Sycamore Station).  

The story above is from our November/December 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!