Gift ideas for home cooks

Why a live culture makes a good present

Because it gets used. A jar on the worktop catches the eye every morning; a gadget in the kitchen drawer does not.

With a culture you are really giving a habit: a litre of water kefir or milk kefir a day, a batch of kombucha every week, a few bottles of fiery ginger beer for the weekend. And the present grows, quite literally. After a few weeks there are more grains than came in the pouch, and every kombucha batch adds a new SCOBY layer. It is also something most people do not have yet, even the cook who seems to own every kitchen tool going.

Which present for which cook?

Torn between two? There are pairs too: the kefir duo with water kefir and milk kefir (£4 saved), or the water kefir and kombucha set (£4 saved) for anyone who mostly drinks fizzy things. Everything comes with step-by-step instructions, and all the combinations are on the sets page.

Three extras that make it feel like a proper present

A pouch on its own looks a little modest under the tree. You probably have the makings of a lovely parcel in your own cupboards already.

• A swing-top bottle: thick glass, made for fizzy drinks, with a good rubber seal. It is where the second fermentation happens, so it will get used every day.
• A good jar: a wide-necked glass jar of a little over a litre, with a clean tea towel and an elastic band tucked inside. That is the whole first-fermentation kit.
• A printed recipe: write out the first flavour on a card. For water kefir, the lemon and ginger water kefir; for milk kefir, the kefir overnight oats; for kombucha, the apple and cinnamon kombucha.

Christmas: under the tree

At Christmas it can be a little bigger. The complete starter kit with water kefir, milk kefir and kombucha is the present for the real kitchen person. Make a hamper of it with a couple of swing-top bottles, a big glass jar, a plastic sieve and a good tea towel, and they can start on Boxing Day. On its own the kit passes £35, so standard delivery costs nothing. For New Year's Eve, a jug of lemon ginger ale keeps the drivers and anyone doing Dry January happy.

Stocking fillers and Secret Santa

Something small that still gives a lot of pleasure: the ginger beer plant or a bottle of calf rennet. Both fit in a stocking and sit comfortably within the usual office Secret Santa budget. The ginger beer plant gives a bottle of spicy ginger beer within a few days, just in time for the Christmas table. The rennet is for the colleague who never stops talking about cheese: with 1 to 2 ml per 10 litres of milk, they can start with a fresh cheese and work up to a farmhouse cheddar-style hard cheese. Tuck in a printed link to How to make fresh cheese or How to make ginger beer so they know where to begin.

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday falls three weeks before Easter Sunday, so the date moves every year: check the calendar in February. For the mum who bakes, milk kefir grains are a lovely idea, because kefir does the same job as buttermilk in scones and pancakes, and it is there in the fridge every morning. For the tea drinker, a kombucha SCOBY turns the pot she already brews into something new. Wrap it with a favourite mug and a handwritten card with the first recipe.

Father's Day

Father's Day is the third Sunday in June, right at the start of barbecue season. That makes the ginger beer plant an easy choice: a fiery, properly fizzy drink for the grill and an alcohol-free Moscow mule for the evening. For the dad who likes a project, the rennet and a big pot are the start of his own cheese, ready for the board by the autumn. And if he already brews his own of everything, the starter kit covers the rest.

Birthdays and the rest of the year

A culture suits any birthday, as long as the person will be at home in the days that follow. Match it to their taste: lemonade lover, water kefir; breakfast smoothie fan, milk kefir; cider or iced tea fan, kombucha; spice fiend, ginger beer. For a couple who share the kitchen, the kefir duo means one kefir each. Not sure which way they lean? Fermented drinks for beginners sets them side by side.

When to order

In good time, but not too early. The culture should go into a jar within a few days of being unwrapped.

• Christmas: order in the first half of December. Royal Mail is busy in the run-up, and deliveries can take a day or two longer than the usual 3 to 6 working days.
• Mothering Sunday, Father's Day and birthdays: order a good week ahead, or choose express tracked delivery if it needs to be quicker.
• Delivery in the UK: standard tracked delivery is £4.90, free from £35 (3 to 6 working days, with Royal Mail on the last leg). Express tracked delivery costs £14.90 (3 to 5 working days). Orders leave within 24 to 48 working hours. All prices include VAT.
• Paying: Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Klarna (Pay in 3).

If you want to give the pouch with the culture later, take it out of the box when it arrives and put it in the fridge. All the details are on Delivery and payment.

Who is it not right for?

Someone who will hardly be at home over the next few weeks. A culture needs a little attention: a few minutes a day for kefir, a quarter of an hour a week for kombucha. For that person, rennet is the safe choice, as it keeps for a long time in the fridge, and among the cultures the SCOBY is the most patient, happily waiting two or three weeks in its jar of sweet tea.

Frequently asked questions

Set

Complete fermentation starter kit

Water kefir 30 g + Milk kefir 20 g + Kombucha. All three cultures, at the best price.

You save £7 compared with buying separately

£40

Add the set to your basketincl. VAT, plus delivery (free from £35)