Looking for a taste of Arizona this holiday season (or anytime)? While many of our favorite local vendors offer individual products that make great gifts (candies, jams, dates, bitters, wine and more), this year we plan to go big for maximum Arizona-originated noshing. Oh, and we hope to stay tucked away on our couch and not battle traffic and other local shoppers if we choose not to.
Luckily, we found the following gift baskets and boxes overflowing with Arizona specialty food and drink. All the companies take orders online and deliver to your preferred destinations. (Or if creating your own customized offerings is your thing, you can visit many of them in person to make your own selections.)
Queen Creek Olive Mill
For gifts that give every month, check out Queen Creek Olive Mills’ subscriptions for olive oil, sauces and oil-and-vinegar combos. And while you can always build your own gift samplers from QCOM’s many products, we like this pre-made gift set inspired by the flavors of the Sonoran Desert.
Perfect for: Salad lovers.
To order: queencreekolivemill.com or their locations at Kierland Commons, 7122 E. Greenway Pkwy., Ste. 120, Scottsdale, or 25062 S. Meridian Rd., Queen Creek.
Shown: Flavors of Arizona Sampler gift set with Urban Oven crackers, balanced extra-virgin olive oil, prickly pear balsamic reduction, jalapeño Mexican lime stuffed olives, Asiago Parmesan tapenade and a desert-themed olive oil dipping dish selling for $66.95.
Native Seeds/SEARCH
You can always count on Native Seeds/SEARCH for unique food products and gifts. Peruse their Sonoran Pantry for everything from baking ingredients, to chiles, to sweets and snacks. Send breakfast in a basket for a savory timeless holiday morning repast. Or go all out with the City of Gastronomy gift boxes, a selection of foods that are central to Tucson’s rich gastronomic history.
Perfect for: Would-be forager s.
To order: nativeseeds.org or if you’re in Tucson, visit the store at 3061 N. Campbell Ave.
Shown: City of Gastronomy gable box with white and brown tepary beans, whole chiltepines, dry cholla buds, White Sonoran wheat berries and one tin Mano y Metate Mole Dulce with recipes included for $45.
Black Mesa Ranch
The award-winning, mainly chocolate candies from Black Mesa Ranch are a seasonal treat, rolling out in November when the weather begins to cooperate. Many of BMR’s offerings are based on their own goat milk and other Arizona ingredients. The new swag bag is filled with their classics, but we won’t tell if you also add the rich, crunchy, original Butter Almond Toffee to your order.
Perfect for: Anyone with a sweet tooth.
To order: blackmesaranch.com. No physical store.
Shown: Swag Bag with Dark Chocolate Fudge (with and without nuts), Dark Chocolate Fudge on Fire, Orange Spiced and Cinnamon Spiced Pecans, Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce and Hot Chile Chocolate Fudge Sauce; a $35 value for only $25. Now that’s a good deal!
D’Vine Gourmet
A long-time source for local specialty foods (founded in 2003), D’Vine Gourmet store makes many of its own products as well as sourcing locally whenever possible. You can choose from the various standard-size gift baskets and boxes, or if you’re looking for something smaller they also offer a range of small Arizona “snack” boxes perfect for a crowd or a small token of appreciation.
Perfect for: Traditionalists.
To order: dvinegourmet.com or visit 4955 S. Alma School Rd., Ste. 4, Chandler.
Shown: Arizona Gourmet medium box with Urban Oven 3 seed crackers, the Cactus Candy postcard box, mesquite BBQ corn nuts, Sting-n-Linger prickly pear hot sauce, pecan pie caramels, sweet chipotle snack mix, D’Vine’s own champagne prickly pear jelly, Arizona Territory mustard and a cheese spreader, retailing for $72.95.
Hayden Flour Mills
The gift sets featuring all of Hayden Flour Mills’ own products are adorable (gotta love that logo), but we were drawn to this carefully curated selection of local products in a beautiful wooden crate. For the bakers in your life, you can’t go wrong with any of the heirloom flours and if you know someone who eats oatmeal for breakfast every morning, the German oat flaker and monthly oat groats subscription are the ultimate splurge present.
Perfect for: Entertaining party people.
To order: haydenflourmills.com or visit 22100 S. Sossaman Rd., Queen Creek (limited hours, see website).
Shown: From Arizona With Love, Foodie Gift Set including Hayden Flour Mills Heritage Grain Crackers, Queen Creek Olive Mill Stuffed Olives, Bee Seasonal Honey & Dipper, Shrubwell Vinegar Strawberry Basil Peppercorn Cocktail Mixer, Desert Provisions Camp Salt, Zak’s Chocolate Bar, Saguaro Blossom Candle from Standard Wax, Arizona Rose Vintage Flour Sack Tea Towel, all for $75.
Birdytell
Carefully curated and with a modern vibe, the holiday and Arizona gift boxes from Scottsdale-based Birdytell are filled with treasures from small artisan producers. They have six holiday boxes ranging from $39 to $147. We had an especially hard time deciding between the Arizona Savory and Prickly Pear boxes and you will too.
Perfect for: Your thoughtful, elegant friend.
To order: birdytell.com. No physical store. Hand delivery is available in the Phoenix metro area; shipping to other locations.
Shown: Holiday Savory Box with rosemary popcorn from Popped Artisan Popcorn, gourmet dipping olive oil from Queen Creek Olive Mill, cranberry thyme mix from Iconic Cocktail Co., jalapeño hot sauce from Cutino Hot Sauce, harissa crackers from Hayden Flour Mills, rosemary cayenne cashews from Ruze Cake House and Hatch red chile powder from Desert Provisions priced at $81.
Sibley’s West
The store is probably best-known for its Western gift items but look a little closer and you’ll find baskets mixing food and gifts such as the Prickly Pear and Welcome to Arizona gift trays. They also have Southwest cookbooks. But we couldn’t help but be impressed by their more combustible offerings including this selection of extremely hot condiments and spices.
Perfect for: Would-be cowboys and cowgirls who can take the heat.
To order: sibleyswest.com or visit 72 S. San Marcos Pl., Chandler.
Shown: Arizona Heat gift tray with AZ Gunslinger Mega Diablo Pepper Sauce, Anthony Spices Phoenix Wing Sauce, Pure Habanero pepper seasoning, Ass Kickin’ Xtreme Heat Sample Pack including Habanero Hot Sauce From Hell, Ass Blaster Hot Sauce, Spontaneous Combustion, Devil’s Revenge Hot Sauce From Hell, Sting ‘N’ Linger Ghost Pepper Salsa, Beeline Chili Fire Rock Red, Arizona Rub Desert Inferno Rub, Sonoran Spice Carolina Reaper Flakes (with this message: Warning! This is the world’s hottest pepper. It is recommended to use very small amounts at first, only after you feel comfortable with the pain should you experiment with higher amounts), all on a bright red gift tray for $87.95.
Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry
The options from this local food gift specialist are almost too extensive to enumerate, ranging from $12 to $165. Dried fruits and nuts are a specialty and whatever you do, make sure your gift includes some of their signature date products. We were especially impressed by the options to include local Arizona beer, wine and mead in our basket. (Note that gifts containing alcohol have some shipping restrictions.)
Perfect for: Your friends who need to be introduced to premium Arizona wine and mead.
To order: sphinxdateranch.com or visit 3039 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale.
Shown: Arizona Wine & Snack gift set includes a box of Arizona pistachios and Arizona Medjool dates along with your selection of Arizona wine from Arizona Stronghold, Pillsbury Wine Co, Page Springs Cellars, Superstition Meadery, Sonoita Vineyards, Dos Cabezas Wineworks, Kief-Joshua, Alcantara and more, from $47.95 to $85.
