I have a love-hate relationship with Advent calendars. Love, because who wouldn’t want to get a surprise every day. Hate, because the marketing has succeeded in turning the symbolic countdown – a piece of chocolate a day, an excuse to extend the wait until Christmas – into an act of excess. And in many cases, a scam.
I’m not exaggerating: every fall, stores are filled with boxes promising “24 gourmet surprises,” “24 unique experiences,” and “24 moments of pleasure.” Most cost more than they’re worth: the cheap ones are usually mediocre, and the expensive ones often are as well. But the packaging shines, and the ritual works: opening a small window daily gives a feeling of care and time for oneself. Maybe that’s why we keep falling.
Coffee and tea: rituals make sense
Not everything fails. Some producers create calendars that are meaningful and honest. For example, the specialty coffee calendar from El Noa Noa, a Barcelona roaster, which offers 24 cases containing coffee from different roasters, each with its own tasting sheet, origin and aroma profile. Each packet contains 20 grams, which is two cups per day. In total, nearly a month of well-made coffee. It costs 75 euros, so the price per cup is 1.56 euros, which is less than the cost of regular coffee in any bar. In my house this is called a deal.
In the world of tea, there is also light among the many scented sachets. The tea calendar from Cafetearte, a Madrid specialty tea shop, comes in an illustrated box containing 24 loose tea leaves, enough for two cups a day. It costs €19.99, which is a very competitive price for 24 cups of high-quality tea: happiness costs less than €1 a day. It’s also an ideal opportunity to try new varieties and get ideas for future purchases.
The tea from Kusmi Tea is sold as a Parisian gem, but inside it there are 20 individual bags and four other chominada bags like an infuser, two mini packets, and gelatin, to justify its price of around €50. Kusmi is a proper brand, on the level of Cupper or Yogi, but it’s still a ready-to-drink tea in bags. Better than Horniman, yes, but even with the gold bar you can’t understand the price.
Cowardice: from delirium to common sense
Continuing with the addictive stuff, I looked into Advent calendars for cheese. And yes there is. from Deluxe From Picnik, to Costco ‘chof’, via the middle (and reasonable) point of Quesomentero. The Picnik Calendar has turned the wait for December into an excuse to eat cheese for five years now. Each box – photographed by Modern Malaga– Includes 24 servings of artisan cheeses, hand cut and packaged, with tasting guide and wooden box.
In total, 1.7 kilograms of cheese were selected from small European producers and refineries. It costs 162 euros, which is the equivalent of paying 95 euros for a kilo of cheese: I don’t know if that is justified, although it is very likely that it will be very tasty (it should be more). In contrast, there’s the Ilchester Calendar, which is easiest to find at Costco or Amazon: nine artificial cheeses repeated over the course of 24 days. Goodbye magic of surprise, hello Deja vu Dairy.
In the middle, and by far more reasonable, is the Quesomentero (€59), which offers 24 different types of cheese, in its specialty or mini recipe. Wedges vary in weight depending on the type of cheese, and there is raw (marked) and pasteurized milk, and they arrive chilled and ready for the countdown. It doesn’t have the magic of Picnik, but it does have something very valuable: accessibility.
Back to chocolate
If there’s a natural area on the advent calendar, it’s chocolate. It’s certainly the most common: supermarkets, with today’s chocolate made with sugar, some cocoa and a lot of nostalgia; And the “gourmet” ones, which are often more gourmet in price than in content.
In the “Battle but Friendly” category there is the Ibai Llanos calendar: regular chocolate (minimum 30% cocoa, sugar as first ingredient, powdered milk, cocoa butter, different aromas), plus some online experiments and raffles that add fun. It costs €15 for 214 grams and doesn’t pretend to be anything else: an everyday piece of chocolate wrapped in a spectacle.
There’s also the Nutella Perpetual Calendar, which plays hard on the sentimental card: mini shapes, surprise packets, and cream everywhere. It’s not a calendar for discovering the nuances of cocoa, but it pleases those who buy it: it serves Nutella, it prepares Nutella, it serves Nutella (at 44 euros per half kilo, yes, enough for a lot of Nutella).
In the top tier of commercial chocolatiers, we have Lindt, which has calendars for all tastes: classic, premium, customizable and all sizes. It is the exemplary brand that never fails in its field: the right chocolate, the smooth texture, and no surprises (for better or worse). The customizable template, which allows you to fill small windows with your favorites, is a nice idea, although it basically means paying a significant extra amount for the same old industrial chocolate, only well organized and very nicely presented.
With an assumed leap in qualitative level we arrive at Godiva, the world-famous Belgian brand. Their calendar is more expensive, more elegant, and less versatile than you might expect. Lots of red cocoa and not much cocoa (it’s still primarily sugar, but you pay for it as cocoa). (Visual) luxury is present; The taste depends on the day.
Rounding out the ladder is the Rocambolesque calendar, which plays in another league: signature chocolates with impeccable design and an equally impressive price. A calendar that smells like cocoa, yes, but it also looks like a credit card, with a price tag of €296.6 per kilo. Chocolate is good – and there could be more – but we’re talking about small surprises in the price of the bars. It is the perfect calendar for those who have more fun I can From a bite.
Calendars that are a bad idea
Not everything that can fit into a numbered box should become an advent calendar. One of the more difficult examples to justify is the Ruavija calendar, which suggests opening a small bottle of alcoholic beverage every day. Promoting the daily shot as a pre-Christmas ritual is an inside office joke that has gotten out of hand.
But the award for nonsense goes to Red Bull, which Amazon sells without any irony as “a selection of energy drinks to enjoy your Christmas countdown to.” Twenty-four packets of caffeine, sugar and taurine: coming at 180 beats per minute. If the spirit of Christmas is not to sleep until Three Kings, then the problem has already been solved.
True luxury
Understandably, the process of selecting, wrapping and packaging 24 small bites comes at a slightly higher price. After all, the calendar doesn’t just give us chocolate or pieces of cheese, it also offers us an extra bit of mystery and joy. Those little feelings – of not knowing what the day will bring – are part of the magic.
If a mini daily celebration is what we are looking for, there is always the option of doing it yourself. A homemade calendar containing 24 delicious things: preserves, honeys, jams, chocolates, spices, sweets or purifiers selected with love and thought for the person who will enjoy them (which, of course, could be ourselves, although in this case the surprise factor disappears).
Wrap them in white tissue paper, number them from one to 24, and place them in a box or basket; There’s no need to spend or tinker with the planet: just choose carefully. Perhaps this is the best solution for 2026: creating a rich, diverse and affordable Advent calendar, which reminds us that true luxury is not in the box, but waiting.
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