Canadian Gift Guide

Most of the novelty of things like tea and coffee comes from unique flavour offerings, or special eco-chic features. Today’s treat is the exception to that rule, in that the true novelty is the shape of tea bags created by Donkey Products.

Forgoing the classic tea string, the tea bags are instead topped off with a classic character that takes a hot bath in your cup, arms resting as the two of you wait for the perfect brew to synthesize. Donkey Products has literally developed dozens of different varieties, including ‘Give Tea A Chance’ (pictured above) of five inspirational humanitarians.

The teas come in gift sets of five teas, or greeting cards embedded with two bags on cute, contemporary themes – like ‘William and Katea’, pictured above. I’m not kidding when I say the options are pretty endless – you can go for generic, holiday or artsy themes (check out the Easter set as a cute hostess gift for next month’s festivities), or you can seek out your best pal or parent’s niche favourite – from classic rock and movie stars from Elvis to Audrey Hepburn, or famous footballers and composers, you’ve got an easy pop culture in that doesn’t have a lot of significant heft to it – if you’re slightly off the mark in identifying your giftee’s passion, they’ll appreciate the unique design anyway.

Donkey Products is based in Germany, but their tea bags are quite available in Canada. If you can’t find them in your city (hint: try art gallery and museum gift shops, and home stores) or if you simply want the full selection of products, they do ship worldwide – the tea bags range in price from 5 to 7 Euros (about $6.75-$8.75 Canadian).