How To Choose The Best Gourmet Gift Basket

Article Topic: The author shares some highly-useful tips for choosing the perfect gourmet gift basket.

Recently I wanted to send a gourmet gift basket to my aunt in Vancouver. I had about ten minutes to spare and I thought I would be able to find the perfect gourmet gift basket in that time. Two hours and fourteen minutes later, I still hadn't found my gift basket and I had to pick up the children from school. A little flustered, at the school gate, I asked one of the other mothers, Carol, if she had ever bought a gift basket online. Carol said she buys gift baskets online all the time and that she finds the perfect basket in five minutes flat. I was about to ask Carol what the secret to buying gift baskets online was, but just then our daughters came out from school. I had to go, but Carol gave me her number and said it would be okay if I called her.

Later that night I rang Carol. My aunt's birthday was fast approaching and I had to organize her gift soon. Carol gave me a whole bunch of tips which were invaluable in finding a wonderful gift hamper for my aunt. I have summarized Carol's tips for you below.

Carol's Tips For Finding The Perfect Gourmet Gift Basket

There are hundreds of gift baskets out there. You don't have settle for just any old basket. Choose a hamper that closely relates to the person you are giving it to. For example, my brother loves seafood. I would get him a seafood gourmet gift basket. A seafood gift hamper contains things like prawn dip, crab dip, a jar of herring pieces, crackers and of course, the obligatory smoked salmon. There's even a miniature sailboat inside some seafood baskets.

Here's a second example. My sister-in-law loves Mexican food. For her, I would get the Mexican gourmet gift basket. Inside this basket are all sorts of goodies she will love, such as taco kits, beans, chillies, tortilla wraps and a copper Mexican dish she can keep.

A third example is my best friend's son, who is kosher. Obviously, I would pick the kosher gourmet gift basket for him, which contains only foods that are kosher.

Another tip is to choose baskets that have little keepsakes the person might appreciate. For example, in the tea-lovers gift basket I gave my uncle, there were two fine porcelain tea cups that he could keep. Of course, I'm sure he enjoyed the rest of the basket, which had teas from around the world including India, Sri Lanka and England.

A final tip for you today is to choose only those gift baskets that are beautifully presented. As you may appreciate, half the fun of receiving a gift basket is admiring the beautiful packaging.