Tag Archives: gifts for guys

Father’s Day Gift Guide, presented by Holt’s Cigar

father's day gifts

Every year, I like to go on the hunt for awesome and unique Father’s Day gift ideas for readers. This year, Holt’s Cigar is presenting an awesome collection of really cool stuff for readers of both Simple Cocktails and our sister site Simple Guy Stuff. I’m excited to present this year’s list:

new mexico books

Local literature: $20-50. I have been a New Mexico native most of my life and my state pride has grown gradually. This year, I got my hands on 2 newer books published here that and distinctly New Mexican. Look into My Eyes: Nuevomexicanos por Vida, ’81-’83 (buy at Amazonis a photo book from a very specific snapshot of time in New Mexico’s history: 1981 to 1983 and it’s an amazing mashup of hispanic and 1980s culture. ¡Órale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico (buy at Amazon) is another one of those precious snapshots of our local culture in beautiful color with great historical context of the significance of “dropping” your Chevy Impala.

fidget spinners

Fidget spinners: $20-70. Clearly this is a fad on one saw coming, but you can now find plastic 3-pointed spinners in just about every gas station or roadside stand in this country. I wanted to illustrate what a more “fatherly” spinner looks like, so I got some spinners from UltraSpinners and Syner-EDC. UltraSpinners have a variety of spinners ranging from $20 to $150, but I stuck with their Ergo line, which has 3 options in materials and weight. The Ergo Aluminum is $20 and a lightweight but “grown-up” alternative to plastic spinners. Ergo Omega and Alpha are both brass, for $55 and $60 respectively, and only differ in weight and thickness. I also picked up a Triple Mini Spinner from Syner-EDC (pictured bottom) for $40, which offers customizable bearing caps is various materials.

monowear apple watch band

Apple Watch Band: $85. Monowear makes a new and apparently very-popular Apple Watch band out of perforated leather that’s classy. They match the hardware to the watch color (a must in my book) and the band’s available in chestnut, black and grey (I got grey). As a daily Apple Watch wearer, I always love having more options to accessorize and match my tech with my clothes for the day.

bicycle cocktail and beer cards

Playing Cards: $5 a deck. I picked up Cocktail Party, Craft Beer, and Craft Brewers decks from Bicycle – it’s a fun way to jazz up your poker games with some “fatherly” knowledge of cocktail recipes and craft beer. Plus they cost next-to-nothing!

balvenie caribberan cask 14

Scotch Whisky: $85. Scotch is particularly suited for gifts because if often comes in a gift-worthy sleeve. For this Father’s Day, I picked up The Balvenie 14-year-old Caribbean Cask, a spicy, vanilla-forward sipper that pairs beautifully with the next gift idea…..

cigars - holt's

Cigars: $5 and up. From Holt’s Cigar Company, our sponsor for this Gift Guide, we’ve got a great selection of smokes in our humidor (stay tuned for upcoming pairings at Simple Guy Stuff). For Father’s Day, Holt’s recommends the Royal Flush Super Sampler, one of many great options in their Father’s Day Cigar Deals category. Special thanks to Holt’s for their sponsorship of Simple Cocktails and Simple Guy Stuff!

Gift For Guys on the Morning Brew (Video)

Here’s the video clip of Greg presenting “Gifts For Guys” on The Morning Brew with Larry Ahrens in Albuquerque. Here’s a link to the companion blog post, too.

Greg sneaks some Breakfast Martinis in his flask.

Christmas Gifts For Guys

christmas gifts for guys

I’ve made it a habit to assemble Christmas gift ideas every year to make you aware of some nice cocktail-related products that are out there. Last year, I included other items into one big gifts for guys segment. The gifts you see in the list below get progressively more expensive as you scroll down, or you can pick some of each for your favorite man (or yourself). Here are my ideas for 2014.

stanley camping flasks

Stanley cocktail flasks.

With some of the best made thermoses and camping gear you can buy anywhere, Stanley has a pretty awesome collection of cocktail-on-the-go accessories, including flasks from 5-12 oz and a cool set of travel shot glasses. Each of these will run you right around $20 from your favorite sporting goods store or from Stanley direct. Make sure you check Drink Spirits’ list of best spirits to sneak in a flask if you need some sneaky ideas.

beardbrand explorers kit

Beard stuff.

Now that No Shave November is over, some guys have put their face blankets away until next year. I usually grow my soup-saver from November through the holidays, though, so I’m needing to wrangle my facial hair now. BeardBrand has a whole line of beard oils, mustache waxes, and beard combs/brushes. Oils range from $15-30, or you can spring for a whole assortment of products the Explorers Kit ($115), which is pictured above.

mancrate zombie suppression

ManCrates.

When I showed off my new ManCrate to a friend, he said “I love opening crates!”

Me too, bro.

ManCrates has a whole line of dude-specific products that come ready-to-open with a crowbar. With crate categories like meat, sports, and zombies, just pick the interest your man has and buy a crate. I chose the $140 Zombie Suppression Crate, which includes weapons, a flashlight, a first aid kit, Gorilla tape, Spam, and Max Brooks’ Zombie Survival Guide. Crates range from $25 to $200-plus.

View my unboxing video here.

cogito classic smartwatch

A smart watch.

Smart watches are a relatively new thing, both in their style and usefulness. I’ve become really fond of the Cogito Classic smart watch, which connects with bluetooth to your iOS or Android phone. It’s available in several colors, and they’re distinguished from other smart watches I’ve seen because Cogito had made a sexy high-end analog watch….which includes a few bluetooth notification features. It’s style first, then function, and that’s an important distinction for some people. There’s a free app to manage your notifications and software updates, and battery life is stellar, too: my Cogito runs over a month on a standard watch battery. You can buy the Cogito Classic from Amazon for $180.