If the big dog in your life (that’s Dad) has an appetite to match, there are endless options for excellent subscriptions to keep him well-fed. Those include wine, beer, meat, cheese and snack subscriptions and one of them is bound to be the perfect gift for Father’s Day this year.
In order to find the best food and drink clubs to sign him up for on Father’s Day, we tested dozens of the most popular options to see which ones are worth it. From booze clubs to hot sauce subscription boxes, candy, coffee and cheese, you can saddle Dad or the fatherly figure in your life with a monthly drop of special eats or drinks that will continue rolling in all year.
At the time of writing, all these food and booze subscriptions will ship the first box in plenty of time for Father’s Day (June 18 this year.) Most can target that weekend for delivery too, but you should double-check with the individual vendor before placing your order. If a lengthy subscription seems like too much of a commitment, most of these vendors also offer one-time sends or subscriptions as brief as three months.
Napkins up. These are our picks for the best food and drink clubs and monthly edible subscriptions to gift Dad on Father’s Day.
One of the big differences between Beer Drop and other beer subscription services is that this one lets Dad pick the beer styles — hoppy, fruity, dark or Belgian. After he does that, Beer Drop will source interesting, smaller-batch brews from a selection of microbreweries around the country and send them out monthly. Knowing how picky some beer drinkers can be about style, this is the best way to get new and interesting beers in Dad’s hands that he’ll almost definitely enjoy.
There are a few levels of subscription but you can give Dad three months of beer drops — 10 beers in each — for $144. He’ll do the sign-up and selection himself and he’ll even get a free Hop Exploration Box with samples of hops to help bring the brewing process to life.
Fuego Box isn’t new but it is a great idea and makes a perfect gift for the dad who is also a bit of a hothead (when it comes to food, that is). Fuego Box’s hot sauce subscriptions start at $13 a month — although $30 a month for three bottles is a much better deal.
There are also plenty of one-off gift boxes like this one with hot honey, peach habanero hot sauce and spicy garlic seasoning. Plus, Fuego Box is a small business that supports other small businesses, so you can feel good about that.
As a person who cooks a lot but doesn’t have a market nearby with a particularly good spice section, I know I would totally love getting this subscription box as a gift. RawSpiceBar will send 2 ounces of a spice or spice blend such as Indian garam masala or Japanese furikake. Plus, he’ll get monthly chef-tested recipes to make with each one, all for $12 a month. The best part is the spices come freshly ground — unlike most everything you get at the supermarket — and believe me, you’ll be able to tell the difference.
If your dad (or the father figure you’re shopping for) loves cooking with new and interesting spices, this is a no-brainer. Even if he ignores the recipes and simply tries each spice sprinkled on a piece of grilled chicken every month, it’ll make cooking and eating that much more fun.
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If you suspect Dad is looking to level up his kitchen or barbecue game, MasterClass would be a surefire way to do it. MasterClass offers a chance to learn directly under the tutelage of experts at the top of their field. From cooking classes from Gordon Ramsey to Texas barbecue secrets with pitmaster Aaron Franklin and dozens more, there’s nothing quite like learning to cook from a master.
When it comes to coffee, some folks are creatures of habit, while others like to try new roasts. If your dad happens to be the latter, Trade sources some of the best beans in the business from indie roasters and will ship him new varieties at a frequency of your choosing. This is another one I’ve tested firsthand and the results were great. Expect a nice variety in flavor profiles, but it’s also easy to update and customizable in case you want something different. Communication from the brand is clear and concise and the beans are fresh as heck, with some arriving as few as two days after roasting.
Subscriptions start at around $15 for 12-ounce bags and go up from there with lots of options, some as low as $6 per week depending on how fast he goes through those beans. You can sort through Trade’s a la carte gift options, including individual bags or bundles that start at $48.
The Japanese have snacking down to an art form. Bokksu knows this better than anyone, which is why it took the top spot in my ranking of the best snack boxes. Bokksu collects some of the best snacks from Japan and compiles them in a one-time or recurring monthly curated tasting box.
I’ve both given and received a Bokksu and it is always a hit. The best part about these high-end snack packs is that if you’re not familiar with them, most of the Japanese treats are new and not the same old stuff we have here. Inside the unmistakable bright orange boxes, you’ll find eats like seaweed tempura, green tea and lemon cakes along with Japanese candy such as yuzu gummies and matcha-strawberry KitKats. What’s more, Bokksu includes some fun info and literature explaining a bit about each snack, including some historical and cultural context.
Bokksu boxes start at $40 per month for subscriptions and $50 for a one-time send.
Everything I’ve ever ordered from Fulton Fish Market online has been fresh, and when you’re talking seafood that’s about as important as it gets. For someone without a good fish market in their neighborhood, some quality fish-by-mail from this legendary sprawling New York fish market is a total treat.
Wary of frozen fish? Well, unless you live near a dockside fishmonger, the stuff you’re buying at the market has likely been frozen and then thawed. That’s all to say, fish that is caught, flash-frozen, packed and sent — like what you’ll get from Fulton Fish Market — is probably fresher. Fulton has a massive selection of a la carte seafood so you can order fish by the piece or a curated bundle.
You can also spring for the seafood subscription, also known as The Fish Drop. Fulton will send a monthly, bimonthly or weekly curated box of fish starting at $85 a month for four 6-ounce portions.
Wine may seem like the fallback gift with a, perhaps rightful, reputation as impersonal. Winc, like a few of the other flashy new wine clubs, is hoping to change that by delving deep inside your palate and making ordering wine by mail an engaging experience. If there’s someone on your list you suspect would love to learn more about wine or their own preferences — strange as that may sound — a Winc subscription is a great place to start. The company starts you off with a profile and palate analysis, and then sends wines it thinks you’ll like. Each time you rate them so the shipments from various producers start to jibe better with your taste.
Winc monthly memberships start at an affordable $39 (plus $9 shipping) for three bottles a month. You can buy a gift card for as few or as many months as you’d like to bequeath, or just send a one-time shipment of wine. Who doesn’t love that?
For fans of whiskey, Flaviar is the way to go. This fine booze membership club entitles your giftee to one premium bottle along with a themed tasting box every quarter. Plus you’ll get access to rare, exclusive bottlings, tailored recommendations and invitations to unique members-only events.
Flaviar is $190 for six months or $300 for a full year, which amounts to four bottles along with four themed tasting flights housed in cool little vials along with those member perks.
