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With only a few weeks to go until December, festive goodies are starting to line store shelves, with a string of food and drink related advent calendars available. From something for wine lovers, to fans of cheese, here’s our pick of the best food and drink advent calendars. Fetcha chocolates luxury advent calendar This ‘free-from’ chocolate business, based in Campbeltown, made the news this year as they won the PETA Vegan Food Award for best vegan chocolate If you fancy counting down to Christmas with these fully vegan, gluten, soy and palm-oil free chocolates (that are delicious), then there are two calendars in which to do so - the luxury advent calendar (£48) and the solid m*lk chocolate calendar (£11). This advent calendar contains 24 handcrafted chocolates and there’s two of each flavour, from classic bestsellers to bespoke Christmas flavours. Flavours for this year are: cranberry and orange, eggless nog, cinnamon bun, peppermint snowman, sticky toffee pudding, raspberry and vanilla caramel, m*lk choc honeycomb, cherry cream, spiced hot chocolate, lemon cheesecake, ginger truffle, strawberry cream. The luxury calendar and m*lk chocolate calendar, which is also available in a braille version, is priced at £42 and can be preordered here. Chocolates of Glenshiel The Chocolates of Glenshiel Advent Calendar is back for 2025, priced at £35. Behind each window you’ll find a handmade chocolate, made using Scottish ingredients. Alcohol-free and vegan versions are available and there are some special seasonal flavours. Chocolates of Glenshiel was founded by Finlay Macdonald when he was 16, after he realised he loved cooking when he used to bake scones with his granny. All flavours include locally sourced ingredients such as whisky from Skye or heather honey, and all are handmade in the remote Highland location. Find out more and buy via the Chocolates of Glenshiel website. Edinburgh Beer Box advent calendar The annual Edinburgh Craft Beer Advent Calendar began in lock-down with the creation of the website ‘Edinburgh Beer’. The website was established as a new online outlet for Edinburgh’s craft breweries whilst pubs and bars were shut and to help raise funds for local charities. A few years on and a number of editions of the Edinburgh Beer Calendar has grown. Ben Wallace of Edinburgh Beer explained: “Initially, in lockdown, we created a single Edinburgh Beer calendar made with a mixture of twenty four cans from the twelve capital breweries but quickly beer drinkers began contacting us requesting Gluten Free or Low Alcohol or just Lagers in their calendars. "Fast forward to today and in addition to the original Main calendar there are editions for: Low Alcohol, Gluten Free, Lagers, Leith-only and Sour Beers." This year’s calendar feature a dramatic photograph of the Edinburgh Crags by Paul Watt alongside illustrations from artist Susie Wright. In 2025, £2 from each calendar is donated to the Edinburgh Sick Kids charity. Other calendars for this year include: The Leith Calendar, featuring just breweries from Leith and supporting the Water of Leith Conservation Trust; Lager Edition (all Edinburgh craft lagers); Sour Beers Edition (all Edinburgh Sours); Gluten Free Edition (all Edinburgh Gluten Free) and Low & No (mostly AF but with a smattering 3.5% abv or below beers). These are priced from £84.99 and you can find out more via the calendars here. Or, for Edinburgh locals, click-and-collect is available in Edinburgh. Walker’s Shortbread advent calendar The classic Walker’s Shortbread Advent Calendar is back for 2025. Filled with a selection of all-butter goodies, this year’s calendar features festive illustrations of elves working hard in Santa’s workshop as well as traditional Walker’s Shortbread tartan. The calendar is loaded with 24 windows, each holding a piece of Walker’s signature shortbread in various Christmas shapes. Each treat is baked using Walker’s original family recipe from over 126 years ago. Priced at £20, the calendar is available to buy online now. Drinks by the Dram Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar One for the scotch fans is this Advent calendar from Drinks by the Dram. Each day of Advent, take a peek behind a door and you'll discover a different 30ml wax-sealed dram, waiting for you to crack it open and indulge in the whisky within. Whiskies in this year’s calendar include: Aberlour A'Bunadh Alba Batch 7; Dalmore 15 Year Old; Lagavulin 8 Year Old and Old Pulteney 15 Year Old. The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar is priced at £134.95 and can be bought here. ARD Bakery 2025 Advent Calendar Owner of this Glasgow bakery, Alison Dunlop launched her Chocolate Advent Calendar in 2021. Behind each door in this stylish calendar you'll find a delicious hand painted chocolate bonbon. There are 24 chocolates in total, in 12 different flavours. The calendar is available to pre-order now, priced at £42. Hotel Chocolat advent calendars Treat a loved one or yourself to an advent calendar from Hotel Chocolat, including the Velvetiser advent calendar. The Velvetiser calendar is ideal for those that love hot chocolate and as it has 24 chocolate drinks including coconut white and pumpkin spice flavours (£50). For a real treat there’s the Grand advent calendar (£80), which is an extravagant mix of treats including spiced chocolate gingerbread, indulgent biscuits, bobble hat-sporting chocolate penguins and more. Find out more and buy here. Naked Wines calendar Norwich based Naked Wines is bringing back its wine advent calendar for 2025. The calendar includes 24 different wines made by independent winemakers. Presented in a boxed set, each wine comes in a handy 125ml tasting pack with wine notes and food pairing suggestions. There’s nine white wines, 11 red wines, two rose wines and two dessert and fortified wines. Naked’s new advent calendar is now available online for £99.99. You can buy one online now. The calendar is fully recyclable and if you find a wine you love, all the wines can be purchased in full size bottles from Naked Wines. Bonne Maman calendar Enjoy a different jam or marmalade this December thanks to this calendar from Bonne Maman. Doors one to 23 carry a 30g mini jar of jam or marmalade, in different flavour combinations, some made not available in the UK. These include: apple with caramel and cinnamon; damson plum and pear with star anise; yuzu, orange and grapefruit and pear and mandarin with cinnamon. While stocks last, every order this year will also receive a limited edition etched jar of Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, plus three money off vouchers to use across the Bonne Maman range. The Bonne Maman Advent calendar is available exclusively online priced £33 plus postage and packing. Aldi Ballycastle Advent Calendar Back by popular demand, Aldi’s popular Ballycastle Country Cream Advent Calendar has returned to stores priced at £12.99. This festive calendar contains 21 delicious Ballycastle cream-flavoured chocolates and three mini Ballycastle bottles (5cl) to countdown to the big day in style. Flavours include White Chocolate, Ballycastle Country Cream, and Chocolate, Caramel and Hazelnut. Craft cider calendar Crafty Nectar have brought back their cider advent calendar, which includes 24 award-winning craft ciders. The calendar includes ciders made by traditional cider makers and some new suppliers - and are gluten-free and vegan-friendly. Priced at £94, more info can be found here. Montezuma organic dark chocolate advent calendar Montezuma’s delightfully rich Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar gets you counting down the days with 25 delicious treats. Perfect for vegans or those who love dark chocolate, it’s priced at £18 and can be bought online now. Cheese Geek Cheese Advent Calendar An alternative to a standard chocolate advent calendar, this Cheese Advent Calendar is available to order now, priced at £150. Behind each window you'll discover a unique artisan cheese that the Cheese Geeks love. The advent calendar will arrive in three deliveries so the cheese is in tip top condition, and each delivery also contains a pack of cheesegeek crackers, a honey and a condiment. The calendar is compact so it’ll fit in the fridge and will make an ideal early Christmas gift for the cheese fanatic in your life. Find out more and buy here.
