Best Holiday Advent Calendars 2023: Chocolate, Food, Liquor, Gifts
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
Tis the season to be merry, and to gift yourself a daily dose of positivity. Research published in the journal Nature Neuroscience linked enhanced happiness and other positive emotions with new, diverse experiences, and found that this connection is related to a greater correlation of brain activity in the hippocampus and the striatum (a.k.a. the brain zones associated with the processing of novelty and reward).
But how to go from bah humbug to fab la la la when you find your holiday routine starts to get extra stressful, and the logistical nightmare of gathering friends and family, traveling, and figuring out the perfect gift for everyone on your list? Two words: Advent calendars.
No, our brains haven’t turned to figgy pudding. Hear us out. Having a door to open every day before Christmas or Hanukkah gives you something to look forward to after a long winter’s nap, and not knowing what’s behind them certainly qualifies as introducing greater variability. Sometimes, as is the case with LEGO’s offerings, Lovehoney’s sexy loot, or DIY ornaments from Uncommon Goods, the present opening is just the beginning of what festivities your night now has in store.
These days, the best advent calendars are out there for every personality, hobby, interest, budget, and relationship type. And if anyone gives you grief for splurging on any of the following top advent calendars we’ve assembled, tell ’em you’re simply following the self-care science to a wonderful life.
For Aspiring DJs
Get the holiday party started with this advent-style playlist of 25 Tannenbaum tunes from Sound Sentiments. Each day reveals a QR code for one festive classic that can be played on any device, all reimagined and performed by incredible up and coming singer-songwriters. Shaped like a vinyl record, it’ll also be music to eco-friendly and pro-economy ears to find out that it’s made in the USA of 50 percent recycled materials.
Uncommon Goods
For 12-Step Skincare Routine Havers
The hectic holiday season, while a necessary evil, is taking its toll on everybody (emphasis on body!) Wage war on dry skin, tired eyes, and maskne with an elegant advent calendar from Molton Brown. Designed to evoke Molton Brown’s original salon doors, it contains 24 unisex goodies — think hand creams, body oils, and perfume — to indulge all your nooks and crannies in nine scents, including Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel, Muddled Plum, and Orange & Bergamot.
Molton Brown
Beekman 1802
Beekman 1802’s awesome advent offering tends to sell out before Thanksgiving, but for now, these adorable urbanites-turned-goat farmers/Sharon Springs shopkeepers won’t leave customers high and dry-skinned. Their Takes the Cake advent calendar this year has a real Goatie cake topper you can use on your Christmas Day dessert. They include their best-selling skincare superstars like Buttermilk Cleanser, Bloom Cream, Milk Mud, and Dewy Eyed Serum (all wrapped in daily affirmations to remind you to be kind this season).
For Meat Lovers
This protein-packed exclusive from Man Crates will help any carnivore power through the holiday home stretch. Be warned: this isn’t your grandpa’s boring beef jerky either. Sure, there are basics like teriyaki, black pepper, and garlic among the 25 packs of jerky bits. But there are also root beer habanero, General Tso, sesame ginger, Thai satay, birch beer, and whiskey maple flavors in the mix.
Amazon
For Anyone Who Needs a Stiff Drink
Know someone who needs a little liquid courage to go caroling, make their move under the mistletoe, or meet their partner’s family for the first time? Come on get hoppy with the 12 Beers of Christmas Box from City Brew Tours with suds sourced from craft breweries across the country, detailed tasting notes, and surprise swag.
City Brew Tours
If they’d rather wet their whistle with whiskey, Flavier has curated an adventurous advent calendar that would make Indiana Jones smile. Their “Search for the Secret Spirits” tasting box set is the follow up to last year’s sold out case, and has 24 secret premium spirit samples from the “lost art of distillation”, with an award-winning Glencairn tasting glass, and access to exclusive on-demand tasting videos.
Flaviar
Dancing ladies, leaping lords, milking maids, pipers, or drummers would all be thrilled if their true love gave to them Vinebox’s 24 Nights of Wine calendar — choose between their Chill Collection (rich whites and invigorating rosés) and the Cozy Collection calendar (bold and sumptuous reds).
Vinebox
For Fragrance Fanatics
Freshen up with help from the fragrance industry’s finest — the height of olfactory luxury is the limited-edition Diptyque advent calendar. Its design is filled with flame-shaped calligrams, for a keepsake gift box including 25 scented treats from past limited editions and exclusive candles in festive fragrances like Sapin (Pine Tree), Délice (Delight) and Coton (Cotton).
Another scent-sational reminder to treat yourself this season is the Acqua di Parma option in the golden yellow hat box. The hard-to-procure Italian circular box opens to reveal precious illustrations and is packed with petite presents pulled from the company’s beloved lines like Colonia, Blu Mediterraneo, Le Nobili, and Signature of the Sun.
Bloomingdale’s
For Friends Devotees
If your love for the hit sitcom has been renewed with the passing of Matthew Perry, run don’t walk to order the officially-licensed Friends Advent Calendar box. It has unique keepsakes and trinkets ranging from fun paper ornaments, to classic Friends-inspired recipe cards (the head turkey is not incuded). Set out Central Perk coasters for your holiday party and stay cozy while re-watching all 10 seasons for the umpteenth time.
Amazon
For Brick Masters
If you build it, Christmas will come. Of LEGO’s four toy-a-day offerings this year, two draw from the pop culture pantheon and are sure to entertain brick players of all ages, but we prefer the original. The 13th iteration of the future collector’s item, the 258-piece LEGO City advent calendar based on has nine mini figures, including a snowman.
Amazon
For Sockophiles
Remember as a kid hating when Jolly Old St. Nick would bring you a fresh pair of socks? Well, this Happy Socks advent calendar lets you indulge in the true pleasure of slipping into some new socks daily daily. First, you’ll need them for any cozy holiday movie marathon, and this box gives you 24 pairs — enough for movie nights throughout the season.
Happy Socks
For Foodies
If eating is your reason for the season, there are calendars to satisfy just about every craving. Uncommon Goods’ 12 Days of Hot Sauce Advent Calendar will spice up any pepper popper’s palette. Each chamber contains a 1.75-ounce bottle of slow-simmered condiments with hot names like Habanero Evil, Son of Zombie, and Psycho Curry. The heat level on each is extreme across the board, so you won’t get a break no matter which day of the month you pile the sauce on.
Uncommon Goods
Everyone’s been doing their fair share of binge-watching lately, so you can level up screen-time snacks with a daily dose of Wabash Valley Farms’ gourmet popcorn in fun flavors, recipe cards, seasonings, and popcorn kernels to pop yourself.
Neiman Marcus
For The Sweet Tooth
A worthy last indulgence before you make a New Year’s resolution to cut out sugar entirely, Sugarfina’s candy-filled calendar tempts with 24 different types of treats (96 pieces in total) including limited-run seasonal faves like Santas Donuts, Holiday Presents, and Merry Berries as well as brand cornerstones like Island Pineapples, Ice Cream Cones, Apple Frogs, and Peach Hearts. Sadly, this mouthwatering menagerie is family-friendly so it doesn’t include any of the spiked snacks the high-end confectioner built its reputation on.
Reservebar
To ring in the new year, you don’t have to walk through the candy cane forest past the trail of swirly-twirly gumdrops, because William Sonoma has created an Elf advent calendar featuring colorful, individually wrapped candies. Each night includes colorful caramels, milk chocolates, maple syrup, an adorable Mr. Narwhal sugar cookie, marshmallows and more, exactly the kinds of treats Buddy the Elf lived on while growing up at the North Pole.
Williams Sonoma
For Big Crystal Energy
If there was ever a year to start seriously practicing self-care and spiritual wellness, it’s 2023, and Smudge’s 10-day calendar can help add magic, meditation, and mojo to the lives of anyone who needs them. It’s drawers are bursting with simple rituals and the aura-rebalancing, stress-relieving tools like an all-new lineup of crystals and a set of portable mantra cards to give you a power boost wherever you are.
Smudge Wellness
For Someone On The Naughty List
It’s hard to know who benefits most from this sexy set — the giver or the receiver. One thing’s for sure though, one look at what’s behind closed drawers in Lovehoney Dream Wand Advent Calendar set and it won’t be visions of sugarplums dancing in either’s head. All they’ll want for Christmas is you when you slip out these velvet-colored toys.
Lovehoney
For Kids At Heart
Identity theft might be a crime, but that hasn’t stopped Funko’s The Office calendar from bringing our favorite characters’ miniature likenesses to your home. Who can resist those big black eyes?
Amazon
For the person in your life who’d rather turn on Nightmare Before Christmas than Home Alone, they can count down to the spookiest day of the year with this advent calendar by Funko. Get your macabre-loving friend to open up the windows to 13 horror film-inspired pocket Pop! figures hidden behind 13 little doors, from Freddy Krueger to Pennywise the Clown. We sure hope Krampus isn’t in there!
Urban Outfitters
For Four-legged Friends
Let Fido in on the festive fun with Wufers Advent Calendar Dog Cookie Box calendar. The canine cooks combine applesauce and crushed peanuts to create treats your precious pup will find paws-itively delicious.
Amazon
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
Tis the season to be merry, and to gift yourself a daily dose of positivity. Research published in the journal Nature Neuroscience linked enhanced happiness and other positive emotions with new, diverse experiences, and found that this connection is related to a greater correlation of brain activity in the hippocampus and the striatum (a.k.a. the brain zones associated with the processing of novelty and reward).
But how to go from bah humbug to fab la la la when you find your holiday routine starts to get extra stressful, and the logistical nightmare of gathering friends and family, traveling, and figuring out the perfect gift for everyone on your list? Two words: Advent calendars.
No, our brains haven’t turned to figgy pudding. Hear us out. Having a door to open every day before Christmas or Hanukkah gives you something to look forward to after a long winter’s nap, and not knowing what’s behind them certainly qualifies as introducing greater variability. Sometimes, as is the case with LEGO’s offerings, Lovehoney’s sexy loot, or DIY ornaments from Uncommon Goods, the present opening is just the beginning of what festivities your night now has in store.
These days, the best advent calendars are out there for every personality, hobby, interest, budget, and relationship type. And if anyone gives you grief for splurging on any of the following top advent calendars we’ve assembled, tell ’em you’re simply following the self-care science to a wonderful life.
For Aspiring DJs
Get the holiday party started with this advent-style playlist of 25 Tannenbaum tunes from Sound Sentiments. Each day reveals a QR code for one festive classic that can be played on any device, all reimagined and performed by incredible up and coming singer-songwriters. Shaped like a vinyl record, it’ll also be music to eco-friendly and pro-economy ears to find out that it’s made in the USA of 50 percent recycled materials.
Uncommon Goods
For 12-Step Skincare Routine Havers
The hectic holiday season, while a necessary evil, is taking its toll on everybody (emphasis on body!) Wage war on dry skin, tired eyes, and maskne with an elegant advent calendar from Molton Brown. Designed to evoke Molton Brown’s original salon doors, it contains 24 unisex goodies — think hand creams, body oils, and perfume — to indulge all your nooks and crannies in nine scents, including Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel, Muddled Plum, and Orange & Bergamot.
Molton Brown
Beekman 1802
Beekman 1802’s awesome advent offering tends to sell out before Thanksgiving, but for now, these adorable urbanites-turned-goat farmers/Sharon Springs shopkeepers won’t leave customers high and dry-skinned. Their Takes the Cake advent calendar this year has a real Goatie cake topper you can use on your Christmas Day dessert. They include their best-selling skincare superstars like Buttermilk Cleanser, Bloom Cream, Milk Mud, and Dewy Eyed Serum (all wrapped in daily affirmations to remind you to be kind this season).
For Meat Lovers
This protein-packed exclusive from Man Crates will help any carnivore power through the holiday home stretch. Be warned: this isn’t your grandpa’s boring beef jerky either. Sure, there are basics like teriyaki, black pepper, and garlic among the 25 packs of jerky bits. But there are also root beer habanero, General Tso, sesame ginger, Thai satay, birch beer, and whiskey maple flavors in the mix.
Amazon
For Anyone Who Needs a Stiff Drink
Know someone who needs a little liquid courage to go caroling, make their move under the mistletoe, or meet their partner’s family for the first time? Come on get hoppy with the 12 Beers of Christmas Box from City Brew Tours with suds sourced from craft breweries across the country, detailed tasting notes, and surprise swag.
City Brew Tours
If they’d rather wet their whistle with whiskey, Flavier has curated an adventurous advent calendar that would make Indiana Jones smile. Their “Search for the Secret Spirits” tasting box set is the follow up to last year’s sold out case, and has 24 secret premium spirit samples from the “lost art of distillation”, with an award-winning Glencairn tasting glass, and access to exclusive on-demand tasting videos.
Flaviar
Dancing ladies, leaping lords, milking maids, pipers, or drummers would all be thrilled if their true love gave to them Vinebox’s 24 Nights of Wine calendar — choose between their Chill Collection (rich whites and invigorating rosés) and the Cozy Collection calendar (bold and sumptuous reds).
Vinebox
For Fragrance Fanatics
Freshen up with help from the fragrance industry’s finest — the height of olfactory luxury is the limited-edition Diptyque advent calendar. Its design is filled with flame-shaped calligrams, for a keepsake gift box including 25 scented treats from past limited editions and exclusive candles in festive fragrances like Sapin (Pine Tree), Délice (Delight) and Coton (Cotton).
Another scent-sational reminder to treat yourself this season is the Acqua di Parma option in the golden yellow hat box. The hard-to-procure Italian circular box opens to reveal precious illustrations and is packed with petite presents pulled from the company’s beloved lines like Colonia, Blu Mediterraneo, Le Nobili, and Signature of the Sun.
Bloomingdale’s
For Friends Devotees
If your love for the hit sitcom has been renewed with the passing of Matthew Perry, run don’t walk to order the officially-licensed Friends Advent Calendar box. It has unique keepsakes and trinkets ranging from fun paper ornaments, to classic Friends-inspired recipe cards (the head turkey is not incuded). Set out Central Perk coasters for your holiday party and stay cozy while re-watching all 10 seasons for the umpteenth time.
Amazon
For Brick Masters
If you build it, Christmas will come. Of LEGO’s four toy-a-day offerings this year, two draw from the pop culture pantheon and are sure to entertain brick players of all ages, but we prefer the original. The 13th iteration of the future collector’s item, the 258-piece LEGO City advent calendar based on has nine mini figures, including a snowman.
Amazon
For Sockophiles
Remember as a kid hating when Jolly Old St. Nick would bring you a fresh pair of socks? Well, this Happy Socks advent calendar lets you indulge in the true pleasure of slipping into some new socks daily daily. First, you’ll need them for any cozy holiday movie marathon, and this box gives you 24 pairs — enough for movie nights throughout the season.
Happy Socks
For Foodies
If eating is your reason for the season, there are calendars to satisfy just about every craving. Uncommon Goods’ 12 Days of Hot Sauce Advent Calendar will spice up any pepper popper’s palette. Each chamber contains a 1.75-ounce bottle of slow-simmered condiments with hot names like Habanero Evil, Son of Zombie, and Psycho Curry. The heat level on each is extreme across the board, so you won’t get a break no matter which day of the month you pile the sauce on.
Uncommon Goods
Everyone’s been doing their fair share of binge-watching lately, so you can level up screen-time snacks with a daily dose of Wabash Valley Farms’ gourmet popcorn in fun flavors, recipe cards, seasonings, and popcorn kernels to pop yourself.
Neiman Marcus
For The Sweet Tooth
A worthy last indulgence before you make a New Year’s resolution to cut out sugar entirely, Sugarfina’s candy-filled calendar tempts with 24 different types of treats (96 pieces in total) including limited-run seasonal faves like Santas Donuts, Holiday Presents, and Merry Berries as well as brand cornerstones like Island Pineapples, Ice Cream Cones, Apple Frogs, and Peach Hearts. Sadly, this mouthwatering menagerie is family-friendly so it doesn’t include any of the spiked snacks the high-end confectioner built its reputation on.
Reservebar
To ring in the new year, you don’t have to walk through the candy cane forest past the trail of swirly-twirly gumdrops, because William Sonoma has created an Elf advent calendar featuring colorful, individually wrapped candies. Each night includes colorful caramels, milk chocolates, maple syrup, an adorable Mr. Narwhal sugar cookie, marshmallows and more, exactly the kinds of treats Buddy the Elf lived on while growing up at the North Pole.
Williams Sonoma
For Big Crystal Energy
If there was ever a year to start seriously practicing self-care and spiritual wellness, it’s 2023, and Smudge’s 10-day calendar can help add magic, meditation, and mojo to the lives of anyone who needs them. It’s drawers are bursting with simple rituals and the aura-rebalancing, stress-relieving tools like an all-new lineup of crystals and a set of portable mantra cards to give you a power boost wherever you are.
Smudge Wellness
For Someone On The Naughty List
It’s hard to know who benefits most from this sexy set — the giver or the receiver. One thing’s for sure though, one look at what’s behind closed drawers in Lovehoney Dream Wand Advent Calendar set and it won’t be visions of sugarplums dancing in either’s head. All they’ll want for Christmas is you when you slip out these velvet-colored toys.
Lovehoney
For Kids At Heart
Identity theft might be a crime, but that hasn’t stopped Funko’s The Office calendar from bringing our favorite characters’ miniature likenesses to your home. Who can resist those big black eyes?
Amazon
For the person in your life who’d rather turn on Nightmare Before Christmas than Home Alone, they can count down to the spookiest day of the year with this advent calendar by Funko. Get your macabre-loving friend to open up the windows to 13 horror film-inspired pocket Pop! figures hidden behind 13 little doors, from Freddy Krueger to Pennywise the Clown. We sure hope Krampus isn’t in there!
Urban Outfitters
For Four-legged Friends
Let Fido in on the festive fun with Wufers Advent Calendar Dog Cookie Box calendar. The canine cooks combine applesauce and crushed peanuts to create treats your precious pup will find paws-itively delicious.
Amazon
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