14 Best Last-Minute Gifts in 2025, According to Esquire Editors

If you know someone who’s obsessed with Wordle, Strands, or the NYT Crossword, this is the book for them. It’s filled with word games and puzzles curated by NYT Games editor Joel Fagliano and includes fun spins on the digital games like Spelling Bee and Connections as well as a mega crossword puzzle. I got this for my mom, and I know she’s going to rip through all the puzzles. It’s on Amazon Prime, so it’ll ship super fast. —Bellamy Richardson, associate commerce editor

My go-to last minute gift is this marble salt cellar. While it might sounds niche, a few years ago I bought it for my friend that loves to host and she was beyond happy with it. I ended up getting one for myself, and whenever I have guests they always ask me where it’s from. What I learned is that everyone would love to receive a marble salt cellar. It’s affordable, ships fast, and is probably something they don’t already own. —KJ

Bombas is known for its super warm socks, but for extreme warmth in the winter these slippers are the bomb. I have a pair I haven’t stopped wearing for the past month and I just got one for my fiancee. They’ve been the best winter gift. She hasn’t gone a day without slipping them on either. These sherpa slippers are just that warm and cozy. The hard rubber bottom makes it easy to run around our apartment building (or to your backyard to let the dog out) without needing to sacrifice a second of comfort. —Bryn Gelbart, associate commerce editor

Read more: The Slippers I Never Want to Take Off

As an entertainment writer, I get asked all the time what I’m watching and would recommend. Algorithms are overwhelming; people yearn for taste and curation more than ever. That’s why it’s a great idea to gift someone a subscription to a streamer that actually cares about the content they make available. For cinephiles or anyone fatigued by mainstream Hollywood, consider Mubi, which showcases arthouse cinema from around the world. If you’re shopping for an anime obsessive or anime-curious, gift them Crunchyroll, a streamer focused exclusively on exciting animation from Japan. Both streamers offer gift memberships. —Eric Francisco, associate entertainment editor

Striplings is a butcher shop down near where I’m from in Georgia. For my entire life, its been jerky has been everyone’s go-to last-minute gift for housewarmings, Christmas parties, and anytime a man has some sort of milestone. Most beef jerky sucks; it’s tough and flavorless, like you’re eating boot leather. Striplings, however, is well-seasoned and melts in your mouth, and it costs like $40 a pound. There’s nothing better, and now it ships on Amazon, so you can have the next-day ‘I don’t know what to get him, might as well get some jerky,’ convenience that I’ve had my whole life. —LG

If you’re looking to get a special someone something extra luxe for the holidays, you really can’t go wrong with a Gucci handbag. This one has the designer brand’s classic Double-G logo and signature green and red stripe. —BR

If I already missed the boat on shipping, I opt for a subscription or digital gift card instead. One digital gift I love to give is a subscription to Snake River Farms. The best wagyu beef in American can be delivered right to someone’s door. It’s the perfect excuse for them to cook and try a new recipe. I especially love the wagyu hot dogs. —KJ

Read more: The Online Steak Retailer That Replaced My Butcher

There is no game that’s simultaneously great and terrible for friends than UNO. Easy to pick up and play but ripe for eroding trust, UNO is the best social lubricant to have in your living room (second to your liquor cabinet). Amazon has a killer exclusive package that includes a standard UNO deck plus additional ‘packs’ of brand new cards with new rules, so even veterans aren’t playing the same game from summer camp. —EF

While I’m playing up the country boy thing, how ’bout some Georgia-grown pecans? Instead of buying some pre-packaged garbage, make your own candied nuts, Christmas-time’s best snack. It’s easy to do at home, but it also makes for a nice assembly line activity at whomevers home you go to for Christmas. Someone cracks nuts; someone coats them in butter (olive oil if you prefer), brown sugar, and cinnamon; someone roasts them in the oven until the outside gets candied and brown. You can replicate this with whatever nut you prefer: walnut, almond, cashews. Or, you can try your hand at roasting chestnuts. —LG

If they’re a coffee drinker who already has it all—ya know, French press, espresso machine, fancy mugs—then this is the next tool they need in the arsenal. It’s an electric coffee grinder that can make the quickest work of any bag of beans. And it looks a lot bigger than it is in the picture on Amazon. In reality, it doesn’t take up much counter space at all. —BG

The water bottle craze seems like it’s here to stay–and as far as fads go, we could do worse than staying hydrated. A notch above your typical store-bought plastic water bottle is the Ice Shaker 26oz, which we’ve previously raved about in our Endorsements column. Great for anybody but tailor-made for gym rats to mix pre-workout powders with water, the Ice Shaker keeps you refreshed at whatever temperature you need your drinks at. —EF

Read more: The Only Gym Bottle I’ll Ever Use

Whenever I don’t know what to get someone, I just go with a gift set of teas from Harney & Sons. It’s my all-time favorite tea company, and it has tons of great holiday gift options. This duo features two of the brand’s most popular seasonal blends: Holiday spiced black tea and White Christmas white tea with vanilla and almond flavors. —BR