Tomato wizard, pocket espresso & holiday gift finds from Europe #82

Welcome to this week’s installment of what’s hot in brands and products.

Just got back from the kunst&design Markt in Innsbruck: I spotted a few gems I didn’t know I needed in my life… so now they’re in yours, too.

They’re very giftable as well, so keep scrolling.

If you need even more inspiration for gifts and presents: refer this newsletter to one person who you think shouldn’t miss future editions and you’ll get my 11-page Holiday Gift Guide as a PDF. It’s packed with 50+ gift ideas, grouped by budget.

If you’re new: every week I share 5 of the coolest products from Europe I’ve found in the last 7 days.

I scout, you explore. Let’s get to it!

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: Missed last-week’s edition? The Takk Rainbow kids watch from Kwio was the most-clicked product.

Tropical Scandinavia sits in a tiny place called Hammenhög in the very south of Sweden, but the colour palette is basically “northern Europe discovered vitamin D”. This Be The Light blanket is jacquard-woven from recycled marine plastic and eco cotton, so it’s thick enough for the sofa but also works as a wall tapestry if you want a whole mood, not just a throw.

I like it as a daily reminder that life is too short for beige everything (especially in winter). Not from the Innsbruck market, but very much in the spirit.

Wrap yourself in the bright side

At the Innsbruck design market I stumbled across Emanuale – a newcomer German brand that basically built a manual espresso machine that clocks in at just 700g and is currently one of the smallest, lightest espresso makers that still uses a proper 58 mm portafilter basket.

Seeing it live I’d say it looks more “precision tool” than “pretty object”, but the features are solid: 9-bar crank mechanism, built-in smart ratio scale, neat little travel form factor.
Production is fully made in Germany.

Upgrade your caffeine habit on the go

P.S.: If you want to complete the setup, pair it with a Comandante hand grinder from just outside Munich – the small family-run project that pretty much became the cult grinder in specialty coffee. (featured before in issue #69)

This one absolutely stole the show in Innsbruck. Thorsten Thron from Die richtige Tomate near Munich has been growing and cultivating open-pollinated tomato varieties for over 18 years and has collected over 1,000 different kinds.
His garden in Neubiberg is run along permaculture principles, packed with herbs, strawberries, flowers and even saffron around the tomatoes – the man is a full-on tomato librarian.

He only grows the same variety again every six years or so, which keeps things diverse and makes his seed selection feel like a rotating exhibition.

We picked up several of his rarer seeds as Christmas presents for the green-thumb people in our life. It’s the kind of gift that turns into a summer story: “remember when you gave us those weird stripy tomatoes?”. (Or the one variety that’ll weigh more than 1kg – per tomato 😳.)

I’d love to visit his tomato jungle next summer and nerd out properly.

Plant a future tomato obsession

If you also think most ceramic mugs feel like drinking from a flowerpot, this one might restore your faith.

In Innsbruck’s old town I finally found something I’m always hunting for: ceramics with a thin rim. Vera Wiedermann runs an atelier store in Innsbruck and throws these tiny “Stardust” espresso mugs by hand from black stoneware, finished with a white dotted glaze.

Upgrade your daily espresso ritual

Lou Taylor is a Brighton-based artist who usually plays in bold acrylics and graphic jewellery – but Fan No. 3 is something else entirely. It’s an intricately hand-cut wooden wall fan made from veneer off-cuts, laid out like a quilt of different grains and tones.

It’s not cheap (this is firmly “future heirloom” territory), but if you love her style and want something more wallet-friendly, check out Lou’s fan brooches as well – same graphic drama, just in laser-cut acrylic you can pin on your coat instead of your wall.

Hang a little Brighton on your wall

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