Made in Pasadena Gift Guide

Here are a few Pasadena-centric holiday gift ideas to get you started planning for everyone on your list, from hostess gifts and Hanukkah presents to Christmas stocking stuffers and Winter Solstice treats.

Amara's Venezuelan Hot Chocolate

Amara's is one of Old Pasadena's unique Venezuelan restaurants that serves the best arepas around. While you can't purchase their savory plates, their signature hot cocoa - the "Gran Criollo" dark chocolate blend - is available online. An ode to Spanish style drinking chocolate traditions that flourished in Venezuela during the 18th century. The rich texture, dark-red full body, delicate bitterness, and fruity aroma, will awaken the senses of any chocolate lover. Choose from 1 lb. or 2 lb. options.

Global Teas and Drinks

Have a tea fanatic in your life? Get them a global taste of some of the finest flavors around. Pasadena's Chado Tea Room and Cha Redefine both offer leaves from around the world. Try flavors from floral herbal blends, traditional Chinese teas, Los Angeles blends, black teas, classic English-style breakfast teas, and more. Plus, there are decaffeinated tea options for those who want to watch their intake but still enjoy the experience of tea tasting. Loose leaf and leaf pearls are also available.

Mignon Chocolate

Do you have someone in your life that has a sweet tooth? Then Mignon Chocolate is the perfect place to get their holiday gift. They've been crafting artisan chocolate since 1935 that delivers a spectrum of flavor for every discriminating palate. Choose from pre-selected dark chocolate, nutty, white chocolate, fruity, and milk chocolate combinations or build your own box to fully customize it for someone you love. Even down to the placement of each chocolate piece!

Semolina Artisanal Pasta

Chefs and pasta lovers in your life will simply fall in love with the artisan crafted pastas from Ferrazzani Pasta and Market. Their dried or fresh pasta is handmade right in Pasadena. It is the most flavorful dried pastas you'll ever eat, with the dense chew of the best pastas from Italy. All of Ferrazzani's pastas are extruded through bronze dies, and then slow dried to perfection. Certified organic, and 100% egg and nut free.

Grist & Toll Bread Baking Kit

Grist & Toll makes the freshest small-batch, whole grain milled local flour you can get your hands on in the Greater Los Angeles region. Buy individual bags of flours, rye and cornmeal, or go for a gift kit like the Dehydrated Sourdough Starter Kit. Their Advanced Sourdough box is the perfect starter tool kit with three seasonal flours and recipes, plus a flour sack, a Danish dough whisk, eight-inch banneton and lame for scoring. Prices range from $12 for individual bags, $30 for the Dehydrated Sourdough Starter Kit and $155 for the Advanced Sourdough box.

Lather

The hit natural beauty brand LATHER was born in Pasadena, and you can shop their skin and haircare goods in the Old Pasadena flagship store (40 W. Colorado Blvd.). Individual products like candles and lavender-scented eye pillows make great stocking stuffers, and the wide array of pampering gift sets include bath bombs, travel essentials and a shaving kit for men. Prices start at $6 for balms and go up to $70 for premium gift sets.

Jones Coffee

Jones Coffee Roasters roasts their Guatemala-sourced beans locally. Buy a bag of beans to perk up any coffee fanatics. Or, even better, get them a coffee club subscription for a gift that will keep on giving—sign up for regular delivery of coffee in a one-pound bag, a bulk five-pound bag, or in five individually packaged one-pound bags. One-pound of freshly roasted coffee beans starts at $22 and the next level of subscriptions starts $76.

Zero Waste Homemade bar soaps

Support a mother/daughter duo by shopping for handmade, hand-cut, and hand-wrapped bar soaps locally owned in Pasadena. All soaps are made with the finest essential oils and herbs in their centuries-old soap making process. The Soap Kitchen's online store offers a variety of holiday gifts of soap sets for the body, face, and more with fun holiday themed names like Deck the Soap! and Falalala Lavender.

Sweet Treats

On the edge of Pasadena is the woman-owned and operated cafe, Little Flower Candy Company. Inside the cafe, you'll find a small store filled with gifts to give including handmade marshmallows and sea salt caramels. Their handmade caramel candies come in sea salt, vanilla, and chocolate decoratively packaged in three different sizes. The pillowy handmade marshmallows are perfect to go with a bag of hot chocolate in a holiday mug or save time with the pre-packaged Gift Bucket filled with caramels, marshmallows, and honeycomb.

Museum Gift Shop Hop

Museums are known for having eclectic gift shops with wares appealing to artistic and creative types of every age. Whether you have a youngster who would love an enrichment education activity from Kidspace Children's Museum or a culture-loving traveler whose bucket list would be inspired by a gift from USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena's museums offer a plethora of options. Maybe you'd rather shop at the Gamble House's gift shop to find something to inspire the craftsman (or craftswoman) in your life. If that's not what you're looking for, the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens' shop carries a robust assortment of garden themed items, holiday ornaments, elaborate jewelry, home décor, books and art prints based on the collections and exhibitions. Thoughtful gifts for kids and an entire women's rights collection round out the selection. The Norton Simon Museum's gift shop sells books and prints based on current and past exhibitions, along with other treasures including kids' art supplies.

Visit Pasadena online store

The Visit Pasadena Online Store is your one-stop shopping destination for Pasadena-themed souvenirs. Shop the first collaborative campaign with locally Black-owned and operated apparel company Pasadena CLSC (pronounced classic). Pasadena-themed crew neck sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks, and hats in the "Smell the Roses" campaign range from $10 to $45. Inside the Visitor Center on 300 E Green St.., the exclusive Pasadena scented candle made by locally woman-owned and operated candle company, Pasadena Candle Company. The refreshing and calming Pasadena Citrus + Sage candle has three different layers of scents with fruity, rose, and amber, the perfect blend of citrus and sage.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Swag

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is part of the California Institute of Technology, a Pasadena institution. The JPL online store is full of space-centric swag like t-shirts, hoodies and flight jackets. Aspiring astronauts and rocket scientists will appreciate the collectibles like pins, magnets, hats, puzzles and more. Prices start at $6 for pins and go up to $90 for jackets.

Vroman's Bookstore

Vroman's Bookstore has everything you could want from a bookstore: a sprawling art, design and architecture section; a well-curated employee-picks wall; large stationery, card & gift sections; a newsstand stocked with even the most obscure of periodicals; and the café Tepito Coffee. It's the perfect spot to browse for gifts and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of your holiday shopping.