Review: John Lewis Christmas Sparkle Hamper

It’s Christmastime, which means it’s hamper time. I remember receiving my first John Lewis Christmas hamper from my in-laws, the first Christmas that my husband and I had moved into our new house. It was filled with Christmas cake and tea and biscuits and it meant that even when we had unexpected guests, there was always something to pull out of the cupboard. The hamper has remained a Christmas tradition in our household and I’ve also discovered that the right hamper can make a great family gift or even the perfect gift for a school or nursery class with lots of teachers. It saves buying individual gifts and means they can all have a good rummage and take home something they really fancy. So this year, my hamper acquisition has begun with a John Lewis Christmas Sparkle Hamper, which ticked lots of boxes in terms of good-quality (rather than overly generic) snacks to enjoy that will help Christmas along very nicely.

John Lewis Christmas Sparkle Hamper Contents:

Prosecco DOC Spumante Brut, 75cl
Los Rosales Chapel Vineyard Merlot, 75cl
Los Rosales Chapel Vineyard Chardonnay, 75cl
John Lewis Star Snowflake Crackers, Set of 6
Mrs Bridges Strawberry Preserve with Champagne, 250g
Maxwell & Franks Christmas Pudding with Cider, 454g
Buiteman Parmigiano Reggiano Biscuits, 75g
The Original Cake Company 4″ Round Luxury Chocolate Cake
Twinings English Breakfast, 50 tea bags
Mrs Bridges Christmas Marmalade, 250g
Copperpot Milk Chocolate Coated Honeycomb, 125g
Highland Croft Scottish Traditional Handbaked Chocolate Chip Gingers, 200g
Cambrook Brilliantly Caramelised Cashews, 80g
Convivial Yorkshire Cheddar & Caramelised Onion Chutney Crisps, 100g
Butlers Assortment of Chocolate Truffles and Pralines, 180g
The Dormen Salted Pretzels, 25g

My favourite items were the Prosecco, Merlot and Chardonnay – of course – a few bottles of (good quality) fizz or wine are always a welcome addition to a hamper. We also enjoyed The Original Cake Company Luxury Chocolate cake – which was rich and moist and topped with chocolate Maltersers. The Butlers Assortment of Chocolate Truffles and Pralines were also of very good quality and the Traditional Handbaked Chocolate Chip Gingers paired very nicely with the Twinings English Breakfast Tea.

The preserves will be enjoyed on Christmas Day for breakfast and the remaining snacks and nibbles, such as the Dormen Salted Pretzels,Yorkshire Cheddar & Caramelised Onion Chutney Crisps, and Buiteman Parmigiano Reggiano Biscuits will welcome some of my Christmas visitors.

Priced at £100, the John Lewis Christmas Sparkle Hamper does represent good value for money and the wicker basket is a tasteful mahogany shade, which will be useful to store all my food magazines in!

Other hampers in the John Lewis range that have caught my eye this year include the John Lewis Christmas Tray, priced at £30 this is a great gift for a family member or a good friend who might appreciate a nice bottle of red wine and some nibbles – Christmas cake, chocolate buttons, shortbread and salted peanuts. Or the John Lewis Fresh Cheese Tray, priced at £40, and filled with a selection of cheese, chutney, biscuits and a bottle of port.

You can view a whole 2013 selection of hampers by John Lewis here – categorised as Luxury, Traditional, Family, Confectionery, Fresh and Branded.