Party gift ideas: how to choose

The three tests that decide everything

It has to make sense without explanation. The moment of giving lasts ten seconds, in front of everyone. If the recipient has to read something to work out what it is, the effect is gone and it will not come back. Objects with one obvious function always beat clever objects.

It has to be usable by several people. This is the most underrated test. A gift consumed alone is a useful gift; a gift that pulls the group in becomes a memory, and above all it comes back out at every subsequent gathering instead of being used once.

It has to give someone something to say. An origin, a story about the maker, a joke. That is what makes the answer something other than “I can't remember” when someone asks where it came from.

Six ideas, from €15 to €60

1. Something built around a timed challenge (€20 to €30). Any object that turns an ordinary action into a competition with a time to beat. This is the category that works best as a gift because the object cannot be used alone: it forces the group to play, so it comes back out at every gathering instead of ending up in a drawer.
2. A blind tasting set (€25 to €45). Three to six products from the same family — beers, craft sodas, olive oils, chocolates — served without labels. The gift gets consumed the same evening, which is an advantage rather than a flaw: nothing to store, and the experience is shared with whoever gave it.
3. An engraved serving board (€30 to €60). The classic that still works, on one condition: the engraving has to be a genuine in-joke, not a first name. A generic personalised board is the perfect example of a gift nobody dares to use or to throw away.
4. A card game with constraints (€15 to €25). Short format, rules in two sentences, fits in a pocket. Check that it works without alcohol: half the party card games on sale are drinking games in disguise, and they rule out anyone driving or not drinking from the start.
5. A subscription to a local box (€20 to €40 a month). The gift that comes back every month, so it gets remembered. The risk is real though: it is also the gift people forget to cancel. Give three fixed months rather than an open-ended subscription.
6. Something with a story behind it (any budget). A product from a small independent brand, something found second-hand, a limited run. The value of the gift has nothing to do with its price and everything to do with what the recipient can say when someone asks where it came from.

The party gifts that end up in a drawer

Three families come up again and again, and they fail for the same reason: they please the giver rather than the recipient. Single-use novelties — the funny thing that works once — are amusing as the paper comes off and dead within the hour. Objects personalised with a first name cannot be resold, lent or thrown away without guilt. And drinking games, where the loser drinks, exclude from the outset anyone driving, pregnant, on medication, or simply not in the mood — and turn an evening into an automatic escalation.

The simple test: will the person reach for it a second time, of their own accord? If the answer is no, the budget is better spent elsewhere.

Where the JOHNSON SHOT fits

To be clear, this is our product. The JOHNSON SHOT beer snorkel clips onto the neck of a glass bottle and makes the pour steady instead of the usual glugging. It passes the three tests above: the function is visible at a glance, it triggers a timed challenge the whole table takes part in, and it is attached to a national ranking between 27 French cities — which quite literally gives people something to talk about. BPA-free food-grade plastic and silicone, four colours, €24.99.

When it is not the right choice: as a corporate or formal gift, for anyone under 18, or for someone who never drinks straight from the bottle. In those cases take the blind tasting set or the card game from the list above instead — a gift that goes unused is a bad deal, even at €24.99.

If you are wondering what to do with the evening once the wrapping is off, we have gathered eight party games for friends, several of them with no alcohol involved. And if you are comparing several snorkels before buying, the stainless steel, plastic or silicone comparison sets out what to look at first. Ordering, delivery and the full terms of sale are currently available in French only.

Excessive drinking harms your health. Drink responsibly. This product is for adults only: it is never a gift for a minor.