Every year as a kid, I looked forward to my annual chocolate Advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. Starting December 1, I’d peel back a paper door each day to pop out miniature milk chocolates in the shape of Santa’s face or a tiny bell. (Well, except for the year I was five, when I ate all 24 chocolates in one sitting, unbeknownst to my mom.)
Not only have I grown up—so have my beloved Advent calendars. Today you can mark the days to December 25 with Advent calendars for adults filled with high-end chocolate from Paris, beauty products from artisanal skincare brands in upstate New York, and sustainably sourced loose leaf tea from India. I’ve scoured the internet to find something for everyone, including Francophiles, whiskey drinkers, and even lovers of Danish licorice (I know you’re out there).
Best of all, each one can be ordered online and shipped to the United States. Just be sure to place your order ASAP, so it arrives in time to start the countdown on December 1.
1. Food52 x Maison Boissier Parisian Advent Calendar
- From: France
- Type: Candy Advent calendar
- Buy now: $99, food52.com
Founded in 1827 in Paris, Maison Boissier is famous for its classic French confections and its iconic art nouveau packaging. Available exclusively in the U.S. at Food52.com, this Advent calendar takes its design inspiration from those beautiful tins of candy. Behind the daily doors, you’ll reveal treats like chocolate-coated nuts, caramels, and heart-shaped gummies.
Each day reveals a beautiful and tasty flavored chocolate.
Courtesy of Compartés
2. Compartés 2022 Gourmet Chocolate Advent Calendar
- From: Los Angeles
- Type: Chocolate Advent calendar
- Buy now: $110, compartes.com; nordstrom.com
Handmade in Los Angeles, Compartés chocolates are known for wild and wacky flavors like potato chip crisp milk chocolate and doughnuts and coffee milk chocolate. Expect nothing less from its 2022 Advent calendar, which is decorated with polar scenes and the northern lights and filled with 24 chocolates with flavors like red velvet, salted caramel, and apple pie.
If you can’t go to Italy this Christmas, an Advent calendar filled with Italian chocolates is a good consolation prize.
Courtesy of Ty Mecham/Food52
3. Venchi Artisanal Italian Chocolate Advent Calendar
- From: Italy
- Type: Chocolate Advent calendar
- Buy now: $99, us.venchi.com; food52.com; amazon.com
Founded in Italy’s Piedmont region in 1878, Venchi has been handmaking chocolate for over 140 years. The outside of its 2022 Advent calendar is illustrated with woodland creatures gathered around a Christmas tree. Inside the 24 boxes inside—which can be rearranged to show four different designs—you’ll find a variety of chocolates, including milk, dark, gianduja, and tiramisu flavors.
4. Beekman 1802 Time Capsule Advent Calendar
- From: New York
- Type: Beauty Advent calendar
- Buy now: $150, beekman1802.com
Meticulously hand-assembled, this beauty Advent calendar filled with goat milk–based skincare products doubles as a time capsule. It even comes with a removable hand-blown hourglass (with a miniature version of one of the company’s beloved goats inside). Inside the advent calendar, you’ll find 24 drawers filled with mini hand creams, lip balms, and soaps.
The glow-in-the-dark box holding each of the small gifts can be reused as a jewelry box.
Courtesy of Diptyque
5. Diptyque Advent Calendar
- From: France
- Type: Beauty Advent calendar
- Buy now: $480, diptyqueparis.com; nordstrom.com; saksfifthavenue.com
If you’re going to treat yourself this holiday season, this Advent calendar filled with 25 scented goodies from French luxury brand Diptyque is a worthy splurge. Behind some of the doors, you’ll find 13 candles in classic Diptyque scents like Feu de Bois (wood fire) and Baies (berries) as well as limited-edition holiday scents like Neige (snow) and Sapin (pine tree). You’ll also discover a selection of eaux de toilettes, a solid perfume, body balm, and three limited-edition metal ornaments. The night sky–inspired design of this calendar (that also glows in the dark!) is so beautiful you’ll want to reuse it after the holidays to store your jewelry and other valuables.
Candy Advent calendars aren’t just for kids.
Courtesy of Ty Mecham/Food52
6. Lakrids by Bülow Danish Licorice Advent Calendar
- From: Denmark
- Type: Candy Advent calendar
- Buy now: $60, food52.com; $55, amazon.com
Good & Plenty this is not. Inside this Advent calendar by Danish brand Lakrids by Bülow, you’ll find 48 pieces of gourmet candy-coated licorice—two per day—in a variety of flavors like salted caramel, passion fruit, and milk chocolate.
7. Sugoi Mart Christmas Advent Calendar
- From: Japan
- Type: Toy Advent calendar
- Buy now: $150, sugoimart.com
From the team behind Japan Crate, a Japanese candy subscription box, Sugoi Mart’s Christmas Advent calendar is filled with 24 Japanese snacks, candies, toys, plush animals, and more. While most items are designed to be a surprise, preview images on the website show items like a tamagotchi-like toy and a miniature wind-up car in the shape of a Cup Noodle soup. Shipping out the week of October 24, this calendar sold out in one week in 2021.
Enjoy a new type of tea each afternoon leading up to Christmas.
Courtesy of Vahdam Teas
8. Vahdam Teas Loose Leaf Tea Advent Calendar
- From: India
- Type: Tea Advent calendar
- Buy now: $80 (was $119), vahdamteas.com
Pop open each of the 24 boxes in this Advent calendar to find a metal tin filled with enough loose leaf tea for two cuppas. Handpicked in India, the tea varieties include Earl Grey citrus black tea, turmeric pepper herbal tea, and ginger masala chai tea, to name a few. Beloved by Oprah, Vahdam Teas works directly with tea estates in India to eliminate middlemen and ensure farmers get a fair price. Additionally, Vahdam Teas gives 1 percent of its revenue to the education of its farmers’ children.
Each drawer in Onyx’s coffee Advent calendar has enough beans for two cups of coffee.
Courtesy of Ty Mecham/Food52
9. Onyx Coffee Lab Advent Calendar
- From: Arkansas
- Type: Coffee Advent calendar
- Buy now: $175, food52.com
Based in northwest Arkansas, Onyx Coffee Lab is known for its mindful bean sourcing and sustainable roasting practices. Each of the 24 drawers in its 2022 Advent calendar includes two ounces of whole bean coffee—enough for two 12-ounce cups. Each day includes a different blend of beans sourced from such places as Ethiopia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Kenya.
The Flaviar Advent calendar comes with 24 vials of whiskey that are 1.7 ounces each.
Courtesy of Flaviar
10. Flaviar Whiskey Advent Calendar
- From: Various countries
- Type: Whiskey Advent calendar
- Buy now: $260, flaviar.com
Prefer your beverages harder? This whiskey Advent calendar from the online spirits club Flaviar will take you on a tour of the world with two dozen 1.7-ounce vials of bourbon, rye, and scotch, as well as whiskeys from Ireland, Japan, and Australia. A Glencairn tasting glass, embossed leather coaster, and a tasting booklet with details about each whiskey are also included with the Advent calendar.
Count down the days to Christmas by burning through a number a day in December.
Courtesy of Georg Jensen
11. Georg Jensen 2022 Advent Candle
- From: Denmark
- Type: Candle Advent calendar
- Buy now: $19, georgjensen.com; nordstrom.com
Ubiquitous in Denmark, Advent calendar candles are just now starting to catch on and be sold in the United States. Here’s how they work: Each morning leading up to Christmas, Danes light these candles marked with the numbers 1 to 24 and burn off one number each day. This pillar-shaped version from Danish brand Georg Jensen features a gold Christmas angel designed by Sanne Lund Traberg. It usually takes about one hour to burn through each number.
12. Liberty of London Beauty Advent Calendar 2022
- From: United Kingdom
- Type: Beauty Advent calendar
- Buy now: $320, libertylondon.com
Anglophiles will love this beauty Advent calendar designed to look like Liberty’s famous London shop on the outside and decorated with the brand’s Peacock Manor Print on the inside. Tucked into each of the drawers you’ll find 30 skin care and beauty products—including 20 that are full size—from luxury brands like Le Labo, Dr. Barbara Sturm, and Liberty’s own line. In a Willy Wonka-esque move, Liberty is also hiding Golden Tickets—worth £1,000 to spend at Liberty—inside drawers in five calendars.
In addition to being filled with gourmet chocolates, the Vosges Advent calendar plays “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” at the touch of a button.
Courtesy of Vosges Haut-Chocolat
13. Vosges Haut-Chocolate Calendar of Advent
- From: France (by way of Chicago)
- Type: Chocolate Advent calendar
- Buy now: $195, vosgeschocolate.com
Inspired by Parisian candy shops, Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat’s tagline is “travel the world through chocolate.” Its 2022 Advent calendar is illustrated to look like the house from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Push a button and the lights on the outside of the box glow and “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” plays.
Inside, you’ll find drawings of ballerinas and the magical Christmas tree, as well as 24 boxes filled with everything from a peppermint candy cane gnome, hazelnut hedgehogs, gingerbread brittle, and smoked salt caramel marshmallows. Vosges uses Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance certified cacao.
The 2022 Super NYC Chocolate Advent Calendar is available at the MoMA Design Store.
Courtesy of MoMA Design Store
14. Super NYC Chocolate Advent Calendar
- From: New York (by way of France)
- Type: Chocolate Advent calendar
- Buy now: $45, store.moma.org
Though the chocolates are made in the south of France by Le Chocolat des Français, this MoMA-exclusive Advent calendar is all about NYC. British artist Jenny Bowers illustrated the colorful calendar with iconic New York landmarks like the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge all decked out for the holiday season. The 24 chocolates feature 14 different flavors, including a praline and a caramelized hazelnut.
This article was originally published in 2021; it was updated on October 26, 2022, with new information.
