Valentine's Day: Some Unusual and Unique Ideas for Presents

Jan 21, 2011
Steve Rogerson

A more traditional present - Photo by Steve Rogerson

Surprise your loved one with an unusual day out for Valentine's Day, one involving beer, garlic, cheese and football. What could be more romantic than that?

A bottle of wine, a box of chocolates and maybe a special gift such as an item of jewellery are traditional for Valentine’s Day. But why not surprise your loved one with something a little more unusual, yet still keeping the romance intact, well to a degree?

True, a football match in February may seem a reason to put layers of clothes on rather than take them off, but a little inventiveness can surely make it a day that both of you will remember. And cheese and garlic may seem a bit smelly, but they can serve to bring you closer together.

And scrap the wine. Everyone does wine. There is nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned pint of beer, and beers have a lot more complex flavours to try than even the best wines. For those who don’t fancy the chocolate beers listed below, there are many fruit based beers to sample.

Chocolate Flavoured Beer

A number of brewery’s produce a dark beer with chocolate flavours, and many stouts have a hint of chocolate mixed in with other tastes. However, some breweries produce beer with chocolate as the dominant flavour. For example, the Meantime brewery in London produces a chocolate porter at 6.5% strength and the Robinson’s brewery has its Chocolate Old Tom at 6%. For those wanting something a little less strong, then there is the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout at 5.2% and the Floris Chocolate from Belgium at 4.2%.

Heart-Shaped Cheese

Some cheese producers are cashing in on Valentine’s Day by making heart-shaped cheese. For example, Godminster’s Vintage Organic Cheddar is not only heart shaped but is wrapped in red wax, which adds to the appearance. Capriole Goat Cheese is also available in small heart-shaped chunks. And another opting for the red wax look is Pilgrims Choice for its Extra Mature Cheddar and its Wensleydale & Cranberry cheese.

Garlic Chocolate and Pots

While some may shy away from garlic for the obvious smelly breath side effects, others like nothing better than a garlic flavoured snog after a romantic meal, and there are many options. But Japanese company Takko Shoji has taken this further with garlic flavoured chocolates. They are said to have a sweet and sour taste resembling prunes. For a more lasting present, a number of companies make garlic keepers. These are round pots with holes in for storing garlic bulbs.

Trip to a Football Match

The obvious team to go and see for a romantic game would be Scottish football club Heart of Midlothian. Or you could share a bath, or rather a trip to see Conference side Bath City. And diamonds are said to be a girl’s best friend, so why not another Conference club Rushden & Diamonds? And wolves have been linked with love since Meat Loaf asked if you’d offer your heart to the wolf with the red roses, making Premiership club Wolverhampton Wanderers – known as Wolves – an obvious choice.

Combining All Four for a Special Valentine’s Day

Time to go for the big one. Start of the day with a lunchtime pint of chocolate flavoured beer at a pub close to the football ground. Pack some cheese and garlic chocolates in your bag to eat during the game. Cheer and shout a lot at the football match. And then sink exhausted into each other’s arms as you debate whether the second goal was offside or not.