IT IS TIME. With November flying by, if you haven't already secured your advent calendar for this year, here we've rounded up our pick of the bunch to make sure the run up to Christmas is as joyful as the day itself.
For the beer drinker in your life, the Best of British Beer advent calendar (also available in a lager version) is packed with 24 delicious bottles and cans from some of the UK's finest independent breweries. The OGs of the beer calendar certainly know their stuff and have scoured the country for their picks, from stours to IPAs from some of their favourite breweries. £84.99 from www.bestofbritishbeer.co.uk.
Any jam fan knows Bonne Maman is the only brand worth buying, so its advent calendar should be top of your shopping list. It contains mini jars of special conserves along with new chocolate spreads and caramels to bring a taste of something new to your daily breakfast. With flavours specially developed for this Christmas and not available elsewhere in the UK - like Purple Fig with Cinnamon, Pear and Cocoa Conserve, Coffee Caramel and Chestnut Honey Conserve - anyone buying online will also be treated to a limited edition Christmas jar of Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. Honestly, if you've not tried this stuff it's incredible - you will never touch Nutella again. £33 from www.bonnemaman.co.uk.
Lindt always delivers on deliciousness and its classic Lindor advent calendar is a favourite. It's available in a efw variations; milk chocolate only, a mix of white, milk, dark and hazelnut, or a mix of milk, milk & white, coconut and salted caramel. At just £12 each, you could of course just buy them all... Available from www.lindt.co.uk.
Whisky lovers will rejoice at the selection included in The Perfect Measure Whiskies of the World calendar. Each day they will open up the door to a new wee dram from across the globe, from single malts to blends, bourbon to rye, from Scotland, Ireland, America and beyond. These guys have been scouring the world for 20 years soutcing whiskies from some of the most interesting distilleries to create this truly global spread. £130 at www.thewhiskyexchange.com.
We love a bit of gourmet popcorn and they don't come better than Joe&Seph's. These sell out every year so be quick! There are 19 different tastes to enjoy with a whopping total of 175g of popcorn in their innovative flavours like brandy butter, speculoos, tiramisu and cinnamon roll. Yum yum. £30 from www.joeandsephs.co.uk.
I'd love to pretend this one if just for kids but let's be honest, it looks too fun. Build Your Own Pinball Machine (£24.99 at www.buildyourownkits.com) builds over 24 days to create a fully cuntioning pinball machine the whole family can enjoy come Christmas Eve. This no-glue, no mess, 100% sustainable card build is easy to slot together and provides everything you need in the kit, just follow the instructions. It's also fully recyclable (including all the packaging). We love it already.
Sticking with the same sustainable theme, the Little Crafters calendar offers a UK-made, eco-friendly wooden 'craft a day', with a daily activity to spark creativity. This adorable calendar will certainly start a new family tradition, and is a great alternative if you don't want to load the kids up with chocolate or plastic toys. £49.99 from www.littlecraftersboxes.co.uk.
Italophiles take note. Tuscan second-generation, family-run, organic-biodynamic farm and wine estate Fattoria La Vialla is known for its local cuisine and agritourism accommodation, producing its own wine, extra virgin olive oil, pecorino cheese, cured meats, appetizers, sauces, pasta, vinegar, honey, biscuits and other sweet delicacies – from the field to the jar. This year they've brought some of their specialities to an advent calendar (£33.50 from www.lavialla.com) is packed with 60 Italian sweet surprises including festive treats and the biscuits that are prepared daily in Fattoria La Vialla’s bakery-workshop. Rustic, made by hand using extra virgin olive oil from the farm harvest and baked in a wood-fired oven, each window also conceals a drawing with its name in Italian, so you get an Italian mini dictionary included! Daily treats include the likes of hazelnut and almond brutti ma buoni, chocolate candied orange peel, Tuscan almond cantucci biscuits, chocolate truffles. We're sold.
If you're a liquorice lover there's none great that what you'll find in Scandinavia, and the Lakrids by Bülow calendar (£40 from www.johnlewis.com) should be on your shopping list. With two pieces of liquorice behind each door in both their classic, bestselling flavours and some of their more innovative ones - think Frozen Mint and Crispy Raspberry - you won't be able to get enough.
LEGO calendars are always a winner with the small humans in our family. This year's offering is stellar, with choices including LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney Princess, LEGO Spiderman and LEGO Friends. Each contains a differenct character or build each day to create a little LEGO wonderland - not going to lie, I kind of want one for myself as well. £19.99-£29.99 at www.lego.com.
Of course, an advent calendar guide wouldn't be complete with a mention for the classic, the OG, the family favourite, the Cadbury calendar. My mum has been buying us these for years and, despite approaching my 40th birthday, she has been reliably informed that it's her job forever. One year she tried an alternative chocolate brand and it did not end well. Simple, classic, no fuss; one little festive chocolate 
each day which more often than not goes into pimping my morning porridge. You really can't beat it. £2.50 from Sainsbury's, Tesco and all good supermarkets.
