ISSN: 0004-7163(print)

You can find out more via chocolate hampers.

The end of the summer term brings the same small dilemma to a lot of households. You want to thank a teacher who has spent a year with your child, the budget is not endless, and you would rather not add to a staffroom already knee-deep in mugs and hand cream. A well-chosen box of chocolates avoids all three problems.

The finish is what makes it feel like thanks rather than habit. These chocolates are handcrafted in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, where Mary Ann O'Brien founded the company in 1992, and a single-origin dark or a hand-finished praline carries that through better than a supermarket box picked up on the last morning.

The second is that a chocolate collection can be pitched to the person rather than the occasion. Someone who prefers darker, single-origin pieces gets exactly that. Someone who likes hand-finished pralines gets those. A collection lets you show that you know the person's taste, which a bunch of roses, however handsome, cannot.

The third thing is the address and the message. A gift sent to a workplace needs to arrive on a day the recipient is in. A gift to a home is safer if someone is likely to be there, though a boxed selection left in a porch will come to no harm in cold weather. Adding a written message at the point of ordering means the gift arrives ready to give rather than needing a separate card.

The third is presentation. A well-made boxed selection reads as considered on its own, without needing a vase or trimming. It travels by post if you are apart on the day, and it arrives intact rather than needing water within the hour. For a couple spending the evening together, it doubles as something to share after dinner.

ISSN: 0004-7163