Coffeecycle’s Rosemary-Ginger Coffee Soap combines gentle skin care with a mild exfoliation: Each bar of soap contains the coffee grounds from a freshly brewed espresso, giving them a second purpose. Finely ground, the coffee powder provides a gentle yet effective exfoliation, removing dead skin cells and leaving the skin feeling smooth and refreshed. At the same time, coffee is rich in natural antioxidants. The base of olive and coconut oils nourishes and moisturizes; the essential oils, including lavender and cedar, give the exfoliating soap its festive scent.

With its beautifully designed packaging, the Christmas coffee soap makes a perfect little gift to bring to an Advent coffee gathering, a Secret Santa present, or simply a small token of appreciation for St. Nicholas Day and Christmas. You can write the names of the giver and the recipient on the small, writable space on the side.

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in Germany, resulting in a correspondingly large amount of coffee grounds each year: several million metric tons, most of which are thrown away. That’s such a waste, thought the founders of Coffeecycle, who, as baristas, had to dispose of several kilograms of this valuable raw material every day. That’s because coffee grounds can not only be used for a wide variety of purposes around the house and garden—such as a nutrient-rich fertilizer, an odor remover, or a scrub—but, thanks to the caffeine they contain (6 mg/g), they’re also an effective additive in hair conditioners, shampoos, and creams. The coffee grounds themselves are ideal for an effective exfoliant. This is how the idea arose to recycle this valuable waste and incorporate it into cosmetic products. Coffeecycle sources its coffee grounds from Hamburg cafés, where they are picked up by cargo bike—just as everything else is transported by cargo bike, by the way.