First Valentine's Day together, need meaningful gift ideas for my boyfriend

This will be our first Valentine's Day as a couple, and I want to get it right. My boyfriend mentioned once (kind of casually) that his exes never really made a big deal about Valentine's Day,and honestly that broke my heart a little. I want to show him that he deserves to be celebrated.

I'm not trying to spend a fortune or anything I'm just more interested in something thoughtful that shows I actually pay attention to who he is. Ideally something he'd actually use or enjoy, not just something that'll sit in a drawer. Also: I don’t have a fixed budget, anything less than $300-400 is what Im looking at.

A bit about him: He's a software engineer who's obsessed with coffee (like, genuinely nerdy about it as in he can taste the difference between brewing methods). He's also really into hiking and photography, though he always says he's not that good even though his shots are actually pretty incredible and he's been teaching himself to cook lately, mostly because he got tired of ordering takeout.

I know there are a million "op 50 Valentine's gifts for him articles out there but those always feel so generic. I'd love to hear from people who've actually given or gotten a Valentine's gift that really landed like what made it special? What made it memorable?

Any suggestions or stories would be genuinely appreciated. Thanks!