Inside our Bohemian glasshouse
Three generations of glassblowers, one wood-fired furnace running day and night. How our crystal coupes are made by hand.
Deep in the Czech countryside, our partner glasshouse has been running the same wood-fired furnace since 1956. Three generations of glassblowers work in shifts to keep it burning, day and night, and every Scandic Bar crystal coupe begins life there as a glowing orange droplet on the end of a steel pipe.
The process is slow. A skilled blower will shape a coupe in around four minutes — gathering, marvering, blowing, swinging, then handing it off to a finisher who cuts the rim, anneals the glass overnight and polishes the foot by hand the next morning.
No two coupes are exactly identical. The slight variation in the rim, the tiny ripple in the bowl, the warmth of a hand-pulled stem — these are the signature of a hand-blown glass. Machine-pressed coupes are cheaper and they all look the same. We choose differently, because we believe a serve deserves a piece of glass that has been touched by a person.
The same partner workshop produces our Nordic mixing glass and our small-batch Nick & Nora. They're slower to make, more expensive to ship and more rewarding to use. The crystal is lead-free, dishwasher-friendly within reason, and built to live a long life on a back bar.
If you'd like to visit the glasshouse with us — we run small group trips for trade customers twice a year — drop a note to info@scandicbar.com and we'll add you to the list.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the crystal lead-free?
- Yes. All of our hand-blown crystal is lead-free and food-safe.
- Can I put hand-blown glass in a commercial dishwasher?
- It will survive a careful commercial cycle, but we recommend hand-washing for the longest possible life.
- Do you do custom shapes?
- Yes — through our bespoke programme. Get in touch via the For Brands page.
