Inside Empire Glassworks

The swashbuckling, spicy tale of creating a hand-blown glass empire

Have you ever wondered, who makes those beautiful as f*** bongs, pipes, and glass accessories? Whether you know it or not, you’ve seen their work. If you grew up in Southern California in the 1980s to 1990s and had glass figurines, you’ll recognize their signature work.

Glassblowing and the art of collecting exquisitely beautiful smoking accessories is an integral part of ca**abis culture. Just like enjoying a fine wine or spirit, smoking c****bis from the perfect glass piece enhances the flavors, aromas, and experience. Making that glass is an art and science.

The story of how the family who runs Empire Glassworks went from making whimsical and exquisitely detailed glass figurines for Disney to making hand-blown smoking accessories stocked in shops across the U.S. is a riveting tale – with pirates!

Wendy and I recently had the pleasure of sitting down for a boba + smoke sesh with Phillip Vuong and Paul Le, who gave us an inside tour of Empire Glassworks and generously let us play supermarket sweeps up and down the warehouse aisles. Wheeee!!!

Come inside Empire Glassworks with us.

UPCOMING EVENTS

3/23 Budist Sessions: Blue Dream Tasting Party (Northeast LA)) $100

3/30 Seed Party + Growing Workshop at Creature’s Plants & Coffee (Eagle Rock, LA) $5

4/19 Bad Asians, a Comedy & Tasting Show: 420 Edition with Jenny Yang (Northeast LA)

PHOTO ESSAY: FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS

There’s more to this hand-blown glass Sriracha bottle piece than you might assume. No, they didn’t make a Sriracha bong because rooster sauce is the most popular hot sauce in the world. The Empire Glassworks Sriracha bottle tells a little-known story about his family’s immigrant journey as they fled to the U.S. during the Vietnam War.