How many times have you reached for a bottle on the shelf simply because the glass looked incredible or the label caught your eye? At Pursuit Spirits, we talk endlessly about what goes inside the barrel, but the multi-million dollar engineering and design process that gets that liquid onto the shelf is an entire science of its own. Today, we’re sitting down with Andrés Hernandez of Fusion Glass Mexico and Chad Michael of Chad Michael Studio to talk about custom bottles from engineering, designed, and evenutally going to market.
Andrés has the factor that specializes in 100% PCR (post-consumer recycled) glass that gives their glass a certain rustic appeal. But that process has to managing extreme temperatures, color formulation, and structural tolerances from the designer. That’s where Chad comes in. He’s the creative guy that can turn an idea on the back of a napkin into a bottle that looks like artwork. He spends his time understanding the brand DNA and translating that into one of a kind package design. This is an angle of the show we’ve never taken before and I’m sure a lot of bourbon geeks will appreciate everything that goes into the bottle you pick up off the shelf but if you’re a whiskey producer looking into the custom space for something your brand can call your own, this episode is the complete package… see what I did there?
Show Notes:
- How Fusion Glass Mexico approaches sustainable glass manufacturing and 100% PCR recycled glass
- The step-by-step process of collecting, crushing, washing, and remaking recycled glass
- How high-temperature glass forming impacts bottle symmetry, wall thickness, and weight
- Chad Michael’s journey from agency design work to founding Chad Michael Studio
- Using brand story questionnaires to define brand personality before designing packaging
- Stock glass vs. bespoke custom molds: balancing cost, MOQs, and shelf presence
- When and why growing brands should transition away from stock bottles
- Technical limits of glass production: machine compatibility, GPI standards, and impact testing
- The future of whiskey packaging design: balancing creative storytelling with logical, cost-effective engineering