Based out of sunny California, DRAGON GLASSWARE is an innovative lifestyle brand offering a variety of handmade, artisan glassware for the home and kitchen. We design, develop and manufacture tabletop drinkware for tea, coffee, wine, beer, spirits and more! We stand out from the crowd with our bold designs and our impeccable customer service. Our customers are passionate about what they drink – and so are we!
The Hatched and Handmade Collection is our first collection of beautiful, handmade artisan glassware. Each piece is designed with beauty and function in mind. Our desire is to provide our customers with fun and innovative ways to experience their favorite beverages.
Above all else, we are committed to creating professional, premium quality glassware our customers love as much as we do.
Video Overview of the Tilted Diamond Tumblers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3yXYGv5bU
Tastethedram had the opportunity to speak to Matt Rollens, the founder of the company. Like many others in his shoes, entrepreneurs are born from the sheer fact of the surrounding landscape around them. For Matt, it was the recession, and what better opportunity then that, to bet on yourself. And that is exactly what Matt did, he bet on himself. His story is below:
Matt, please tell us a bit about yourself. What were you involved in before founding Dragon Glassware?
ML: I’m a California native, born and raised just outside of Sacramento. I studied business and marketing locally at California State University, Sacramento and proceeded to work in several different industries including tech, healthcare and state government. In my free time I love being outside in the California sun and spending time with my family.
I graduated college at a difficult time in the job market during the great recession in 09, which ultimately inspired me to pursue starting my own business. So, with the encouragement of friends and family, I started the journey with Dragon Glassware!
Can you give us some background on Dragon Glassware. How did you come up with the name. Does it have any meaning.
ML: The name came about during a brainstorming session early on. It comes back to the type of glass our products are made with. All of our glassware is made using what we call DragonGlass™ which is a type of borosilicate glass, which is the strongest glass on the market. It’s perfect for our purposes as it’s heat resistant, insulates hot and cold drinks, and is dish washer safe. When you think of a Dragon you’re immediately picturing an awesome fire-breathing creature. It takes extremely high temperatures to create borosilicate glass (3000°F to be exact!) so it seemed like a natural fit. And who doesn’t think Dragons are cool?
Is there anyone else involved in this business venture with you ?
ML: At this time, I’m the sole owner and shareholder, but I’ve been fortunate to work with some incredible people who have helped bring the company to life. I have a great customer support team as well as a dedicated social media manager working with me. Being able to have an open conversation with our customers is critical to our success. We love hearing feedback about our products and interacting;4 with our customers on a regular basis.
What products do you currently design?
ML: Right now we are quickly expanding into multiple types of drinkware. Our goal is to have incredible glassware available for any and all types of beverages. We’re about to roll out a Tea Infuser Bottle with a patent pending design we came up with in house. It’s going to be a great a product for anyone who loves to take Tea with them on-the-go. We also have a double walled glass espresso cup set and a very unique beer glass that will be launching holiday 2017.
Why did you create the Tilted Diamond Tumblers. Are they specific for a certain spirit or can be used for many?
ML: We’re always looking to create unique products that fill a need and change the way our customers experience their favorite beverages. Our goal is to offer our customers glassware they can’t find anywhere else. The Tilted Diamond Tumblers are the perfect marriage of what we believe in: original design with superior quality. We’ve been positioning them specifically for whisky, but they are really awesome for all types of alcohol including wine, rum, tequila, vodka etc. One of our customers recently told us their kids love drinking soda out of them. And on a personal note, I’ve been using them to drink my morning cup of coffee!
The Whisky tumbler market is very competitive, with many companies making handmade artisan products. How do you stand out in this market?
ML: We’re all about offering the best and highest quality products possible. There’s a lot of junk out there… bad quality glass that feel cheap and “plasticy” and not like glass at all! We’re trying to change that by making awesome products that deliver the WOW factor from the moment you receive your order. We spend a ton of time designing beautiful packaging that is giftbox quality. A lot of our customers are purchasing our products to give to a friend or loved one. It’s important to us that both parties love our glasses. We love hearing feedback from our customers and try to incorporate their ideas into future iterations.
What would you say makes your tumblers different from whats available in the market right now?
ML: It’s my opinion that we deliver the best quality glassware, period. There are similar glasses like our Tilted Diamond Tumblers on the market, but they are fundamentally inferior to ours in multiple ways. For example, we designed a custom process that allows us to make the Tilted Diamond Tumblers up to 70% thicker than our competitor’s. Making the glass thicker means the tumbler is heftier, more durable and has that premium feel you expect. Being a small company allows us to really listen to our customers and give them what they’re asking for. We’re not perfect, but everything we make is made with a ton of passion and love!
What led you start your own business and become an entrepreneur?
ML: I’ve had the Entrepreneurial bug my entire life. When I was a kid growing up in the 1990’s, I would set up a booth outside of local grocery stores and shopping malls to sell all kinds of collectible trading cards to people going inside to shop. In those pre-internet days there were comic book stores on every corner and collectible trading cards were all the rage. I had the bright idea to flip some of the more popular cards and sell them. Ever since that time, I’ve had the desire to strike out on my own and forge my own path. When eBay and later Amazon became a thing I started dabbling in the world of eCommerce.
Do you have a personal relationship with whisky? Love at first sip perhaps. Tell us about your first dram.
ML: Admittedly, my relationship with whisky was almost non-existent until recently! I’m a huge coffee nut… an iced Americano has been my go-to caffeine fix for years now. However, one of my partners has turned me on to Elijah Craig and I’ve really been enjoying that lately. One of the best parts about my job is seeing photos from our customers enjoying their favorite dram from our tumblers. It’s really cool being able to share that experience with them.
What 3 words would you use to describe your products?
ML: Unique. Bold. Premium.
Where do you see your company 5/10 years from now?
ML: Our goal is to have a larger online and retail presence within the next few years. We’ve had a lot of interest internationally for our products, and we want to expand to those markets in the near future. We’re also focused on developing and expanding our catalog. We officially have four products right now, but by the end of 2018 we’re hoping to grow to over ten. Whatever happens, I’m excited for the future!
Any other whisky related products you can give us a preview into?
ML: Actually, we are developing a brand new whisky glass for early 2018. I can’t say too much yet… but it is going to be a reimagining of the classic de-facto whiskey snifter on the market. Stay tuned!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers
ML: I just want to thank you again for this opportunity to share our brand with your readers. I hope they are inspired to check us out! Feel free to reach out: [email protected]
