While in Portland for Portland Cocktail Week, a group of students were able to visit and learn about glass blowing at Elements Glass. Aaron Frankel walked us through the process through a demo and, excitingly, allowed us all to make our own old fashioned glasses. The group chose a color they liked that would act as an accent to the clear glass we were using and then we jumped right in. Each of us got to handle the glass and create our own versions of the more pristine examples Aaron and his team created for us. 

The Old Fashioned glass, lowball glass, or rocks glass is a short tumbler used for serving an alcoholic beverage, such as whiskey. It is also normally used to serve certain cocktails, such as the Old Fashioned, from which it receives its name. Old Fashioned glasses typically have a wide brim and a thick base (or tunc), so that the non-liquid ingredients of a cocktail can be mashed using a muddler before the main liquid ingredients are added. (source)

I look forward to sharing more about the history of the Old Fashioned very soon!