In Search of the Perfect Copper Collins Cup

[Brooks Reitz] So why the name MAKR?

I felt like everything that I was doing wasn't being made.

And I really wanted to actually make something.

You hear all the time about, oh a tech pack is drawn

and it's sent to a factory and the factory interprets it.

But I actually wanted to understand

how and why something went together

so that I could use that and leverage that

into the design itself.

[dramatic rock music]

I'm Brooks Reitz and I've got a guy.

We're meeting Jason Gregory, founder of MAKR,

a product design studio based in Winter Park, Florida.

I've worked with Jason to design a custom muddler,

a bartenders toolkit,

and a copper collins cup for Jack Rudy.

So we're here in your studio,

this is where it all happens.

Yeah. All the design, a lot of the fabrication,

and most of the patterning.

There's quite a bit of prototyping,

quite a bit of sampling that goes on

before anyone sees anything.

Well I would love to see the rest of the studio

and maybe make you a drink since you're

having me over to check this place out.

Absolutely.

We've got our copper collins cup, this is a drink

called The Kentucky Mule.

We've got Maker's Mark, and it's two parts bourbon,

one part ginger liqueur.

We've got fresh squeezed lime, put that over ice,

give it a nice shake, strain it into the cups.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Want to go see what I'm working on now?

I would love to see it.

Absolutely, let's do it.

Cool.

Okay.

[acoustic guitar music]

So we've got our classic leather collection.

This is kind of what stared the company.

We've done backpacks for a long time.

This is a new one that we've been working on.

It's kind of a spin on a classic school pack

but with a bunch of different interesting details,

and a kind of more difficult patterning.

Yeah. I see you've got furniture up there as well.

Most of the furniture that we create, it's typically from

working on a specific project.

So, one of the stools was initially our studio work stool

so when we opened up a studio we decided

we should probably have something to sit on

that we designed.

These are going to a place called Black Bean Deli,

a place that we designed in the past and we kind of

updated it with a ply top and matte black powder coating.

So what is the process to make these copper collins cups?

The facility that makes these

is actually a lighting company.

So they make turned shades for lights.

It's called Barn Light Electric.

Do you think we could go see that place?

Sure.

And see these being made?

Definitely.

We're here at Barn Light Electric.

I wanted to introduce you to Bryan Scott, the owner.

Bryan, it's so good to be here. - So nice to meet ya.

[Brooks] You all sort of collaborated

on our copper collins cup.

How did that come about?

How did you guys find each other in the first place?

We were already spinning light fixtures out of copper,

brass, and aluminum, and steel,

so Jason come over with a concept.

Jason's designs inspired us and some other cups.

[Brooks] Do you think it would be possible

to see those guys turning the cup in person?

[Bryan] Absolutely.

[upbeat music]

So we get sheets of copper in,

we take them over to a water jet machine,

we cut out the little circles.

The circles are called blanks is what we actually call them.

We take the blank and we put it onto the spinning lathe

and he'll lock it down, turn it on,

and get it trued up.

He takes the rollers and he starts to form that metal

and push that metal over that copper.

We'll take the cup over to our assembly process.

They'll clean that up, box it up,

and ship it off to Jason and you guys sell em

and do great things with out product.

[Brooks] It's so cool to have sort of walked through,

seeing the process from start to finish

and then obviously to see the end result.

No matter what, what I really appreciate is product.

Where you refine something to a point that

you want to release it into world,

and you're real intent is in that object

that everyone gets to kind of use.

Jason, your studio, it's such a great example

of a small batch producer making thoughtfully designed

and artfully crafted objects.

Seeing it today has given me such an appreciation

for what you do, and it's really added that finishing touch.

So, thank you for having me.

Thanks for coming.

[upbeat guitar music]