Dad had the whisky collection. I had a question for him on the drive home: want to start an online store with me? We had no product, no plan and a few weeks before the next lockdown. This is what happened next.
Family-run, Melbourne
Ships from our Hallam warehouse
Every glass quality controlled by us
Walhalla · 28 June 2020 · The day it started
The family behind every order.
Malt & Brew is the Saar family, 4 humans and a dog. No investors, no fulfilment partner, just us.
Thomas
Co-founder. The one waving the camera around everywhere.
Geoff
Dad. Co-founder, scuba-diver and the whisky drinker in the family.
Brigette
Mum. Quality control, and resident gift wrap professional.
Ben
Eldest son, a breath of reason amongst the chaos.
Luna
Thomas' dog. Head of security.
How we got here
From Dad's office, to the front garden, to a place of our own.
Eight chapters, told with the photos we actually took at the time (well, let's be honest, I took them and Dad mostly complained I wasn't working).
2020
28 June · Chapter 1
The drive home, and the boring glasses
We were driving back from a family trip to Walhalla when I asked Dad if he would be interested in running an online store with me. He said yes before either of us knew what we would sell. Melbourne had a few weeks between lockdowns, so we used them.
We looked in Dad's cupboard. Dad loves whisky. He has the collection, the opinions and the patience for it. What he did not have was a glass worth drinking it from, and every one of my friends' parents had the same tired tumbler. I wanted Dad to have something interesting to drink from. We placed our first order.
Walhalla
28 June 2020, the four of us above
Menzies Creek
Home. Soon a warehouse.
2020-21
Chapter 2
Dad's office, then the whole house
The first boxes landed in Dad's office. Every glass was unpacked, checked, washed, tagged and repacked by hand. Our quality control department was the kitchen bench and a tea towel, and the first orders went out from the couch, wrapped in more fragile tape than was strictly necessary.
Then the whole family got involved. Mum and Grandma made sure every glass that left the house was clean, branded and boxed properly. The boxes kept arriving and so did the orders: the front veranda disappeared under cartons, the hallway filled with Australia Post bags, and every flat surface became a shelf.
The first batch on the kitchen bench, the couch, the coffee table, the veranda, the hallway. Sorry to the postie.
2021-22
Nov to Feb · Chapter 3
Sorry, Mum.
We ran out of house. So we did the thing Mum loved most: we ordered a shipping container and put it in the front garden. Before we knew it, that was full too.
A full container forced the decision. On 4 February 2022 our friends helped us move into a real warehouse in Hallam, where we still are. We hired a GoGet van for the day and returned it with one fewer back window. Don't ask. Luna inspected the new space, sniffed every corner and signed off. She has been head of security ever since.
The container. Move-in day. The van, after. The inspector.
2022
Feb to Jul · Chapter 4
Making it a warehouse
Day one was a bare concrete room, a rack, a ladder and a trolley. Shelves went up in April, then multiplied. By July, there was a packing bench, pallets of stock and a system that mostly worked.
February, April, July.
2023
May to Jul · Chapter 5
Dad got a TV, and we got a big order
In May 2023, Dad decided the warehouse needed a television. He mounted it himself (he's cool like that).
In July, Continental Tyres placed our first large corporate order. A wall of gift-wrapped sets went up under the TV, each one tied by hand with their ribbon. It was the start of the corporate gifting side of the business, which now sends glasses to some very big names.
Dad and the TV, May 2023. The Continental order, July 2023. One of the boxes.
2024-25
Chapter 6
Fuller every year
Every year the warehouse gets a bit fuller. Stock arrives by the pallet now, not the car boot, and the whiteboard is still how we announce a sale. Pretty soon we are going to need a bigger space.
For four years the warehouse was Dad, me and whoever we could rope in on a busy week.
A pallet, March 2024. Black Friday on a whiteboard, November 2024. Luna, Dad and Kadem, February 2025.
2025
May to Oct · Chapter 7
Side projects and silly photos
In May, we spent a week pouring soy candles into our own Wave glasses. Three scents, hand-poured on the packing bench, and an outfit fit for a magazine. A bit of fun, not a product line. They might come back.
In June, we built a photo studio out of one softbox and a folding table; nearly every photo on this site was shot here, between the boxes. By October, in the lead up to Black Friday, I made a throne. Luna was not consulted about the throne.
The outfit, the candles, the studio, the throne.
Now
Chapter 8
Biggest day yet, and a sign
Black Friday 2025 was our biggest order day so far. Dad packed most of it himself, the same way we did it in 2020, albeit with better shelves and a lot more tape. Every parcel was still being checked by someone in this family before it was signed, sealed, and delivered.
It also took us two years in the warehouse to put a sign on the door. We were busy packing. If you have ever driven past looking for us, that was why.
Thank you for being part of it. Dad still drinks out of the first design. That is the review I care about the most.
Dad, Black Friday 2025. Factory 2, Hallam, now with a sign.
How the glasses are made
Small batches. Seriously heavy. Checked here before they ship.
Our glasses are Japan-inspired designs, made for us in small batches by a glassworks we have worked with directly since the first order in 2020. Like most glassware, they are made in China. Unlike most glassware, we know the people who make them.
Every design is high-quality lead-free crystal with real weight in the hand. Some of the range, like the Wave and the Hanyu, is blown by hand. All of it is unpacked and checked at our Hallam warehouse before it goes into a box, the way it was in Dad's office.
Just okay is not enough. We work directly with our makers, in small batches, and we check every glass ourselves.
Respect
For you, for our partners and for the people who make and deliver what we sell. Kindness is not a policy, it is just how the family runs.
Authenticity
A family-owned Aussie business. We will be transparent, communicate clearly and tell you when we got something wrong.
Sustainability
Paper-based packaging, low-emission freight and responsible recycling. Read our commitment.
As seen in
An industry favourite
We have supplied glassware to Mitsubishi, Volvo Trucks, Dan Murphy's, Google, Toyota, Boss Hunting and many more Australian and international brands. Corporate gifts and wholesale.
Our customers
Don't listen to us. Listen to them. Verified reviews via Loox, pulled from every product on the site.
Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 1554 reviews.
Super nice glass shape. Need to be a little careful in handling due to its shape, but love them.
This is the second time I've bought glasses from Malt + Brew. The styles are lovely and make for fantastic presents - especially now with the engraving option.
I also had a fantastic customer support experience from founder Tom, who personally saw to it that I was fully happy with my order.
Can highly recommend this business.
Received this jigger as a gift, unfortunately the two ends have been put together in a misaligned way so that you cannot fill it to the top when placed on a flat surface, it must be held. Additionally, the volumes listed on the jigger (30ml/60ml) are incorrect and there are no measurement graduations for any other intervals. I filled the 60ml side until it was overflowing and then measured the contents and it only held 54mL. This is a poor quality product and I assume that all the positive reviews are either fake or from people who have never thought to check the product.
I bought this as a 50th birthday present for a friend who is very hard to buy for (very boujee) and he couldn't have loved it more. He is still telling me how much he loves this set. He couldn't wait to set it up. The glasses have a beautiful weight to them and the decanter is a show stopper. The customer service and efficiency of delivery were excellent.
Couldn't recommend more!
I was impressed that the product is as advertised. The glass has a nice weight to it and is beautifully crafted, I enjoy the feel of it in my hand and the shape of the glass has elevated my drinking experience.
I bought 2 as Christmas gifts for my daughter and son-in-law and they are thrilled with them! They were looking at the others and I bet there will be purchases soon.
Prompt delivery, great weight and feel in your hand. I chose these over the other popular style due to personal preference of having a full clean circle "lip" of the glass to sip and savour my whisky. Thanks again. Dane
Perfect glasses, the wave glasses have many drinking spots, and the other glasses are the right diameter (76mm), unlike the Chinese made ones which all seem to be 81mm, leading to spillage out the corners of one's mouth... ugh !!
