The Fork & Noods Mini Rig is Empire Glassworks' ramen bowl: a compact concentrate rig with sculpted noodle detailing worked into the glass, a fork resting across the top. It is catalogued as a water pipe, carries SKU 2349K, and sells for $100 direct from the maker.
Who makes it
Empire Glassworks builds themed borosilicate glass and very little else. Their catalog runs past two hundred pieces and the range is the point — beehives, peyote cacti, sundaes, avocados, a Save the Bees series — with the same shapes reappearing as rigs, bowl pieces, spinner caps and dab tools.
That matters when you are buying a novelty piece, because it is the difference between a factory adding a decal and a glass shop whose entire output is sculpted work. The theme here is not printed on; it is built into the object.
What a mini rig is actually for
Small rigs are the correct tool for concentrates rather than a compromised version of a big one. A short vapour path gives terpenes less surface to condense on between the nail and your mouth, so flavour arrives more intact.
Less water and a smaller chamber also mean less to clean, and on a sculpted piece that is worth more than usual — detailed glass has more places for residue to collect and fewer places a brush can reach.
The collectible side
Empire files this one under collectible, and that is the honest framing. At $100 you are paying for the sculpting as much as the function, and a plain mini rig of comparable performance costs less.
If the piece sitting out is meant to be worth looking at, that premium is the entire product. If it is not, the money is better spent on percolation.
Specs
- Type: Mini rig (water pipe)
- Theme: Ramen bowl with sculpted noodle detailing
- Material: Glass
- SKU: 2349K
- Category: Collectible
- Price: $100
The rest of the Empire mini rigs
The themed mini rigs all sit at the same price, so the choice is purely which object you want. The Peyote is the cactus, the Chocolate Cookie Sundae Float is the dessert, and the Avocadope is the avocado.
For something larger from the same shop, the Save the Bees beaker bong takes the sculpting up to full size.