Amber Sea Glass From Puerto Rico

The image above shows a mix of amber and golden yellow sea glass and a mouse cone. Collected from the beaches of Puerto Rico.

I love the warm rich hue of amber sea glass. I often hear people refer to amber sea glass as "Budweiser brown." Budweiser beer bottles are a source for this type of sea glass but so are other types of beer bottles along with old Clorox and Lysol bottles. Other sources include medicine, bitters and snuff bottles.

In Puerto Rico all of these things are sources as well. However, there are some additional sources for amber and brown sea glass on the island. In addition to the brands that are familiar to us in the states Puerto Rico has it's own brands of beer such as India, Medalla and Tigre (Tigre is no longer made). Beck's beer and Heineken use to be bottled in amber glass on the island which makes these types of bottles a surprising source. Non alcoholic malt sodas such as Malta India and Goya Malta are very popular in Puerto Rico and are bottled in amber glass.

So the sources for amber sea glass in Puerto Rico and elsewhere go far beyond the familiar Budweiser bottle. While discussing amber sea glass with my Puerto Rican mother she told me that she would be given a spoonful of cod fish oil from a brown glass bottle every night at bedtime just before her mosquito net was tucked in. I can't help but to wonder if any of my sea glass comes from items that were once used by my family.