By: Ben Strickland, Fall Marketing Intern
Small Business Spotlight: Manifest Distilling | Jim Webb
Within earshot of the VyStar Ballpark and EverBank Stadium, a local distillery provides lively cocktails centered around organic spirits with flavors special to our corner of Florida.
Manifest Distilling produces various liquors under its own label, while also carrying products made by some of its trusted partners. Their Potato Vodka and Citrus Vodka are made with organic ingredients, and their Potato Vodka also uses non-GMO potatoes. “We [first] tried to get our potatoes from Hastings, FL, just south of St. Johns County,” said Jim. “Now we get our potatoes from Idaho, but mostly from Poland and Germany.”
Manifest opened its distillery in 2015, and then its cocktail room to the public in 2016. The Cohen family, alongside partners like Jim Webb, all share a passion for creating unique liquor. “We were all ‘Gin heads’,” Jim joked. “It took a long time to get our Gin recipe dialed in, but it was fun.”
Inside the distillery, Manifest has a warm and sophisticated space designed to host both special events and everyday business. On the walls, they showcase their many different collaborations, including a custom Manifest-themed Jacksonville Icemen jersey and bottles of liquor, produced on-site, from a few partner brands.
Working within the smaller-scale liquor business community grants Manifest the ability to rub elbows with some big names. Manifest recently partnered with Find Familiar Spirits, owned by Hollywood actor Matthew Lillard, on their Quest’s End project. As recalled by Jim, “I would get texts from people saying, ‘Why is Matthew Lillard wearing a Manifest hat at Comic-Con?’”
Manifest provides gifting opportunities for corporations and is also open during many sports games and live events held in the Sports & Entertainment district of Downtown.
Jim and his team are a tight-knit group driven by energy only found within our local boundaries. They pride themselves on crafting unique and high-quality spirits and using that to care for other teams within and outside of the distilling space. Whether it’s within their cocktail room or beyond, they strive to enhance connections by sharing a refreshing drink.