IN BOLD MOVE, MANNY'S ULTIMATE MIXES NAMES CHEF AARÓN SÁNCHEZ ITS FIRST-EVER BRAND PARTNER

After tasting the Double Gold–winning Bloody Mary and Michelada, the James Beard Award–winning chef asked to be an owner rather than a spokesperson

GREENWICH, Conn., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Manny's Ultimate Mixes, the Bloody Mary and Michelada brand built by bartender Manny Ferreira, today announced that chef, restaurateur and author Aarón Sánchez has joined the company as its first-ever brand partner — and as an owner in the business.

Manny Ferreira spent two decades behind the bar before he built the recipe. Twelve traditional ingredients, four of his own that he still won't name — real tomato juice, fresh horseradish, Tabasco, and a flavor profile he tuned night after night against real drinkers. The Ultimate Michelada came later, the same base opened up with fresh citrus.

In June, that recipe took the Double Gold Medal at the 2026 San Francisco Ready-to-Drink Competition, The Tasting Alliance's top tasting honor, judged blind. Manny's was also named a Best of Class Finalist and advances to the Top Shelf Awards Gala this November.

In twelve years, Manny's has never put a name on the bottle. As the brand pushes national, it went looking for one voice that carries in every part of the country — a Bloody Mary at a Connecticut country club, a michelada at a Texas tailgate, brunch in California.

The conversation started as a straightforward spokesperson deal. Then Sánchez tasted the product.

"I was told the fastest way to taste Manny's was to grab both products at Smart & Final. So that's what I did, and WOW! The Michelada was outstanding, and the Bloody Mary was hands down the best I'd ever tasted," said Aarón Sánchez. "The next day I had family over, so I used the Michelada for a ceviche and the Bloody Mary as a braising liquid for barbacoa tacos. That's the moment it hit me. I called my agent and said I want to partner on the mixes, not just be a spokesperson."

The Manny's and Aarón Sánchez teams worked quickly to close the partnership. The work ahead will cover all aspects of the product: Sánchez will develop original recipes that take both mixes well past the glass and into the kitchen, alongside cocktail and lifestyle content, and will put the bottles in front of buyers, distributors and chefs at festivals, trade shows and retailer events.

"Manny crafted our recipes because nothing on the shelf was good enough for him. During the past 18 months, Manny's has seen incredible growth, and with Chef Aarón Sánchez now on board as our partner, the future is even brighter," said Spencer Rothschild of UBM Group, LLC. "I knew Chef Aarón would embrace our Michelada, but his excitement for Manny's Ultimate Bloody Mary was awesome. Having Aarón, his team and his colleagues on board will help make our vision and expansion a reality."

Manny's Ultimate Bloody Mary and Ultimate Michelada are non-alcoholic and clean-label — no MSG, no high-fructose corn syrup, no artificial preservatives — gluten-free and lower in sodium than most mixes. Both are poured in more than 1,500 locations across 18 states and are available directly at mannysmixes.com.

Both mixes are ready to pour. Manny's Ultimate Bloody Mary can be served on its own or mixed with the spirit of your choice. Manny's Ultimate Michelada needs only one addition: beer. Each comes in a 25-ounce mason jar, a 1-liter bottle and a 1-gallon party size. To order Manny's Ultimate Bloody Mary and Ultimate Michelada for delivery, visit mannysmixes.com.

The first Sánchez-developed recipes and content arrive later this year.

About Manny's Ultimate Mixes

Manny's Ultimate Mixes makes what a bartender would make. Manny Ferreira spent two decades behind the bar in Manhattan and Connecticut before deciding the premade Bloody Mary aisle wasn't good enough, and built his own. He launched the brand out of Greenwich, Connecticut in 2014, and the Ultimate Michelada followed. The mixes took a Double Gold Medal at the 2026 San Francisco Ready-to-Drink Competition and are now served in more than 1,500 locations across 18 states, with national distribution expanding behind retail partners including Bristol Farms, Morton Williams, Uncle Giuseppe's and Smart & Final. In 2024 Ferreira brought on entrepreneur Spencer Rothschild to run the expansion. Manny's Ultimate Mixes is produced by UBM Group, LLC and is available at mannysmixes.com and at retailers nationwide.

About Aarón Sánchez

Aarón Sánchez is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, author and philanthropist, and a third-generation figure in American food — son of chef Zarela Martínez and grandson of cookbook author Aida Gabilondo. He holds a James Beard Award for Television Studio Program and is a longtime judge on FOX's MasterChef and MasterChef Junior and Food Network's Chopped and Chopped Junior. He co-hosts Food Network's Restaurant Impossible: Last Call with restaurateur Jen Agg, leading the culinary side of turnarounds for struggling restaurants. He hosted the Emmy-nominated Taco Trip and hosts and executive produces Talking Sabor, PepsiCo's first streaming series, which premiered on Hulu; his other television work includes El Toque de Aarón, El Sabor de Aarón, 3 Minutos con Aarón, MOTOCHEFS, Iron Chef America and The Next Iron Chef. He has cooked as a guest chef at the White House.

He is chef/partner of Johnny Sánchez (New Orleans and Lake Charles), Showbird and Adobo Cantina, author of La Comida del Barrio, Simple Food, Big Flavor and the bestselling memoir Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef, and co-host of the podcast Cooking in Mexican from A to Z. He founded the Aarón Sánchez Impact Fund, which sends aspiring Latino chefs to culinary school, and is a partner and creative director at COCINA Media. His brand work includes PepsiCo, Miller Lite, Verizon, Williams-Sonoma and Quaker State. He trained at Johnson & Wales and under Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans, where he lives.

Aarón Sánchez holds an equity interest in UBM Group, LLC. This material connection is disclosed in accordance with FTC endorsement guidelines.

SOURCE Manny's Ultimate Mixes