'Tis the season for CU-inspired hangover remedy.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: SMALL biz

Hangovers go with New Year's Day like gift-wrapped boxes go with Christmas, so it's no surprise that a new hangover remedy called The Cure was enjoying brisk sales as Jan. 1 neared.

The Cure's creator, Robert Scholl, was a student at the University of Colorado (where else?) when he started tinkering with hangover-relieving concoctions that would help him function the day after imbibing, in the classroom and as an Ironman triathlete in training. He eventually sought advice on ingredients from his sister, Ann Marie Scholl, also a CU grad and by that time a developmental biologist at Duke University.

"I think I've had the worst hangovers on Earth," admitted Robert Scholl, 27, who graduated with a degree in psychology from the nationally acclaimed party school. "That's probably why my sister and I invented this. I never want to have one again."

After months of testing and consulting with athletes and experts such as Bob Parrino, a clinical psychologist who studies alcohol effects, they came up with an all-natural powder containing vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and nutrients that you mix with 20 ounces of water. One ingredient you won't find in The Cure is caffeine, which Scholl says brings initial relief but, like alcohol, is a diuretic and thus further dehydrates the body.

The directions on the package say to consume the fizzy drink after your last alcoholic beverage, but Scholl says you'll benefit even if you don't remember to take The Cure until the next morning.

With funding from friends and outside investors, the Scholls launched Rescue Beverage Corp. in early 2006, with The Cure its sole product. They found a manufacturer in Florida, and soon they were in production and test-marketing at convenience stores in South Carolina.

"It pretty much took a year to finalize everything and just to find a nutraceutical plant that does effervescent technology, because this stuff needs to be packaged below 10 percent humidity or it's ruined," Scholl said. "If any moisture gets in there, the chemical reaction takes place, and it blows up."

Scholl credits Russ Phelps, who handles inventory and promotions for Liquor Mart in Boulder, for putting The Cure in that store and for hooking up the fledgling company with distributors.

Scholl says about 800 Colorado retailers--mostly liquor stores--now carry The Cure, which retails for $2.99 per packet. The product also is sold...