Liquor for the hangover prone and impatient

Vodka takes a cue from sports drinksHangovers from alcohol overconsumption have been part of the human experience for the entirety of recorded history. We nonetheless have a limited understanding of the biochemistry behind the morning-after blues and rely mostly on folk remedies to cope with them. One treatment that seems to help is to drink electrolytes. A pharmacy in Europe might hand you betaine citrate or an effervescent, buffered potassium chloride–sodium chloride tablet. In the US, it’s more likely to be a sports drink loaded up with sodium and potassium citrates, chlorides, and phosphates. Billy Fanshawe hit on an alternative while he was a college student at Towson University. If electrolyte depletion is part of the problem, why not drink the electrolytes alongside the alcohol? Over the next few years, Fanshawe went from mixing cocktails with the children’s electrolyte blend Pedialyte to launching his own brand of electrolyte-infused liquor, Lytos Vodka. The R&D process wasn’t all parties. Fanshawe says he evaluated a huge range of formulations looking for the neutral taste vodka is known for and an alkaline pH. He also had to watch out for side effects of some electrolytes. Magnesium, for example, can loosen bowels; not something you want during a night on the town, he says. Dissolving all of those salts into 40% ethanol is also hard, Fanshawe says, and the techniques for getting everything into solution are an important part of the company’s intellectual property. The US Patent Office issued Lytos a patent on the product