IU business, neuroscience students launch ready-to-drink cocktail brand

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For two lifelong friends, the recipe for entrepreneurship includes studying finance and neuroscience, motivation, and an initial grocery store experiment.

Indiana University students Lucas Lemme and Luke Naas were training for the Little 500 but still wanted to enjoy a night out without feeling hungover the next day.

“We obviously like to go out, have a great night, but we need to wake up the next morning and still train, go to class, whatever we had [to do],” Naas said.

The two tried everything from pouring Liquid IV packets into drinks to following online advice but weren’t satisfied with the results.

Between bike tune ups and textbooks, they started researching the science of a hangover and working on a formula.

“I remember going to Kroger and buying every single ingredient that I saw had any sort of benefit, and then Luke and I got together and just started blending the ingredients together,” Lemme said. “We made some heinous concoctions, but there were also some good ones, and that’s kind of how we got started with this.”

The cyclists drafted help from their friends to get feedback before launching 9 am Club this past April. The vodka-based cocktail includes electrolytes to help with hydration as well as natural fruit juice.

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset, and this kind of showed an opportunity for me to use that avenue to kind of express my passion.” Naas said. “We’re college kids in an alcohol space; everyone’s like it’s impossible to break into. We had a passion, and we just kept taking steps, and baby steps turned into a big distance after a while.”

Liquor stores across central Indiana and in Fort Wayne now carry 9 am Club, which is co-packed and manufactured by Bloomington distillery Cardinal Spirits. It is sold in a box, and cans are coming soon.

“We lived together during college, and it’s [been] so many late nights, after school, doing all this paperwork, doing all these pitches, all these things that no one really sees,” Naas said. “We have two different minds, but we put them together. We can really attack from all angles. It’s really awesome to see it actually come to life and be something that is a start of a journey.”

Naas recently graduated from the Kelley School of Business, and Lemme is entering his senior year at IU this fall. The company hopes to enter more stores across Indiana and beyond.

“I think we want to be a staple within the college scene, but also out of the college scene,” Lemme said. “We’ve gone from zero to this in a year. So [within] the next year, I think, the possibilities are endless.”