The folks at Diamond Spring Brewing Company in Denville were experimenting with seltzer varieties before the summer of 2024 when, co-owner Chrissy Doremus recalled, the question arose: "What if we made an alcoholic Prime?"

Doremus and her co-owner husband, Craig Doremus, tried out flavors with which to imbue their nascent alcoholic sports drink — grape, which was "unusual," and a riff on whatever Gatorade's "blue" flavor is, which was "weird and disgusting." They tried adding levels of electrolytes until they hit too much: "That was gross," Doremus said.

But they had faith they could make an alcoholic sports drink work, and homed in on flavor — a classic lemon-lime — and a suitable amount of electrolytes. They named it Thirst Mutilator, a nod to a drink in the film 'Idiocracy.' And wou

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