Nashville's new hangover cure: It's a patch.

Music entrepreneur Andrew Cohen was skeptical when he first discovered the small patch promising hangover relief while attending a Nashville bourbon festival. Still, he stuck the patch to his body and proceeded with an evening that, based on his beverage intake, should have yielded a punishing next day. 

"I deserve to feel so much worse than this," Cohen thought to himself when he woke up feeling fine.

Cohen and his Suit Music business partner, Jarrod Holley, tracked down the Murfreesboro couple who had created the patch and sold them at the festival. Together, they ramped up the marketing, refined the business model, brought on two other partners and rebranded the hangover relief product as RallyPatch. 

"We knew the product worked," Cohen said. "That was the main thing."

RallyPatch, priced at $5 per patch, is rich with vitamins often used to combat the defeating effects associated with hangovers. The patch is small, 2 x 2 inches, and is most effective when applied when the drinking starts.

RallyPatch has been embraced by both young professionals balancing the demands of late-night socializing and day-jobs, as well as parents confronted with early-rising children after a night out. The product has also been used for its general health benefits during flight travel, Cohen said. 

"Our target isn't necessarily the college kids, who can rally," Cohen said. "It is just replenishing your body when you need a vitamin boost."

Hangover relief products have been emerging nationally and locally in recent years. Nashville-based IRevive provides IV hydration therapy for hangovers, sports fatique, illness and jetlag through appointments at the company's facility. Vida Flo, also based in Nashville, provides onsite appointments as well as mobile IV hydration therapy, bringing the IV to a home, hotel, convention or business. Treatments range from $100 to $200.

RallyPatch provides a less expensive alternative, one that does not require post-drinking treatment. 

Building the patch

Murfreesboro residents Paul and Sheri Bartoszek began thinking about a hangover relief product as they provided breathalyzer tests for beer and wine events in downtown Nashville. Paul Bartoszek was a former police officer and Sheri Bartoszek had lost an uncle to drunk driving so the issue of safe driving resonated with them both. Those taking their breathalyzer tests could win a prize if they accurately guessed their blood alcohol content, making the experience feel more like playing a game.

"We had a way to make people more aware of it and at the same time, make it fun," Sheri Bartoszek said. 

To expand their offerings for festivals, they reached out to a pharmacy in Michigan that had experience with creating hangover remedies. They looked at drinks and supplements, but found a patch had more lasting impact. They created a small patch they called "PartySafe Nashville."

"It seemed like the biggest bang for the buck for the customer," Paul Bartoszek said.

Both with full-time jobs, Paul an IT supervisor for the state of Tennessee and Sheri, an Army veteran who works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the product had always been something they developed on the side. 

When Cohen and Holley sat down with the Bartoszeks to talk more seriously about the product's potential, the Bartoszeks welcomed the time and expertise they could devote to the marketing and branding.

"Andrew and Jarrod really came in and took us to the next level," Paul Bartoszek said. 

Cohen had launched a music networking organization in 2009 and knew firsthand the number of young music professionals who would be eager for such a product. 

"I had to be out all the time," Cohen, 30, said. "I was getting older everyday and starting to feel it."

They brought on tax attorney Daniel Sullivan and Brad Parker of AC Entertainment, who together helped cover upfront costs. 

RallyPatch launched officially in April and is sold on Amazon.com, as well as at Gulch retailer Ruckle & Rye. It continues to be distributed at area whiskey and beer festivals and the RallyPatch team is in talks with local bars, venues, liquor stores and music festivals for larger distribution.

Within two months of launching, RallyPatch turned a profit and the company has received multiple wholesale orders from music industry leaders, buying patches for large music events, including the Academy of Country Music and Country Radio Seminar events, Cohen said. 

The low price point has helped facilitate distribution and spur adoption, Cohen said.  

"It's the price of a beer," Cohen said. "Give us a try."

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.