Corpse Reviver comes in four flavors: berry hibiscus, guava rose, prickly pear and botanical. (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
Anna Zesbaugh believes she’s found her “hero product.”
The Golden resident shuttered her first business in the spring, the hard kombucha Hooch Booch. Last month, she closed her bar, Blind Tiger Lounge at 3040 Blake St. in RiNo.
All the better, she says, to focus on her newer business with the best chance for the greatest success — the electrolyte beverage brand Corpse Reviver.
“You never expect one business to pop out of the blue and take over, especially because it was our third business,” said Zesbaugh, who was recently named to the Forbes “30 under 30” list.
Anna Zesbaugh (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
“But it really goes to show that product-market fit is very important, with people drinking less and consuming consciously, so we really decided to fully lean into Corpse Reviver.”
Business wasn’t bad in RiNo, Zesbaugh said. The Blind Tiger did around $345,000 in sales in each year since opening in 2022. She started it as a way to introduce people to Hooch Booch, which she started selling in 2020.
Blind Tiger was never meant to be a stand-alone business, but more a way to get people interacting with her other products, Zesbaugh said. It also had a full bar with local beers and cocktails.
“With the nature of it being tucked back, foot traffic was hard to come by, so people had to have a reason to come out,” she said, talking about her space in the Backyard on Blake building.
“It evened itself out — didn’t make a ton but didn’t lose a ton,” she added.
With her lease up last month, she said it was time to shut down shop. About halfway through her time in RiNo, she noticed people moving away from drinking Hooch Booch and other alcoholic drinks. It was a microcosm for national trends of more conscious consumption, Zesbaugh said.
As that happened, she launched the “healthy-for-you” drink Corpse Reviver.
It hit the shelves in January 2024, and in its first year, Corpse Reviver sold 12,000 cases of 12. In 2025, Zesbaugh said that number grew five fold to 65,000, equating to $1.5 million in sales. And in 2026, she expects to triple 2025 numbers.
At Hooch Booch’s peak in 2023, its third year in business, it sold 25% of what Corpse Reviver did in 2025, Zesbaugh said. Things steadily declined through this past spring, when she stopped selling the hard kombucha.
“We had to make a decision to continue this or just focus our effort on one thing, one business that was doing really well, which is Corpse Reviver,” Zesbaugh said.
Blind Tiger Lounge was open from 2022 until this past November. (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
The drink comes in four flavors and is available online and in 2,000 national retailers, including Walmart, Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, along with local ones like Marczyk Fine Foods and Spinelli’s Market. Between 80% and 85% of the business comes from wholesale, she said.
Zesbaugh said the combination of zinc, l-theanine, magnesium and potassium add extra immunity-enhancing and mood benefits. Instead of sugar, she uses pomegranate juice to sweeten, helping the beverage come in at 10 calories for a 16-ounce can.
She raised a $650,000 round this year between angel investors, friends and family. She also won the industry group Naturally Colorado’s pitch competition this past spring.
“Retail is the most profitable channel for us right now,” she said, saying she’s happy with the current wholesale/direct-to-consumer split. “Beverages are just really heavy and expensive to ship, so until we can find more economies of scale, it doesn’t make sense to grow that channel.”
Zesbaugh hails from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota. She moved to Colorado to attend the University of Denver and stayed after graduation, working in the hospitality industry before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
During that time, she was furloughed but went on to start Hooch Booch.
“When the mayor shut down all liquor stores, the name hit me,” she recalled. “Hooch like prohibition alcohol, Booch like kombucha.”
Corpse Reviver comes in four flavors: berry hibiscus, guava rose, prickly pear and botanical. (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
Anna Zesbaugh believes she’s found her “hero product.”
The Golden resident shuttered her first business in the spring, the hard kombucha Hooch Booch. Last month, she closed her bar, Blind Tiger Lounge at 3040 Blake St. in RiNo.
All the better, she says, to focus on her newer business with the best chance for the greatest success — the electrolyte beverage brand Corpse Reviver.
“You never expect one business to pop out of the blue and take over, especially because it was our third business,” said Zesbaugh, who was recently named to the Forbes “30 under 30” list.
Anna Zesbaugh (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
“But it really goes to show that product-market fit is very important, with people drinking less and consuming consciously, so we really decided to fully lean into Corpse Reviver.”
Business wasn’t bad in RiNo, Zesbaugh said. The Blind Tiger did around $345,000 in sales in each year since opening in 2022. She started it as a way to introduce people to Hooch Booch, which she started selling in 2020.
Blind Tiger was never meant to be a stand-alone business, but more a way to get people interacting with her other products, Zesbaugh said. It also had a full bar with local beers and cocktails.
“With the nature of it being tucked back, foot traffic was hard to come by, so people had to have a reason to come out,” she said, talking about her space in the Backyard on Blake building.
“It evened itself out — didn’t make a ton but didn’t lose a ton,” she added.
With her lease up last month, she said it was time to shut down shop. About halfway through her time in RiNo, she noticed people moving away from drinking Hooch Booch and other alcoholic drinks. It was a microcosm for national trends of more conscious consumption, Zesbaugh said.
As that happened, she launched the “healthy-for-you” drink Corpse Reviver.
It hit the shelves in January 2024, and in its first year, Corpse Reviver sold 12,000 cases of 12. In 2025, Zesbaugh said that number grew five fold to 65,000, equating to $1.5 million in sales. And in 2026, she expects to triple 2025 numbers.
At Hooch Booch’s peak in 2023, its third year in business, it sold 25% of what Corpse Reviver did in 2025, Zesbaugh said. Things steadily declined through this past spring, when she stopped selling the hard kombucha.
“We had to make a decision to continue this or just focus our effort on one thing, one business that was doing really well, which is Corpse Reviver,” Zesbaugh said.
Blind Tiger Lounge was open from 2022 until this past November. (Courtesy Corpse Reviver)
The drink comes in four flavors and is available online and in 2,000 national retailers, including Walmart, Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, along with local ones like Marczyk Fine Foods and Spinelli’s Market. Between 80% and 85% of the business comes from wholesale, she said.
Zesbaugh said the combination of zinc, l-theanine, magnesium and potassium add extra immunity-enhancing and mood benefits. Instead of sugar, she uses pomegranate juice to sweeten, helping the beverage come in at 10 calories for a 16-ounce can.
She raised a $650,000 round this year between angel investors, friends and family. She also won the industry group Naturally Colorado’s pitch competition this past spring.
“Retail is the most profitable channel for us right now,” she said, saying she’s happy with the current wholesale/direct-to-consumer split. “Beverages are just really heavy and expensive to ship, so until we can find more economies of scale, it doesn’t make sense to grow that channel.”
Zesbaugh hails from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota. She moved to Colorado to attend the University of Denver and stayed after graduation, working in the hospitality industry before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
During that time, she was furloughed but went on to start Hooch Booch.
“When the mayor shut down all liquor stores, the name hit me,” she recalled. “Hooch like prohibition alcohol, Booch like kombucha.”
