Southampton - From the basement of a house in Southampton, the mad scientist took a sip, made a suggestion, took another and tinkered some more. Finally, when her and her dad's creation tasted just like lemonade but without the sugar, the then-four-year-old Holiday Bovio gave the thumbs up. A new flavor was born - they'd purchased juicy lemons from Schmidt's Market and made lemonade.

Ultima Replenisher, an all-natural sports drink founded by Southampton resident Seth Bovio, has been similarly enjoyed by world-class athletes on sports' biggest stages. In flavors like Kiwi Strawberry, Banana Berry, Wild Raspberry and Orange, Ultima is without sugar, without artificial ingredients, and without the extra calories, but with a taste so that one might not know the difference.

"If we copied Gatorade or another corn syrup product, we wouldn't have made it." Bovio said. "We wanted to offer a healthier, more natural alternative. That's been the driving force for our business."

Born in Atlanta and raised in the Midwest, Bovio's summers were spent at his grandfather's cabin in North Sea. Even when his father inherited the property and sold it 20 years ago, Bovio always had an apartment in the Hamptons until he and his wife Vickie bought a house in Southampton village in 2002. Back in the mid-1980s, he ran track for Miami University (Ohio). It coincided with a monumental change to Gatorade's formula - the increase in sugar added. Bovio's coach recognized that Gatorade was upsetting his athletes' stomachs and causing leg cramps; he counteracted the effects by watering it down. Plus, Gatorade was down to having to just two of eight electrolytes - it left room for improvement.

"Our goal was basically to emulate the original Gatorade formula, which did not have sugar and did have a lot of electrolytes," Bovio said.

Then a chemistry major, Bovio considered the project from that perspective, but changed his major to finance, foreseeing that financial stability could be achieved as a company owner. He found a sugar-free formula used at a hospital in Boston that prevented upset stomachs and cramps for women in labor. He adjusted the recipe slightly and came up with Ultima.

Drinkers won't necessarily feel an immediate boost from Ultima like they would with simple carbohydrate sports drinks; instead, it promises long-term productivity thanks to eight electrolytes - bicarbonate, calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium and sulfate - and no unnecessary calories or delayed sluggishness. The powder formula's 13 electrolytes and minerals are more than double any major sports drink on the market, including Gatorade (2), Propel (1) and Vitamin Water (1).

"People who drink Ultima have more energy and have better performance because their muscles are better hydrated," Bovio said. "You don't have to worry about leg cramping. If you watch 'Monday Night Football,' somebody's going to get a leg cramp because it's going to be hot and because Gatorade uses two out of eight electrolytes. If you run out of eight different fluids in your car and only replace two of them, you're in trouble."

In terms of sodium, the model is consistent with normal diets; by contrast, said Bovio, "if you go to Schmidt's Market and buy 250 bananas, that's only 250 milligrams of sodium, or about how much sodium's in a bottle of Gatorade."

Ultima's big leap came when it secured rights to sell in Whole Foods Market, which has more than 270 stores in the United States and the U.K. Locally, it's available only at Rotations Bicycle Center in Southampton. Altogether it's available in 1,400 retail outlets in the United States -- mostly health food stores and yoga studios -- 300 in Canada and more than 1,000 in India. Explaining the booming business in India, Bovio said, "It's a vegetarian country and our product is vegan."

The company continued to flourish in hospitals, assisting with birthing and in treating cancer patients. It also caught on with other professional athletes, including players and trainers on the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Calgary Flames, and this past summer, it became the official drink of Hamptons Collegiate Baseball. Ultima is also the official electrolyte drink of the Pasadena Marathon, the Portland (OR) Marathon and Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. In the entertainment world, it's on the sets of "Big Love," "Bones" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Vickie Bovio, who was the brand's package designer in the early stages, continues to serve as an advisor to the company while also being a stay-at-home mom to Holiday, now six, and another mad scientist in the making, 18-month-old daughter Collins. Their dad manages a business whose sales hover somewhere in the mid-seven-figure range. It's always growing - another flavor will be released this spring and made available at www.ultimareplenisher.com. No matter what, though, compromises regarding the drink's ingredients will never be made. It's the crux of why Ultima has been so successful.

"We want to feel good about what we do, and I feel good about what I do," Bovio said. "We have a good product."

Ultima Replenisher not only gives its drinkers energy for the long haul but does it without the help of sugar or artificial ingredients. Image courtesy of Jupiter Images