Battle of the Super Drinks (Maurten, SiS, Skratch)

Having now tried the tree major high-carb drink mixes, I figured I’d share my impressions and see if others will do the same.

Maurten 320 (80g serving): I didn’t like the taste, and this discouraged me from drinking it.

Beta Fuel (v 1.0): Taste was not bad, especially when cold. Noticeably sweet, and everything it touches gets kind of gummy and sticky.

Skratch SuperFuel (Lemon/lime): Taste was surprisingly OK; not sweet, and fairly tart. Thicker than regular drink mix, and initially it interfered with the vale on my bottles so it couldn’t suck air back in after drinking. This was cleared easily by shaking it.

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I’ve found that I really like the somewhat muted taste of Maurten and I like the slightly thicker consistency. Haven’t done a ton of training with Beta Fuel or SuperFuel to give real feedback, but mixing up a bottle of the SuperFuel the other night and it was STICKY! Much more so than Maurten seems to be.

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I haven’t tried the Skratch one yet, though I do prefer their hydration mix. I can handle Maurten or Beta Fuel and they do seem to work. If I ever needed something two days in a row though, I don’t know. After drinking them in an event on one day the thought of having to do it again is revolting. And I normally have a sweet tooth but I guess even my inner 5 year old has limits.

I really like Maurten and agree the taste wasn’t great however over time I have gotten used to it and now it doesn’t bother me. I do not have a sweet tooth at all so it was a challenge at first.

It’s expensive too and ended up buying the raw ingredients and making it myself. Comes out to be about 1/6th of the cost.

@rb250660 Would you be willing to share the breakdown when you make your own and for what bottle size? I’d really like to give this a go

And the winner is: everyday table sugar.

4 Likes

I tried Maurten and just didn’t care for the taste which is really not good in long events. I like the taste of Skratch Superfuel. Very light taste and slightly tart (I do NOT like sweet drinks). It also still tastes good hours into an event once it gets hot which is important. I’ve been training with it this year and used it on Silver Rush 50 and will rely on it for Leadville in two weeks.

For a Maurten 320 I mix that up as follows (80gram serve):
Maltodextrin = 44g
Fructose = 36g
Table salt = 630mg
Sodium alginate = 500mg
Pectin = 500mg
Water = 500mL

This is a very strong mix and is what Maurten recommend however you could spread it across 2 500mL bottles (half strength) and I often do. I consume a 500mL bottle every hour.

You only really need the maltodextrin, fructose and salt. I had the pectin and sodium alginate in the cupboard anyway so use them in my home brew with no problem.

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@rb250660 thanks for taking the time to clarify, really helpful.

Have you experimented with table sugar as an alternative to maltodextrin & fructose?

Might be a silly question, but if I were to make up 2x 500ml bottles of the mix and take them for a ride, is your water hydration coming from the premade bottles, or are you bringing a third bottle for straight water?

These may be useful threads.

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Maurten_Drink_mix_during_IM_Bike_P7533481/?page=unread#unread

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I’ve never tries table sugar but plan to in the future. It would be significantly cheaper again.
Costs (AUD):
Maltodextrin 5kg = $21 posted (on sale with free post so quite cheap)
Fructose 4kg = $40 posted

I guess that if you wanted a drink mix not so sweet a maltodextrin only mix could be made. Or you could experiment with ratios for fructose : maltodextrin to find a tolerable sweetness.

Regarding hydration, I never use plain water, always a drink mix.