I mix my calories in a bottle. This is my primary calorie intake during long rides but I’ll also bring along some stinger waffles & SIS isotonic gels.
The DIY mix I use if 1 cup of glucose, 1/2 cup of fructose, 1/8 tsp sea salt, 1/32 tsp of NoSalt. That’s a little over 1000 kcals plus some electrolytes. Mix that in a 24oz water bottle. It’s thick but it will mix. You might have to warm up the water to get a full mix. Of course, consume with a couple gulps of straight H2O!
Sometimes I’ll throw in a smidge of magnesium. Like less than 1/32 tsp.
Sometimes I’ll use Calci-K instead of salt/nosalt. One of the First Endurance dudes told me they also use Calci-k in their Liquid Shot product. Calci-K is a pretty good product made by Albion but I think you have to buy it in bulk so it might be better just to stick with basic ingredients.
No Salt is the brand name of an NaCl substitute. It’s basically potassium. You could probably do without potassium entirely.