US users: cheap energy drink

Nutrition
1

A shoutout to the US users out there. I’m looking for some energy drink mix that is somewhat cheap from a US shop. A friend of mine offered to bring me some to Guatemala when he is flying in.
I have searched a bit but can’t find any good deals. Usually I buy High5 2,2 kg for around 25$ from either wiggle or a Danish shop when I’m back in Sweden. Imported goods is super expensive in Guatemala and I can’t order anything online since they don’t have a postal service :confused: so I’d like to take advantage of my friends offer.

Where do you get your energy? :smiley:

2

2 kg granulated sugar at $4. I add some Gatorade mix for flavor.

4 Likes
3

I do 60g of powdered gatorade mix and 30g of powdered maltodextrin in 750ml of water for each hour of riding, both are dirt cheap.

1 Like
4

I’ve started using just Gatorade - about 60g per bottle. I think it was $11 last time I bought one from Amazon and it lasted months.

5

25g gatorade, 17g Karbolyn (“Neutral” flavor) in 500ml water, works for me.

6

A friend of mine has a product geluminati (www.geluminati.com). They’re trying to gain word of mouth and I know a lot of thought has been put into sourcing ingredients and optimizing ratios so I’d recommend folks check them out!

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7

If you really want to get fancy I just get cheap table syrup (not real maple) from the store and add some salt for electrolytes. It’s actually quite delicious.

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Is anyone who’s doing granulated sugar also adding in citric acid or something similar to get the sweetness down?

9

I’ve not bothered with citric acid. I did not find the sweetness so bad, and I try to get it down with little mouth contact. (Dental hygiene)

Not even sure that I prefer it with the Gatorade. But I’ve got to use up the huge tub I convinced my wife to order from Amazon.

10

I’ve used citric acid in the past. It doesn’t take much to add flavor and I would only use about 6 teaspoons in about 90 ounces of maltodextrin/dextrose/table sugar (I was making bulk batches). I’m not sure what that translates to if just making a single bottle but a small pinch is likely all you need.

If the sweetness is your real issue, maltodextrin is much less sweet than other sugars.

11

Granulated sugar is 1:1 glucose to fructose, I’m assuming it’s mostly the fructose that brings the unavoidable sweetness. I’m not sure starting with maltodextrin + adding in the requisite amount of fructose to target 1:1 or 1:0.8 would be any different?

12

You are correct. There’s at least one long thread about this with lots of details:

1 Like
13

Whats the breakdown of this mixture in terms of sugar components?

14

the gatorade is almost pure sugar, with a bit of salt and flavor

15

Outside of making your own, about the cheapest stuff I have found that works well is the Gatorade Endurance formula. A bit more sodium than the regular formula and a little less sweet. It is about 1/2 the price of something like Infint.

I personally really like the Cherry flavor…almost has a bit of a cinnamon after taste, so it doesn’t have an overly sweet finish flavor that sits in your mouth.

16

Not even sure that I prefer it with the Gatorade. But I’ve got to use up the huge tub I convinced my wife to order from Amazon.

If you’re not into the Gatorade mix on the bike, you could mix it with a little whey protein to make Amber’s post-ride recovery drink. I’m enjoying it mixed with vanilla whey for a sort of orange creamsicle taste.

17

I do the same but with real Maple Syrup, pink Himalayan sea salt, and a squeeze of lemon or lime for flavor. I love it!

1 Like