Drinks

Featured review by Ashley Alex

Nuun Active has become my all-season, all activity, go-to electrolyte drink.

I picked up my first tube of Nuun this summer after being drawn to the aestethically pleasing packaging and the myriad of flavors to choose from. I picked up strawberry lemonade and fruit punch and used them that same day. A little backstory: I have been searching for an electrolyte replacer for awhile as I can't stomach any of the pre-made sugar ladened drinks on the market (I get terrible acid reflux from them and it negatively affects my performance every time).  So far I have tried the following Nuun Active flavors (in no particular order of preference): tri-berry, watermelon, orange, strawberry lemonade, fruit punch, and kona kola.  There isn't a flavor I don't enjoy, though it did take me a few times drinking it to acquire a taste for...

Read more: Nuun Active Hydration Tablets reviews (2)

Featured review by Chuck Davis

Grape has become the house favorite over the years.

Vitalyte is nether an energy drink or a source of calories, it is an electrolyte replacement and best "utliliized" to prevent and recover from dehydration. We have been drinking Vitalyte for over twenty (20) years (we still call it Gookinaid!) there is always a two litre container in our fridge and a second container in the summer. I sold it in my bicycle shoppe for twenty years. We have tried all the flavors, Orange, Fruit Punch, Lemon and *No After Taste Competition; we have never any gastric (embarrassing or otherwise) disturbances.

Read more: Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Drink Mix reviews (2)

Featured review by FromSagetoSnow

Finally an exercise drink with real ingredients and no bellyache

Oh great, another sports drink! A powdered mix of something you can’t pronounce that promises to make you run faster, the hills flatter and drive the women crazy. Heard it all before? Me too, and truly I am kinda tired of it.  “So wait a minute Jeff, why the heck are you reviewing a sports drink?” Good question. In my opinion the world of sports drinks has, for too long, been dominated by huge companies that care more about marketing hype than real performance and nutrition. Their syrupy offerings, loaded with overdoses of random vitamins you don’t need and flavors that have long since dropped any pretense of resembling food seem to me to go against the whole idea of backcountry which is to simplify and enjoy the natural world.

Read more: Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix reviews (3)

Reviewed by Gary Leatham

Who could have guessed that this well known Vitamin C source and cold remedy would make a super electrolyte and restorative drink for hikers? I've taken this on and off for decades as a pick-me-up to ward off getting sick when run down. It is sold as an immune system builder. After running out of our standard electrolyte mix for bicycling that we had been using up for hiking, I tried this by chance. And I quickly found that it worked even better for me than just electrolytes for energy recovery and restoration, and I hope, staying healthy after exertion.

Commercial Product Description Dietary Supplement. Super energy booster. 1000 mg Vitamin C as 7 mineral ascorbates. 32 Mineral complexes. B Vitamins. Emergen-C is so much more than just Vitamin C! The foundation of Emergen-C is built on seven mineral ascorbates. These mineral ascorbates of potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, chromium & zinc provide your body with 1,000 mg of vital, life-sustaining Vitamin C in a non-acidic, stomach-friendly formula. Unlike ordinary Vitamin C supplements, Emergen-C also has a total of 32 active mineral complexes along with key B Vitamins.

Read more: Alacer Emergen-C review (1)

Reviewed by Elizabeth McCoy

This has been my secret to sustained energy and endurance on very long hikes and bike rides. It has everything you need to not "hit the wall" in your last mile! I swear by it! I have tried almost every sports drink on the market and this still tops out at #1 for me.

Single serving packages seen here. This is marketed as a fuel source for extreme athletes and a product that will utilize fat storage for energy sparing the muscles of increased rate of atrophy. I have used this and other Hammer products during my crazy cycling years, when I did long distance cycling and mountain biking. I mixed it with one of my water bottles on my bike and had the other water bottle just plain water. I mixed about half the package in the bottle (typical bike water bottle 24 oz).

Read more: Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem review (1)

Reviewed by LoneStranger

Milk for the backcountry that tastes a lot like milk. Whole milk with milkfat retained. Great for breakfast cereals, in coffee, in meals and can even be drunk by itself.

Nothing like the powdered non-fat milk commonly sold here in the US, Nestle's NIDO Dry Whole Milk is worth the effort to track down. The ingredients are simple; whole milk and a tiny bit (0.2%) of soy lecithin as an emulsifier. Being whole milk may contribute to the surprisingly good flavor, but it definitely adds some light to carry fat calories to a backcountry diet. Instructions say to use warm water to reconstitute, but I just pour cold water into a bag with granola cereal and the NIDO powder and get good results.

Read more: Nestle NIDO Dry Whole Milk review (1)

Reviewed by David Link

Relieves muscle cramps fast!

I had returned from several days of backpacking in the Trinity Alps. The last day was long and hot, and I'd probably not drunk as much water as I should have. But the beer was cold, and it was sooo nice to sleep in a real bed. And at 3 a.m., the cramping started. It began in my right calf, and as I tried stretching/rubbing it out without waking up my wife (sorry, honey!), the left calf started to kick in too. As they both got tighter and more painful, I remembered the sample bottle of HotShot I had gotten at a cycling event.

Read more: Hotshot Sports Shot review (1)

Reviewed by Bryce Allen

This drink makes my recovery after a long run or even a workout so much smoother. What really made this so appealing to me is that the taste was so amazing. When I mix the servings with water it tastes like in drinking strawberry milk. This is a very effective and tasty recovery drink.

I had heard about this drink from a friend of mine who is a much more dedicated runner than myself. He recommended this to me because I had just gotten done with my first half marathon. When I continued training I started using this drink as a recovery tool. Mind you I have not ever taken a recovery drink after running. The only time I have taken protein drinks were for when I was heavily in the gym. This is a totally different drink than the normal gym weight lifting protein shakes. The powder is a lot lighter.

Read more: Hammer Nutrition Recoverite Drink Mix review (1)

Reviewed by NJHiker

Perfect companions to their highly acclaimed Carbonator Bottle, these flavors give the user the ability to "brew" fresh adult beverages.

I'm not a huge proponent of imbibing on the trail, but on a hot summer night after a day long hike, there's nothing quite as satisfying as a cool, frothy ale by the fire pit to set the night off right.  I'll review the two "adult beverages" here, with hopes that someone more experienced with the soda flavors might chime in! The mixing and carbonation process takes a little practice, but once you've mastered it, it's not too bad (and is the same for these as the available soda flavors). 1919 Pale Rail Ale is a blend of mild and aromatic malts and Cascade hops that delivers a complex, well-balanced, craft styled brew.

Read more: Pat's Backcountry Beverages Brew Concentrate review (1)

Reviewed by Tÿcho

I'm not a big fan of GU in general and most electrolyte drinks wear thin after using them for a long time, but I really like these tablets.

When you have the first taste of electrolyte drink at the start of a long race you think, not bad, but by the end of the day keeping it down is an act of will. When I got a tube of Gu Brew tablets I mentally wrote them off and forgot about them.  On a hiking trip my son insisted we bring them and try them.   These tablets don't have sugar, or artificial sugar, so the taste is light and they add a bit of carbonation too.  Normally I drink water, at my desk, with meals or working around the house so I'm not adverse to water, but I found that with these tablets both my son and I were drinking more on our hikes.

Read more: GU Electrolyte Brew Tablets review (1)