I happened to find a couple flavors of Carb Boom at my local REI last fall, but never got around to trying them out until this spring. Over all, I’m pretty impressed. The first flavor I tried was Apple Cinnamon. Surprisingly enough, it tastes almost exactly like my own recipe for gel.

A quick look on the back shows why. There’s almost nothing artificial (assuming you can call maltodextrin natural) in the gel. The company uses actual fruit juices in its gels and the taste reflects that. Since then I have tried the raspberry, chocolate cherry, cranberry grapefruit, and grape pomegranate flavors.

While the apple cinnamon remains my favorite, the other flavors aren’t bad either. The raspberry is a bit tart for my taste and the chocolate cherry is a bit grainy due to using actual cocoa, but these are minor complaints. The texture is a bit more watery than my previous standard of GU however.

What really makes up for any shortcomings is the price. I picked up 3 bulk 24 serving packs of Carb Boom for $13 each. That’s pretty much unheard of for energy gel considering 24 servings of GU cost me $31.20.

Carb boom has also given me some new ideas for my own energy gel recipe. So, if I ever get some time (and go through 72 servings of Carb Boom), I might have some new gel recipes available.

When it’s all said and done, Carb Boom tastes great and costs a lot less than what I had been buying. While Carb Boom appears a bit hard to track down locally, it is available from quite a few places on the internet. So, you might want to give it a try.

The PROBAR is definitely a meal in itself, with between 350-400 calories per bar, and anywhere from 8-12 grams of protein per serving. They come in a variety of flavors: Whole Berry Blast, Art’s Original Blend, Koka Moka, Cherry Pretzel, Maple Pecan, and Apple Cinnamon Crunch, just to name a few. The most popular (and widely available) flavors seem to be the Whole Berry Blast and Art’s Original Blend, though my personal favorites have been the Cran-Lemon Twister and Superfood Slam. As for the Fruition bars, they are a new product from PROBAR, after requests to provide a snack-size bar for those times when you need some extra fuel, but don’t want all the calories. With only 160 calories, these fruit-based superfood bars are smaller, have fewer ingredients (but pack a punch with lots of antioxidants and fatty acids), and come in four flavors: blueberry, strawberry, cran-raspberry, and peach (The blueberry and peach flavors were my favorite.) An added bonus: the Fruition bars are vegan and made with mostly organic ingredients.

On the trail, the PROBARs are great for a quick breakfast, especially on those mornings when you don’t want to have to start up the stove (or wash dishes), and are certainly more tasty and filling than freeze-dried eggs. I found they provided enough fuel to get going, even on sluggish mornings. And unlike other bars, which look like dense bricks with no identifiable ingredients, it’s easy to identify the almonds, cashews, oats, raisins, or chocolate chips (or carob, depending on the flavor) that go into the bar.

You can find PROBARs nationwide in Whole Foods, REI, or possibly even your local health food shop, and they are available online to buy as well. I myself have spotted them in REI alongside Clif and Luna bars. However, they are definitely worth the effort to find if you are looking for a meal bar that is made with whole, un-processed ingredients (and don’t have the time to make something in your own kitchen). The PROBAR retails for $3.49 each; the Fruition bars are $2.29. Both are available in money-saving 12-bar boxes, as well.

After a long cold day backpacking, there’s nothing better than a bowl of warm chowder. Here’s our version of corn chowder that only requires boiling water to prepare on the trail.

Like most people, we want to do as little work preparing food on the trail as possible. This tasty corn chowder couldn’t be easier to prepare.

Serves:
2 hungry adults

Ingredients:

1 cup  Instant potato flakes
1/2 cup  Milk powder
1/2 cup Freeze Dried corn
1 tbsp Dehydrated butter
2 tbsp Shelf stable bacon pieces
2 tbsp dehydrated onion
1 tbsp  Freeze dried peas
1 tbsp  Dehydrated carrots
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

2 1/2 cups water

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients ahead of time in a zip-top bag. Note that you can substitute the freeze dried ingredients with their dehydrated equivalents, but you may need to add a bit more water. We like the freeze dried versions as we think they make for a better chowder.

Once ready to cook on the trail, boil 2 1/2 cups of clean water and pour the bag of dry ingredients into the water. Mix well and take off the heat. Cover and wait 10 minutes until ready to eat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Natural High: Classic Three Cheese Lasagna

Natural High has been making lightweight backpacking food since the 1950s. One package provides two 260-calorie servings, however, most of the calories are carbohydrate-based from the pasta, as the Classic Three Cheese Lasagna does not contain meat. Simply add 2 cups of boiling water, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes and you have a meal. However, after 12 minutes the meal still had a very soupy consistency, and did not resemble anything like lasagna. While it smelled appetizing, the flavor was bland, and was only superficially filling. After a long day of hiking, this would probably not quell hunger or provide lots of energy.

Mountain House Pro-Pak:  Pasta Primavera

We added the Mountain House Pasta Primavera to the list because of it’s smaller, vacuum-sealed packaging, a nice feature for longer trips where space is at a premium. However, the packaging makes reading instructions and nutritional information difficult until it is opened. One package provides one 470-calorie serving. After opening the package, you can see a variety of bright, freeze-dried vegetables. Preparation is simple, just add 1 ½ cups boiling water, stir, and let sit. The consistency was thicker than other brands, and was very flavorful. The vegetables cooked up nicely and gave lots of variety of flavor and texture and the one serving provides a very full meal.

Backpacker’s Pantry: Katmandu Curry

Backpacker’s Pantry is usually the first brand that people think of for backpacking food. Unlike other meals available, we chose the Katmandu Curry because of its simple ingredient list, containing only dehydrated whole foods. One package makes two 330-calorie servings and has a considerable amount of protein and fiber. Vegetarian and dairy-free, the lentils and rice are hearty and filling, and the meal has lots of flavor and spice. After a long day of hiking, this would fill you up and fuel you for more hiking the next day.

Mary Jane’s Farm Outpost: Organic Sweet Red Bell Pepper Pasta

This was brand that we had not heard of before, and slightly more expensive than other brands available, but we thought we could give it a try. USDA Organic ingredients and a wide variety of meal choices make it a nice alternative. The package is slightly smaller, providing only 1.5 servings per package. Preparation was simple, add ¾ cup boiling water, stir, and let sit. Unlike other backpacking foods, after the designated wait time, all the water had been absorbed. The red bell peppers added a bright color and texture to the meal, and the flavor was quite good. The only downside to the preparation of the Sweet Red Bell Pepper Pasta was that the package was not resealable, making it a little more difficult to seal up while waiting for the water to be absorbed.

Backpacker’s Pantry Chef’s Recipe: Cajun Salmon Inferno

At first glance, the Cajun Salmon Inferno packet looks promising. The ingredients are all natural and it contains no MSG. It also has the added addition of a smoked salmon filet with oil, a welcome addition to the rice and spices. One package makes two 370-calorie servings. However, it’s high in sodium, at 1300 mg per serving.

Preparation is a little messier than the other brands, as the separate smoked salmon pouch requires scissors to be able to open it but be careful not to spray oil all over. But other than the added addition of the salmon filet, prep is the same as other backpacking foods—add the desired amount of boiling water, stir, close the package, and wait for the water to be absorbed. It helps to break up the salmon when stirring the contents, to spread it out over the two servings. As for flavor, the ‘Inferno’ is definitely and indicator of flavor—it’s spicy. Overall, it’s a little spicy, but the salmon adds a nice texture and flavor.

While a first choice for meals on the trail is always combining your own ingredients, pre-packaged backpacking meals are a great lightweight easy-prep alternative. We especially liked the Mountain House Pasta Primavera and the Backpacker’s Pantry Katmandu Curry, and we will probably try more meals from those brands in the future.

Last month we tested and reviewed some of the available energy gels and chews on the market. (Click here to read the article). However, there were still a few products that we wanted to feature but couldn’t get our hands on at the time of the testing.

Gu Chomps

Chomps are a new, yet-to-be-released energy chew product from GU. Since we have always been fans of GUs’ products, we were happy to test the Chomps out. Each package contains two servings of chews. The energy that Chomps provide is from three carbohydrates: tapioca syrup, cane sugar, and maltodextrin.

After we opened the package, there was a distinct sweet smell, a combination of the sugar and the natural flavoring. The chews were larger than some of the other brands we tried, but in the shape of the GU starburst logo.

The Chomps were soft and easy to chew, albeit a little sticky at first. They had a very strong flavor, and a bit of tartness. However, we thought they would be easy to eat on the run. Overall, we enjoyed that the serving size was small (only four chews) and providing about the equivalent calories as a single package of energy gel. The only downside in our opinion is the price: one package of GU Chomps will retail for $2.20, a bit more expensive than other brands of energy chews.

GU has begun shipping out Chomps to retailers this month, so look for it on the shelves soon. It will be available in Blueberry Pomegranate, Orange, Cran-Apple, and Strawberry flavors.

Honey Stinger Honey

While Honey Stinger Honey energy gel is not a new product, it has been one that we have wanted to try for a while, as comparison to other energy gel products on the market. The primary ingredients in Honey Stinger are honey and water, although it does contain a smaller portion of maltodextrin.

With a product that’s primary ingredient is honey, you can’t expect anything less than a distinct honey flavor, and that is exactly what it tasted like. A bit thinner than plain honey, it was far too sweet for us to eat an entire package (1.3 ounces). In general, we are glad we tried the Honey Stinger, but don’t plan on buying it again because it was too sweet for our tastes. However, it does seem to be a popular choice for many in the energy gels field.

Honey Stinger is available in Gold, Ginsting, Banana, Chocolate, and Strawberry flavors.

If you haven’t read part one of our energy drinks article, start here.

Like part one, this review will be broken up into two parts: electrolyte hydration tablets and energy drink mixes.

Electrolyte Hydration Tablets

Camelbak Elixir: Lemon-Lime

It’s been about two years since Camelbak released their Elixir sports drink tablet into the market. While we heard about the product when it first came out, we never had a chance to try it out till now. Elixir functions just like all the other electrolyte tablets: drop one tablet into a specified amount of water, wait for the tablet to dissolve, and drink. However, there are a few things that set it apart from the rest of pack. One tablet mixes easily into 24 ounces of water, (where other brands used only 16 ounces of water). While this 8-ounce difference seems minor, if you are dropping a few of these into a hydration bladder (as Camelbak recommends), you can easily go through quite a few tablets in just one trip. There also is no pigment in the tablets; after the tablet mixes with the water the results are not a bright pink drink. It also did not leave a sticky residue in the water bottle, making it easy to reuse for other purposes.

As for taste, we thought it was very pleasant. The flavor was not overpowering, and there was a slight effervescence when it was first mixed. Overall, it was quite refreshing, without any aftertaste. Camelbak Elixir is also available in Berry and Orange Alert (with caffeine) flavors.

Energy Drink Mixes

Accelerade: Lemon Lime

We have heard a lot about Accelerade, and it’s 4:1 carbohydrate-protein ratio, so we figured we ought to give it a try. Out of all of the other energy drinks that we have tested, it is the only mix that contains protein. The protein comes from whey protein, and the logic behind Accelerade is that athletes don’t just need to rehydrate to recover, muscles have to recover from exertion as well. Most people think that the best place to get protein would be through whole proteins, like meat or eggs. However, protein in this form is not as easily digested. The solution? Whey protein powder added to a carbohydrate drink mix. The liquid form of protein aids in speeding muscle recovery after a long day on the trail.

That all sounds great in theory, but how does it taste? When we mixed it up, it was obvious of the difference between this drink mix and the others we have tried before. The fine powder was much grainier in the water and took longer to mix. The addition of whey protein left the water was very cloudy and we also noticed a very unnatural color. It was hard to ignore the bright green color of the drink, but the color was not so obvious in a tinted Nalgene bottle. While the flavor was very strong (like drinking Jell-o mix), the added addition of protein to the mix was a nice benefit. The combination of carbohydrate and protein gave us a consistent energy level. If you can get past the strong flavor, the only downside of Accelerade is that the mix leaves a lot of residue in the container it’s mixed in. Accelerade is also available in Fruit Punch and Orange flavors.

Hammer Nutrition Heed: Lemon Lime

Heed is from the same makers of Hammer Gel, so we had to give their energy drink a try. Unlike other energy drink mixes, it contains only 2 grams of sugar, and no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. It mixed together well, leaving a little cloudiness to the water but no color. The serving suggestion was a bit ambiguous, suggesting mixing it with anywhere from 16 to 24 ounces of water (for the test we mixed it with 20 ounces of water). When we tasted the drink, surprisingly, there was almost no flavor. While we could smell a hint of lemon lime, but we couldn’t taste it. It was definitely not as refreshing as we had hoped and it left a bit of a metallic aftertaste. Heed is also available in Strawberry, Melon, Mandarin Orange, and unflavored.

Vitalyte: Flavorful Fruit Punch

Vitalyte was the last mix that we tried. While we had not heard of this brand before, when we purchased it, it got rave reviews from the cashier, always a good sign. An added benefit of this mix was that it required 32 ounces of water; so one package goes farther than other brands. It dissolved well into water, leaving no graininess or residue. There was a hint of color, but it was not unnatural, and the flavor was apparent but not overpowering. We were impressed and found the Vitalyte to be very refreshing. Vitalyte is also available in Zesty Orange, Natural Lemonade, and Cool Citrus flavors.

If we compare all of the drink mixes we reviewed, our favorites would be the Camelbak Elixir, GU2O, and Vitalyte. However, we see a definite use for Accelerade, and will give the other flavors a try to see if they fare any better.

We all know that hydration is crucial when you are exerting yourself for long periods of time, but there are so many energy and electrolyte mixes on the market today to choose from. What are your choices and how do they stack up? We did the work for you, and in this two-part series, we’ll review some of the energy and hydration mixes available today and let you know what we thought.

Part one is broken down into two categories: electrolyte hydration tablets and energy drink mixes. This distinction is important—electrolyte hydration tablets have very little calories per serving (less than 10) but loads of vitamins and minerals, and energy drink mixes have carbs and salt to re-hydrate and refuel your body.

Electrolyte Hydration Tablets

Nuun: Tri-Berry

Nuun is marketed as “portable electrolyte hydration” and comes in a dissolvable tablet form—just drop one tablet into 16 ounces of water. It dissolves completely and leaves a slight effervescent quality to the drink. With less than three calories per serving, Nuun contains no sugar but does have plenty of vitamins and minerals. It had a refreshing and subtle flavor, and a pleasant color. A benefit of Nuun is that it does not leave a flavor or sticky residue behind on containers, making it a lot easier to reuse the container for other purposes without having to wash with soap and water.
Other available flavors: Citrus Fruit, Lemon Lime, Kona Cola, and Orange Ginger.

Natural Hydration: Goji Berry Green Tea

From the makers of Nuun, comes an all natural vitamin and electrolyte-enhanced drink tab. The directions are the same as the Nuun tablets (dissolve tablet in 16 oz of water). Natural Hydration has slightly more calories (7 vs. less than 3) than Nuun and a longer list of vitamins and minerals. The tablet did not dissolve as completely as the Nuun tablet and left a hazy quality to the water. It was considerably sweeter than the Nuun but left a distinct metallic aftertaste on the tongue—not something to be desired in a hydration beverage. In search of the metallic aftertaste (which could be attributed to the many minerals in the tablet), we discovered that one of the ingredients is Stevia Root Extract, a natural calorie-free sweetener that can leave a metallic aftertaste.
Other available flavors: Lemon Chai and Tangerine Ginger.

Energy Drink Mixes

Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink: Cran-Razz

Before even mixing this up, our first impression was that this was going to be more concentrated than competing energy drink mixes. A single serving of Clif Shot has a ratio of 1.5 ounces of powder mix to 16 ounces of water and provides 80 calories. The flavor that was tested dissolved nicely in the water and had no graininess but it did have a very intense hot pink color (in fact, the same color as the packaging). As for taste, it was sweet and not as refreshing as we expected. Like most energy drinks, we expected a salty aftertaste, but there was none. A distinguishing factor of this product is that unlike other energy drinks, Clif Shot gets it’s calories from organic brown rice syrup solids and organic evaporated cane juice, and boasts having 92% organic ingredients.
Other available flavors: Crisp Apple, Hot Apple Cider (add hot water), and Lemonade.

GU2O: Raspberry

Unlike the other mixes tested, GU2O’s single serving packet mixed with 21 ounces of water (compared to 16 ounces for the others). The instant electrolyte replacement mix dissolved completely into the water and had a hint of color, but did not turn the water cloudy. The flavor was much more subtle than other energy drinks and had a hint of tartness. It was refreshing but left a mild metallic aftertaste on the tongue (most likely attributed to the high sodium content–315mg–and maltodextrin).
Other available flavors: Orange, Lemon Lime, and Tango Mango.

Gatorade Instant Mix: Fruit Punch

Gatorade is the original electrolyte drink, and though less common in outdoor retail stores because of the availability of more specialized drink mixes like Clif Shot and GU2O, we included it in the taste testing because we already had some on hand. The mix did not blend with the water as well as the other drinks tested; it left a fine layer of sediment at the bottom of the Nalgene bottle. It is the sweetest, saltiest, and most artificial tasting of the energy drinks, but its wide availability makes it the old standby.
Other available flavors: Lemon-lime and Glacier Frost.

Final Thoughts

Whether to choose an electrolyte hydration tablet or an energy drink mix is up to you and the intensity of your activity. We loved the ease of portability that the hydration tablets provided, with their space-saving (and reusable) tube packaging. There were high hopes for the Natural Hydration tablets because you get a few more tablets for the same size package (16 tablets per package vs. 12 tablets per package of Nuun), but the metallic aftertaste was off-putting. We won’t completely write it off until we test the other flavors available. Overall, we loved the idea of a low-calorie flavored electrolyte tablet. On long hikes this would be a pleasant break from drinking plain water, but we would probably supplement it with an energy gel or chew for on-the-go refueling. In the category of energy drink mixes GU2O topped our list because it was the only drink mix to use maltodrextrin. We liked this feature because maltodextrin is easily absorbed and turned into energy by the body, something that the other energy drinks did not provide. We’ll always keep Gatorade on the list because of its widespread availability, but we were not impressed with Clif Shot—the combination of intense color and unpleasant aftertaste left us disappointed.

You can read more about maltodextrin and brown rice syrup in our article about Performance Nutrition.

Stay tuned for part two of this series, where we will be reviewing hydration products by Accelerade and Camelbak.

Energy gels are a popular way for athletes and mountaineers to keep energy levels up on days of high exertion. However, the texture of the average energy gel can be best described as drinking thick syrup. After a few gels, one begins to long for something that requires chewing. This is where energy chews come in. They claim to have roughly the same energy content but allow you to chew your food.

We here at Daily Hiker thought we’d check out what all the fuss was about with energy chews. So, we took a trip down to our local outdoor store and promptly bought samples of all the chews and gels that were in stock. We decided to rate each sample for taste and for texture. Any additional thoughts regarding the product would be noted. To offset a single person’s preferences, both of us at Daily Hiker would test each sample. We would rate each product on a scale of 1 (Horrid) to 5 (Awesome) and then combine the results for a final range of 2-10.

Energy Gel

Name	Flavor	Taste	Texture
PowerBar Gel	Raspberry Cream	5	3
Clif Shot	Strawberry	2	2
Gu Roctane	Blueberry Pomegranate	6	9
Hammer Gel	Tropical	6	7
Gu	Tri-Berry	9	9

We were able to locate five energy gels from four different companies for this test. Four of the gels based on maltodextrin and the Clif Shot is based on brown rice syrup. So, the performance from the gels should be exactly the same save for the Clif Shot assuming that the amount of maltodextrin in each gel is the same. Below is the rating for each of the gels we tested:

Clif Shot

The Clif Shot was the odd ball out in the energy gels in that it is based on brown rice syrup instead of the much more common maltodextrin. While we like Clif Bars, we hated the Clif Shot gel. Both testers agreed that the gel was far too thick to eat on the run and left a strange aftertaste in the mouth. While the gel was labeled as the strawberry flavor, it didn’t actually taste like any fruit we could identify. As you can see, the Clif Shot came in dead last in our rankings with the lowest possible score.

Gu

Gu was one of the first manufacturers to enter the market with an energy food in gel form. Ever since, the competition has tried to replicate their success. We found the tri-berry flavor to be a little too sweet, but there wasn’t an aftertaste that was associated with competing products. The gel was a smooth consistency and had what we considered to be the perfect texture.

Gu Roctane

In the summer of 2008, Gu released Roctane. The company claims that this is a reformulated version of Gu with more added to make you perform better for longer periods of time. Near as we can tell though, it’s all marketing and was an excuse to raise the price. We found Roctane to be a bit sweeter than the Tri-berry Gu, but the texture was exactly the same as the regular Gu. While the Roctane wasn’t bad, we’d never buy it again as it was twice the price of the regular Gu.

Hammer Gel

Hammer Gel is a bit hard to find in stores, but we had some on hand so decided to include it in our test. Hammer Gel boasts that their gel is made mostly of natural ingredients. Their flavorings are based on fruit juices and the sweetener is from fruit derived sugars. Our taste test found that the consistency of the gel was right. One tester commented that it was slightly grainy. The tropical flavor was a bit too sour for our tastes, but other flavors may be different. The main downside to the Hammer Gel is that it contains 10% less energy than the other gels in a slightly larger volume of food. The competing gels contained 100 calories of energy in roughly 1.1oz. The Hammer Gel contains 90 calories in 1.25oz.

PowerBar Gel

We were a bit apprehensive to test the PowerBar gel as the package seemed to be filled with water. When we opened the packaging, we weren’t surprised. The raspberry cream flavor is incredibly sweet and very runny. Simply put, there is no way we could eat it on the run. Additionally, the amount of PowerBar Gel one has to eat is significantly larger than the competition.

Chews

The chews were different than the gels in that most of them used brown rice syrup instead of maltodextrin for the energy content. Look out for a future article detailing maltodextrin and brown rice syrup.

Name	Flavor	Taste	Texture
Sharkies	Berry Blast	4	4
PowerBar Gel Blast	Natural Cola	2	3
Honey Stinger	Cherry Blossom	8	7
Clif Shot Blocks	Black Cherry	7	6

Clif Shot Bloks

Unlike the Clif Shot Gel, we loved the Bloks. While a bit hard to get open, little space is wasted in the packaging unlike the rest of the competition. We didn’t notice any smell to the Bloks, and the taste was pleasing, much like fruit leather. With a serving size of 3 Bloks, we could eat them while on the run. The chews did stick to the teeth a bit, but it was less than most of the competition. The texture was appropriate and a nice change of pace from the gels we had previously been eating.

Honey Stinger

The Honey Stinger chews had a pleasing cherry smell, and didn’t taste too sweet. They have a nice simple gumdrop shape and didn’t stick to the teeth. Much like the Powerbar Gel, the serving size was huge. A single serving is 10 Honey Stinger chews. So, I doubt I could eat enough of these to keep my energy up. My lasting impression was that these were more expensive versions of the fruit snacks I used to eat as a kid.

PowerBar Gel Blasts

The Gel Blasts are made of three parts; a standard chew exterior, a slightly rough white bottom section, and a gel interior. The gel blasts are so bad that neither of us could actually finish an entire piece. The sensation of eating a PowerBar Gel Blast is much like eating an insect. Simply put, it’s disgusting. The chew tasted less like the cola flavor claimed on the packaging, and more like cough syrup.

Sharkies

I’m fairly certain that Sharkies are actually fruit snacks re-branded for another market. Sharkies smell and taste exactly like the fruit snacks I had as a kid. To complete the trip down memory land, they’re actually shaped like sharks. For added fun, these stuck to my teeth so much that I had to brush my teeth afterwords. If I wanted to buy fruit snacks, I’d stop by a grocery store and get them for less than half the price of Sharkies.

Results

So, what gel or chew is worth spending your hard earned money on? Our favorite is still the original Gu. While we wouldn’t buy Roctane again, the original still has the correct flavor and taste. Honey Stinger rated highly on the taste and texture scales, but the serving size is simply far too much. So, our second favorite is Clif Shot Bloks. The price is right and with a serving size of 3 Bloks, they’re easily eaten quickly. Hammer Gel gets an honorable mention as they are very close in the taste and texture department. Next time we’ll have to try a different flavor and see if the results change.

Related articles:

• Performance Nutrition: what to eat during hard exercise
• Energy Gels and Chews: Wrapping Up