Tried and Tasted: Sports Drinks
Jon and the WLR taste team find out which sports re-hydration drinks taste good... difficult.
Sports Drinks
In the spirit of marathons and fun runs, we have tried out some sport hydration drinks. Unfortunately we were not able to include a rigorous physical test for all the claims made on the bottles. The Taste Team were clearly distressed by this.
Six high-street energy drinks, the question is: which ones will make your tongue want to run a mile?
| Product | Tesco Active Sport Lemon | Asda Isotonic Citrus | Taut Isotonic Grapefruit & Lime |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Ranking |   |
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| Summary | Smelling like "proper lemonade" and feeling the most refreshing, Tesco came in just ahead of the pack. Popular comments were "medicinal" and "homemade" (for better and for worse). | Perhaps the most unfortunate of the bunch for a smell resembling "toilet cleaner" but the taste did improve the rating; not too sweet, inoffensive. Seemed a bit dry and not refreshing enough for a sport drink. A fizzy version was suggested as an improvement. | Off to a good start with a promising smell but couldn't deliver with the flavour. Too sour and weak for the team. Although, some felt it was mild enough that they could manage enough of a portion to be refreshed. |
| Calories (kcal) per 500ml portion | 135kcal | 148kcal | 125kcal |
| Carbs per 500ml portion | 32.5g | 35.0g | 30.0g |
| Fat per 500ml portion | trace | 0g | 0g |
| Sodium per 500ml portion | 0.3g | trace | trace |
| Protein per 500ml portion | 0g | trace | trace |
| Fibre per 500ml portion | trace | 0g | trace |
| Product | Lucozade Hydro Active Citrus Fruits | Lucozade Sport Lemon | Powerade Gold Medal Lemon & Grapefruit |
|---|---|---|---|
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 |
 |
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| Ranking | |
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| Summary | Aimed at 'improving water', particularly the taste, most of our team would prefer nature's alternative; describing it as "powdery" and like a "dissolved tablet". At roughly a third of the calories and carbs, and no worse for flavour, some may just give this the edge over the Sport version. | We assume all the publicised research has gone into osmosis and electrolytes instead of trying for something people will want to drink. Sugary, "like weak sherbet" and too sweet for a few testers while others described it as powdery and non-descript although not as offensive as some. | And coming in last, the ironically named Gold Medal flavour. Quite a bold smell; some compared to a fabric freshener spray. Although not as bad, the taste seemed tired and weak. The most athletic comment being "tasting of swimming pools". |
| Calories (kcal) per 500ml portion | 50kcal | 140kcal | 120kcal |
| Carbs per 500ml portion | 10.0g | 32.0g | 30.0g |
| Fat per 500ml portion | 0g | 0g | 0g |
| Sodium per 500ml portion | 0.18g | 0.25g | 0.25g |
| Protein per 500ml portion | trace | trace | 0g |
| Fibre per 500ml portion | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Conclusion
As we have mentioned, this was a taste test not an exercise rehydration test and, fortunately, these drinks are not marketed purely on flavour. In terms of palatability the Tesco and Asda own brands go a lot further than the dedicated sport drink companies. In general, with some curious smells and flavours running around the team were disappointed with these performances.
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