We caught up with the folks at Skratch Labs at Sea Otter 2015 while their booth was absolutely slammed with people. Riders on their way to the starting line, dusty from the walk down the dirt roads, filled their bottles from multi-gallon buckets of drink mix. Casual cyclists bought bags of cookie mix (hey, these will make you quickly lose faith in your mother’s recipe), but mostly people swooped by and scooped up handfulls of the single serve drink mixes that the Skratch folks were constantly tossing onto the counter. Yes, this was THE booth at Sea Otter. While I may or may not have, but definitely did, end up with a few drink pouches in my bag, the real scoop from Skratch was their new Fruit Drops.
Taking into consideration that many of use don’t always have the time to make our own on-bike food from scratch (or, in my case, are just too busy sittin’ around and stuff) Skratch has released their own version of the energy chew that’s easy on the stomach and generally different from others on the market these days. This one, in the fashion of an old gum drop, eschews (see what I did there?) the artificial things like carnuba wax. Instead of a wax coating, these drops are covered in a sour combo of apple acid and crystalized sugar that keeps them from sticking together while a little extra water makes them super soft. Instead of all those numbered colors and fakish flavorings, Skratch uses real fruit combos and sugars to give you a good carb boost. Also key is the addition of sea salt for those of us who lose salt when we sweat–plus, the sodium and glucose should aid in water absorption.
Each pouch holds 10 drops with 160 calories and 40 grams of carbohydrates to keep you moving. But pay close attention to the usage instructions that Skratch recommends–don’t overload your body with too many drops plus their drink mix–spacing out your consumption of these is a must.
At $24.50 per box of ten, these pouches might be a bit on the expensive side, but definitely worth a try based on the standards that other Skratch products live up to. To get some Fruit Drops for yourself, head over to Skratch Labs’ website or visit your local bike shop.
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