TESTED: Skratch Labs Crispy Rice Cakes and High-Carb Sports Drink
Skratch Labs are known for their popular drink mix, but they have a couple of recent additions that you should probably take a look at.
The folks at Skratch, led by Dr Allen Lim, are known for having turned cycling nutrition on its head a decade or so ago when they introduced real food alternatives and – wait for it – rice (!) to the deeply traditional road racing scene. Over the years, the business has proved it has incredible staying power in the fickle and flooded sports nutrition market, with appeal across all kinds of endurance activities – and that of course includes mountain biking.
TESTED: Skratch Hydration mix, chews and bars
Skratch Labs have remained true to their gut-friendly, top-quality values and create products that are gluten and dairy free, as well as free from nasties like artificial flavourings, weird numbers and letters, and ‘foods’ that flat-out shouldn’t exist (I’m looking at you, high-fructose corn syrup).
Skratch Labs Crispy Rice Cakes
Salted Maple & Mallow | from $6.20
Also available in Chocolate & Mallow and Strawberry & Mallow flavours, crispy rice cakes are made with a blend of brown, red, and wild rice plus quinoa, marshmallow. The maple flavour we tested are finished with real maple syrup, and this absolutely went down a treat with everyone who sampled them.
The bars are perfect pocket size, super crispy and light, easy to chew and digest, and have a lovely lingering maple flavour without the sock-breath aftertaste of so many processed sports bars out there. They’re easy enough to eat on the go, and I have to admit taking them on a couple of long hikes and enjoying them trailside with a thermos full of tea – just to make the whole experience last a bit longer. Like just about any food on the planet, these are a little hard to get down when you’re riding super hard or racing, so if you’ve pinning a number on, for God’s sake don’t waste a Crispy Rice Cake, keep them as a sweet reward on those long training days, or for a cromchy escape between runs.
Hits
– Moreish, lingering maple flavour
– Natural ingredients
– Light and crunchy
Misses
– One was never enough!
– These are on the expensive side so ideal for a special/motivational indulgence
Skratch Labs Super High-Carb Sport Drink Mix
Lemon & Lime | from $88.95 (840g)/$8.95 (53g)
If you just read the above and relate to not being able to chew when you’re racing or riding hard, you need to know about the growing trend for all-liquid or more-liquid nutrition.
Like all their other products, Skratch have taken a red pen to the ingredients list of their version of super-carb-rich sports drink, starting with a trademarked molecule called ‘Cluster Dextrin’ and finishing with sensitively balanced natural favours (in this case, lemon oil and lime oil). Cluster Dextrin is said to pack a bunch more glucose molecules into its structure, dissolve readily, and release these steadily into your bloodstream over time.
Like Skratch’s popular Sport Hydration Mix, this product has sufficiently high sodium to aid gastrointestinal emptying and tastes great. If you’re planning on using it in a competitive event, though, I’d recommend testing it out first, just to make sure your stomach is into it.
The sachets we tested were perfectly pocket-sized and handy for a couple of long adventure days on the bike, but a 53g serve only mixed up to about 300ml. To avoid stuffing your pockets with sachets, I’d recommend buying a bag and pre-mixing. Fill your pockets with food and spares.
Hits
– Amazingly gut-friendly
– All-day energy without the hassle of chewing
– Dissolves relatively quickly
Miss
– A large bidon needs about 125g of powder – you’ll get through a packet fast
Skratch is available online via these retailers.
