Once you have found an energy drink which works well for you, it is advisable to stick with it. Sometimes, I will test others, like recently Science in Sport. Variety is good too. But, I have always enjoyed the neutral flavour High 5 Energy Drinks. My favourite drink is water, which explains why I prefer neutral, but, it does come in other flavours such as citrus and summer fruits.
High 5 4:1
The basic High 5 Energy drink is based on maximising carbohydrate intake. However, I was also interested by the 4:1 version which is 4 parts carbohydrate to 1 part whey protein. The theory is that muscle fatigue is caused by depletion of carbohydrate. However, carbohydrate ingested with some protein helps boost insulin and thus more carbohydrate can be absorbed than if it was just carbohydrate. According to High 5 the time to fatigue can be delayed by 29% when compared to a carbohydrate only drink and 57% when compared with water. With protein in the mix, muscles don’t use protein as an energy source.
With both carbohydrate and protein it is a little more expensive, but it is still good value at £20 for a 1.6KG tub. That is 40* 500ml servings so works out at 50p per serving. Good Value! High 5 4:1 Energy Drink at Wiggle
I found it light on stomach and easily digestible.
I must say I agree with you Tejvan that 4:1 is a very good drink. Ive used it lots of times in preference to PSP22 and SIS Go electrolyte. I tended to get cramps with Go but found 4:1 better tasting and with no cramps at all.
For a very cheap, DIY isotonic drink, I like to use half fruit juice to water (or green tea left to cool, if you want more flavour/caffeine), then add a pinch of salt for every 500ml. Low salt is better; it contains potassium chloride as well as sodium chloride. You can vary the proportions of fruit juice to water to make a hypertonic or hypotonic drink instead. You could also use squash (make sure it isn’t sugar free) instead.