I am sure this works well as electrolytes, but it really doesn't taste very good. I got all three - orange, lime, and lemon-lime, at least I think that's what the 3 options were. Regardless of the names they really don't taste like much. The orange tasted kinda like soap. The lime one is better, but not great.
If all you want is electrolytes and with a tiny squeeze of real fruit flavor that you need 2+ scoops to even recognize, then that's what this is. It's just not very satisfying to drink.
It's great for high intensity efforts when you can't spare your hands to open packaging and don't want to chew. It really pulls its weight on long days too - I've used it for intense 8 hour hikes and full days of backpacking with just Skratch and a little bit of protein thrown in and felt great afterwards (nutrition-wise at least lol).
The lemon lime flavor is not overly sweet - the light citrus flavor is perfect for preventing palate fatigue. I've used it for years now and while I gradually develop aversions to protein powders, snack bars, favorite pizzas, etc over time, I still love this.
Caveats: the stronger you mix it, the harder it will be to dissolve. I generally mix it in a blender bottle at home and then pour it into the flask or bottle that I'm going to use during my activity. It tends to form powdery pockets or goobers that are hard to dissolve if you try to mix it in a water bottle or something with a nozzle/recess at the top. It will make your bottles smell forever like lime, so I have a couple of dedicated bottles that I only use for skratch.
I have used Scratch Labs products for years, especially since I got back into cycling. Even as a diabetic, I need to have their chews available, as well as, gels, and other sources of energy nutrition. I also am a big user of their hydration products for both the sodium/potassium and carb mix. The combination of all these are necessary to sustain a two hour plus effort in the saddle, especially when coupled with high intensity interval training. You can rely on these sources to fuel your ride, whether hard or easy!
Most of us should avoid the hype of recovery foods/drinks if only doing moderate effort activities and duration up to 90 minutes. It's those harder/longer efforts where all the science behind these recovery products kicks in and they actually deliver benefits, not just calories. I've rotated through a few similar products to this over the years for post-ride recovery any time I'm out 2 hours or more, and tend to keep coming back to this brand/flavor. Tastes great and does the job--I sleep better, bounce back a bit more quickly.
