Taste Test - Carb BOOM! and Honey Stinger Gels

Even though lately I've gravitated towards eating sandwiches, bananas, and even the occasional breakfast biscuit on the bike, gels often supply some of my fueling needs as well. I've decided to make an ongoing series of gel taste tests, and since this is the first installment I'd like to point out what I've found to be a few of the pros and cons of gels when it comes to eating on the bike.

Pros:

• Gels are easy to carry - I generally pack at least two for any ride of two hours or more and often add another if I'm going to be riding with others (to offer to someone else who may have forgotten or need extra food) and I never notice they're in my pocket
• Gels are easy to eat - for the most part eating a gel takes less than 30 seconds, just rip open, squeeze, swallow, put the wrapper back in your pocket (don't litter), wash it down with a little water and you're done
• Gels generally sit well in your stomach - one of the best things about gels is that you can get a carb and electrolyte hit without making your stomach do too much work, which is important during medium and high intensity activity
• Gel wrappers can make an emergency tire boot - I actually saw a friend's gel wrapper "patch" that stood up to over 50 miles of pretty tough mountain biking

Cons

• Gels a relatively pricey - most run about $1.50 or more per gel - compare that to a banana or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Gels don't give you a "full" feeling - while this is a good thing during an intense workout, during lower intensity activity they do little to satisfy hunger
• Gels can get boring - I don't care how many flavors you have, eventually you'll get bored of the same texture over and over

Once you've figured out when gels do and don't work for you, the question remains: which are the best and tastiest gels around? This is where I, your intrepid reporter, have subjected and will continue to subject my taste buds and digestive tract to various energy gel offerings in the hopes of enlightening the masses. In order to keep things as controlled as possible I consumed these on low-moderate intensity training rides of 2 hours or longer. I've rated each on one a 1-5 scale on taste (1 being "I had to spit it out" and 5 being "I'm going to eat this for breakfast everyday) and "stomachability (1 being "This product gave me gastrointestinal distress" and 5 being "I had no issues whatsoever").

First up is the Carb BOOM! energy gel. Carb BOOM! gels differ from most in that aside from having an awesome name, they contain no artificial flavor, sweetener, or color (not sure why you'd color a gel, if you can see it, you're doing it wrong). The primary carbohydrate source in Carb BOOM! gels is maltodextrin, which I've been told by folks who know way more about that stuff than I do is one of the better carb sources to have.

• Strawberry-Kiwi: I expected this to be my favorite of the Carb BOOM! gels because my favorite gel flavor is PowerBar's Strawberry Banana. I suppose, however, that strawberry and kiwi flavors in their natural state are actually a lot milder than my Americanized taste buds have come to expect, and what I ate tasted to me more like an unripe banana with berry and kiwi overtones. Perhaps the maltodextrin flavor just overpowers this combo, but I would not purchase this gel again. Taste: 1.5, Stomachability: 4.5
• Vanilla-Orange: I didn't know what to expect out of this one but after the Strawberry-Kiwi had some trepidation about trying it. I was pleased to find that although this flavor still had some of that weird maltodextrin taste the orange masked it well without being overpowering. I didn't notice a lot of vanilla flavor, although I do think that hints of it helped take the "edge" off the orange. Taste: 2.5, Stomachability: 5
• Apple-Cinnamon: I bought this flavor as a deviation from my usual routine, and as a rule I don't eat apply-cinnamony things. However, this ended up being my favorite of the Carb BOOM! gels, if for no other reason than it tasted exactly like what I would imagine apples and cinnamon to taste like. Of the three flavors I thought this one was the richest without any of the maltodextrin taste that the others had. Plus with this test happening in December I felt it brought a little holiday flavor to my ride. Taste: 4, Stomachability: 5

I would like to point out that while I didn't always like the flavors, the Carb BOOM! gels always sat well on my stomach. Their product is available in 8 other flavors as well and I will probably feature some of those in an upcoming test.

Next up we have three offerings from Honey Stinger, a Colorado-based outfit that sets itself apart by making nutrition products containing mostly, you guessed it, honey. You can read more about the claimed benefits of using honey as a natural sweetener on their website. The gels also contain maltodextrin as a carb source and a variety of electrolytes. One important note - since they do contain honey, most Honey Stinger products should not be fed to infants under one year of age. Your budding athlete will have to get his/her nutrition elsewhere until their first birthday.

• Chocolate: I admit I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate, however, even on a slightly chilly, moderate ride this flavor was a bit much for me. The common thread of the three Honey Stinger gels I tried is a syrupy sweetness (which I suppose one would expect from honey) and paired with cocoa it's just a bit much. This particular gel was also fairly thick and I had to resort to folding the packet in half and using my teeth to remove its contents. However, it does deliver exactly what one would expect from honey mixed with chocolate. Taste: 3, Stomachability: 2
• Ginsting: At first I thought this gel might possibly be some sort of piney, gin-flavored gel but was disappointed to learn that it's really just honey, ginseng, and some other crap that you will just gloss over when you read the label. As expected there was a predominant syrupy sweetness from the honey as well as a little bit of spice. Not bad, but still a little overwhelming in the sweetness department. Taste: 3.5, Stomachability: 2
• Gold: As far as I can tell "Gold" flavor just means honey. I thought this gel might contain actual gold flakes (like Goldschlager), however a quick scan of the ingredients reveals no metals whatsoever. It's just as well, Honey Stinger would get crap for including gold anyway because it's obvious that titanium is a much more appropriate choice, followed by 6061 shot-peened aluminum. To be honest, I'd have difficulty distinguishing between "Gold" and "Ginsting" because the flavors are very similar. It seems honey tends to overwhelm whatever you pair it with. Taste: 3.5, Stomachability: 2

I thought I felt a bit of uneasiness in my stomach after I first ingested each of the Honey Stinger gels, however after a few minutes the feeling always passed. Still, I can't help believe that during an intense event these gels would not sit well at all. The other issue I had with the Honey Stinger is the packaging: by combining a thick consistency gel with a relatively thick package they've produced a product which is more difficult to consume on the bike than its competition. Twice I cut the sides of my mouth with the sharp edge of the package whilst trying to extract the contents. And that, dear reader, will make for an unpleasant ride.