Osmo impressed our testers with its subtle and easily palatable flavours

DURING the warmer summer months we've been reaching for tubs of Osmo Active Hydration to mix into our bidons. Active Hydration is the Californian company's 'During-Exercise' powdered drink mix and we've been using the orange and blackberry flavours that come in 400g tubs.

Whilst some 'energy drinks' can have either a too sweet or an unnatural taste, or sometimes both, where Osmo impressed our testers was with its subtle and easily palatable flavours. There's a pleasant hint of orange (and of blackberry), but the taste is not overpowering as can sometimes be the case. It's a hydration drink though with only a small carbohydrate content (3.6g per 100ml). On longer rides you may need to supplement the drink with food which you are almost certainly likely to do already anyway regardless of what fluid you are drinking.

Osmo is very 'easy' to drink and we suffered no untoward effects using the product during training and racing or indeed after exercise. The powder tended to settle at the bottom of the bidon so a bit of a shake was usually required.

All natural ingredients

There are added vitamins and minerals in the mix, but these are all natural ingredients and no artificial sweetener is used. We found it very easy on the metabolism and a nice change from the stronger flavoured products.

The handy sized 400g tubs contain 20 servings for standard 500ml bidon and the small tubs make the plastic serving spoon easy to find! The suggested 20g servings provide 72kcal of energy (18g of which is carbohydrate).

Some cyclists underestimate the need for proper hydration during the winter months, but there is no reason to stop using Osmo through the cyclocross season – stay hydrated.

The Osmo range has been developed by exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist Doctor Stacy Sims, a co-founder of the company, and there is a decade of research behind the products.

Look out for our future reviews of the Osmo Preload Hydration and Acute Recovery drink mixes. Osmo have a different range for men and women and the Active Hydration is available for both.

Ingredients: Active Orange: Sucrose, D-Glucose, OsmoAct™ Beverage Base Blend (Sucrose, D-Glucose, Trisodium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Citrate, Calcium Citrate), Trisodium Citrate, Organic Orange Powder, Citric Acid, Calcium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Inositol Hexanicotinate (Niacin), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12). Active Blackberry: Sucrose, D-Glucose, OsmoAct™ Beverage Base Blend (Sucrose, D-Glucose, Trisodium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Citrate, Calcium Citrate), Trisodium Citrate, Organic Blackberry Powder, Citric Acid, Calcium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Inositol Hexanicotinate (Niacin), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

Company website: osmonutrition.co.uk

UK distributor: 2pure.