OTE Energy Drink

OTE Energy Drink comes in convenient sachets, tastes good and, we found, doesn't upset your stomach during hard efforts.

OTE is the new kid on the somewhat busy, nutrition block. A break away for one of the founders of SiS, the pitch is a natural stance, with an emphasis on function and new thinking in sports nutrition.

We're testing the the blackcurrant energy powder here, packaged in single serving (43g) sachets. A neat and tidy design, it's a different branding style than the rest of the market, which on talking with sporting outsiders can often appear very industrial and intimidating. The sachet features two tear points: a small opening and a large one, for different bottle neck sizes - to help avoid sticky power going where you don't want it.

Each sachet provides 40g of carbohydrates, which OTE recommend sipping on for 45-60min of exercise. Stemming from the generally accepted 60g/hour, OTE have designed their range to provide carbohydrates in multiples of 20g, so that they can be combined throughout an hour to achieve your recommended carbohydrate intake. One sachet mixed with 500ml which fill two of their servings. If you're pushing hard or racing you might complement the bottle with a gel.

The bulk of my testing of the OTE Energy Drink was during a 12-hour mountain bike event. Racing with a team of four, I took it out in my bottle each lap - roughly 45min. Doing lots of broken up interval sessions like this over a long period is a real test of the stomach and can often be the limiting factor. I took to the OTE well, probably because of the other selling point being that it is pH natural. Acid build up from lots of sugar will often put you off eating and drinking enough in such an event but I had no such problem here.

Equally the taste helps make OTE much more drinkable. With natural flavouring and maltodextrin and fructose as carbohydrate sources, it's a very clean blackcurrant flavour, with no sickly sweetness to it. Rather, there is a noticeably salty edge to it, which makes it almost savoury off the bike, similar to the ZipVit range. The added sodium taste is due to the 'balanced electrolytes', which should help hydration. As taste changes during exercise, sweetness tends to trump the salty taste making the OTE very pleasant indeed.

Conclusion

I was interested to try OTE after popping up on the radar with a very swish design and lots of talk. The energy drink passed one of the hardest tests to past, repeated race efforts with no ill effects and I would definitely choose to use it again. I can confidently recommend the powder to those that have had a hard time finding a energy drink that doesn't taste like a corner shop soft drink or have had issues digesting other drinks. At £1.25 a serving, it is about what I'd expect to pay for a single serving. There is a bulk option but it offers no discounted price; perhaps this will come down the line.

Verdict

An excellent energy drink. The almost-savoury taste is pleasant, the packaging's convenient and the balanced pH stops acid build-up.