Homeade Gatorade

[Major Nikon]

I've been playing around with different Gatorade recipes and this one is the best I've found. I've been using the Kool-Aid packets, but they recommend Wylers. As soon as I find a local source for Wylers I'll try that instead, but it's quite good with the Kool-Aid packets. According to the recipe author the sugar content is 11.9g per 8oz serving. By my calculation it's closer to 17.5g. Commercial Gatorade has 14g sugar per 8oz serving. Commercial sodas typically have about 27g per 8oz serving. You can certainly try using artificial sweeteners as well. I'm going to be playing around with the recipe, so if I figure out something that works better I'll post it.

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) envelope unsweetened flavored drink mix ( enough for 2 quarts)
1/2 teaspoon table salt ( sodium chloride)
1/4 teaspoon salt substitute ( potassium chloride; eg. Morton Salt Substitute)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup granular fructose ( can substitute 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs. corn syrup)
1/2 teaspoon citric acid ( can substitute 2 tbs. lemon juice)
water, to make 2 quarts

Directions

Place all ingredients in a large pitcher or jug and stir or shake until well mixed.
Chill and keep refrigerated until used.
Note: Adjust sweetness to taste by adding (or in rare cases reducing) a little sugar since drink mixes can vary.

http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=93652

[Major Nikon]

1. Update

I started playing around with this recipe and I came up with a solution that tastes so much like Gatorade, neither my wife or I could tell the difference.

Ingredients:

1 (1/4 ounce) envelope unsweetened flavored drink mix ( enough for 2 quarts)
1/2 teaspoon table salt ( sodium chloride)
1/4 teaspoon salt substitute ( potassium chloride; eg. Morton Salt Substitute)
112g table sugar (1 cup plus 1 tbs)
56g dextrose (1/3rd cup)
water, to make 2 quarts

The powdered Gatorade label lists 21g of sugar per 8oz serving which works out to be 168g of sugar per 2 qt. Total sugar in this recipe is the same. Dextrose is a bit hard to find, but any homebrew store should carry it and you can buy it online. You can certainly substitute other sugars for dextrose like just more table sugar, but you won't wind up with something that tastes more like Gatorade.

This time I used Kool-aid tropical punch, which tastes exactly like Gatorade fruit punch.

The packet of Kool-aid already contains citric acid and when I checked the Ph of my recipe it was 2.8. Gatorade made from the powdered mix had a Ph of 3.5. The Ph of the water from my municipal supply is quite high, so I suspect commercial Gatorade that's pre-mixed probably has a Ph that's closer to 2.8. At any rate I determined I didn't need to add any citric acid to the recipe. You can certainly add more citric acid, ascorbic acid, or lemon juice to make it more tart if you like.

As far as cost goes, I figure it costs $0.70 for each 2qt. This is based on getting Dextrose for $2.51 per lb, Kool-Aid drink packets for $0.25 ea, and sugar at $0.13 per 2qt. If you buy the largest size Gatorade powder, it works out to be almost exactly the same price. Pre-mixed Gatorade is at least twice as expensive. So there is no real cost advantage over buying Gatorade powder, however I've only been able to find Gatorade powder in two different flavors. So the advantage is the variety of flavors you get, which is only limited by the varieties of flavored drink mix packets you can find. You also get the advantage of being able to vary the amount of sugar or use a sugar substitute for part or all of the listed sugars. I tried the same recipe using half the listed sugars and it tastes just fine to me, but naturally it's not as sweet as Gatorade.

[Aerows]

2. Neat Idea, Major Nikon

I like gatorade, but I don't like the overpowering sweetness. Being able to cut back on the amount of sugar in it to taste is a welcome solution!

[Major Nikon]

3. I make it with half the sugar

So I'm using 56g of table sugar and 28g of powdered dextrose(glucose). It still tastes good and I prefer it to regular Gatorade.