Nothing quenches thirst on a hot summer day better than an ice-cold glass of sweet tea with lemon. Sure, you might disagree, but you’re wrong. Still, just because tea quenches your thirst doesn’t mean it’s good for hydration, which I learned painfully on a ride earlier this summer.

The new Skratch Labs Electrolyte Booster adds electrolytes to any drink, and you can dial in more or less depending on your needs. It’s marketed as “unflavored,” though that’s not to say you can’t taste it in your drink. I’ve been mixing some into my water bottles this summer, and here’s what I’ve learned.

A little goes a long way

Skratch recommends adding one half to one full scoop Electrolyte Booster per 12-16oz of liquid that you plan to drink during your ride. A standard-size water bottle is about 24oz, give or take, so a single scoop is a good starting point.

Skratch packs 400mg of sodium per scoop, which is a generous amount. Compare that to Gatorade, which has about 160mg of sodium per 12oz serving.

So how much sodium does an athlete need, anyway? Well, it depends on how much you sweat, and how much sodium you lose in your sweat. With the Skratch Electrolyte Booster powder, you can customize how much sodium you’re consuming based on your needs.

Pre-mixed sports drinks don’t allow this level of customization, though some have been adjusting their formulations recently to add more electrolytes per serving. Powerade, for example, says their sports drink now has 50% more electrolytes than Gatorade, with 240mg of sodium and 80mg of potassium per serving.

According to Skratch, “sodium makes up about 90% of the electrolytes lost in sweat.” Other minerals, like potassium, calcium, and magnesium, are also important for proper hydration. A scoop of Skratch Electrolyte Booster delivers 10%, 4%, and 2% of the recommended daily value of magnesium, calcium, and postassium, respectively. That’s a bit more calcium and magnesium than a Powerade has, though it’s less potassium.

How does it taste?

Skratch Electrolte Booster by itself tastes salty and a little tangy on your tongue. Mixing a scoop with plain water gives the water a mineral taste, though not a flavor per se.

On my first test run I went overboard and added two scoops to a large water bottle filled with diluted sweet tea. The saltiness was a bit much for me, though I managed to drink the whole bottle. Skratch notes that for “preloading or extreme conditions, up to 4 scoops is possible — but taste and tolerance vary.”

I also tried mixing a single scoop in a bottle filled with diluted Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade, and that tasted just right. Sort of like a natural, organic Gatorade.

Skratch Electrolyte Booster contains sodium citrate, citric acid, potassium citrate, calcium citrate, magnesium carbonate, and ascorbic acid, and is made in the USA from imported and USA-sourced ingredients. It’s also non-GMO, gluten-free, kosher, and vegan.

Extreme conditions

Thirty-one miles into a long MTB ride last month, I was in bad shape. The temperature was only in the 80s, but the humidity was high, and I had been sweating hard all day long. My bottles were filled with plain sweet tea and lemon, and though I felt plenty hydrated, my legs began to give out. A quarter mile from a convenience store stop, a full-on cramp seized my right hamstring. It would be the first of many that I experienced that day, even hours after finishing my 50-mile ride.

I have to wonder if I had added Skratch Electrolyte Booster to my tea that morning, would I have experienced such awful leg cramps? I haven’t had any cramps since adding Skratch Electrolyte Booster to my bottle, so that’s a good sign.

Customize and personalize

Everyone fuels differently on the bike. Some prefer to take their calories in the form of food, others in bars and gels. I like to drink my calories.

Not only that, but everyone has different taste preferences. Some prefer pure, tasteless water, while others like a bit of flavor but zero sweetness. By separating sodium and electrolytes from carbs and flavors, athletes can truly create their own ideal hydration mix for every ride.

For now, Skratch Electrolyte Booster is only available in a 5.8oz container, which contains about 60 servings. That’s a lot of bottles-worth, though it comes at a price: $44.95 on the Skratch Labs website, or about $0.75 per scoop. That costs a bit less than a pre-mixed sports drink, but still more than some will choose to spend. However, for athletes and riders who want to dial in their hydration for biking, this is a good option that delivers exactly what you need.