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Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gel
Test Series By Erin Foudy
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Initial
Report - January 21,
2013
Tester Info:
Name: Erin Foudy
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Height: 5'11'' (1.8 m)
Weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
Email address: erinfoudyATyahooDOTcom
City, State, Country: Tucson, Arizona, USA |
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Backpacking Background:
I started backpacking while working for the National Park Service ten
years ago. I have been a backcountry ranger/law enforcement ranger and
served on search and rescue crews. I typically take two or more
camping trips a month, year round. I appreciate light weight, but am
not obsessed by it. I often carry a 30 lb (14 kg) pack and stay out
from three to nine days at a time. I also enjoy day trips with only
water on my back. I take trips to Colorado and Montana in the
summertime and enjoy the outdoors there as well. |
Product Information and Specifications:
| Manufacturer: | Honey Stinger |
| Product Name: | Organic Energy Gel |
| URL: | http://www.honeystinger.com |
| MSRP: | $1.35 US Single Pack |
| $32.40 US Box of 24 |
| $233.28 US 8 Box Case |
| Listed Weight: | 1oz (32g) |
| Measured Weight: | 1.2oz (34g) in wrapper |
| Flavors Offered: | Vanilla, Fruit Smoothie, Acai & Pomegranate |
| Flavors Tested: | Vanilla, Fruit Smoothie, Acai & Pomegranate |
| Year Manufactured: | 2012 |
| Best Buy Date: | February 2014 as marked on wrapper |
Product Description:
The Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gel is a carbohydrate gel that comes
in a single-serve plastic packet. To consume the gel, the top of
the plastic packet is ripped off where it is perforated and the gel is
squeezed out of the top. Energy gels like Honey Stinger Organic
Energy Gel are most often marketed to provide energy for endurance
sports such as running, cycling, and triathlons. Honey Stinger
offers their organic energy gels in three flavors, Vanilla, Fruit
Smoothie and Acai-Pomegranate. The gels are made with USDA
certified Organic ingredients such as organic tapioca syrup, organic
honey and electrolytes.
Initial Impressions:
I have never tried an energy gel before and I will be honest, I have never
really had a desire to try an energy gel as it just didn't sound very
appetizing. I like the idea of a light and fast energy source
while in the backcountry as every pound adds up, and it certainly is
nice to be able to easily eat something while on the go. The
Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gels look like they could easily fit in
the pockets on the hip belt of my day pack and my backpacking
backpack. These gels definitely work for convenience.
However, on my first try of the Honey Stinger Organic Gel I was not so
impressed with the taste. I tried the Vanilla flavor, the
consistency of the gel was much thinner than I had expected, it tasted
like a very sweet and thin consistency vanilla pudding. The
flavor of honey was also very apparent. After trying a couple of
large squeezes of the Vanilla from the packaging I just felt like I
couldn't eat any more. I remembered that the Honey Stinger
website stated that the Classic Energy Gels could be consumed in
different ways aside from just straight from the packet. The
classic gels according to Honey Stinger can also be spread on toast,
combined with tea, or stirred into water to make an energy drink.
I figured that maybe the Organic Gels could also be tried in these
different ways. With what I had left of the Vanilla, which was a
good amount, I toasted some bread and spread a large amount of gel on
the toast. It looked in consistency and color much like honey
except maybe a bit thinner. I completely covered my toast and
tried it out. It wasn't bad, not great, but a bit more palatable
in my opinion. Unfortunately, I was holding my toast in such a
way that the gel actually ran off of the toast and down my hand. As I
said, the gel is thin. I wound up with a very sticky hand and
table. Even after trying the gel straight from the packet, and on
toast, I still had about a third of the packet left. I decided to
try mixing it with approximately a cup (.24 liters) of water. The Honey
Stinger website doesn't give any suggested mixing ratios for consuming
the gel in this way. With the gel easily squeezed from the packet
into the water, the water turned a light golden color, once stirred the
water looked more cloudy but seemed to dissolve easy enough. The
flavor was what I would expect, a watered down vanilla flavor but
still very sweet. I drank about half of the water/gel mixture and
then poured the rest out. My first experience with the
Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gel was not the best. I look forward to
trying the gel out in the field while hiking to see if my body's need
for carbohydrates and energy will improve the overall experience and
taste.
Summary:
The Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gel is a carbohydrate gel used during
exercise to maintain energy. So far, I have only tried the
Vanilla flavor and found it to be very sweet, of thin consistency, and
hard to consume. Inside one of the single serving plastic packets
is 1oz (32g) of gel which turned out, for me, to be a lot to finish.
Pros:
1. Easy way to consume carbohydrates while exercising or hiking.
2. Small package is easy to carry and light weight.
Cons:
1. I didn't really like the Vanilla flavor or consistency.
2. The gel is very thin and easily pours out, easy to make a mess.
This concludes my Initial Report. Please check back in a few
months for my Long-Term Report. Many thanks to Honey Stinger and
BackpackGearTest.org for allowing me to participate in this test.
Read more gear reviews by Erin Foudy
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