Review: Skratch Labs Recovery Sport Drink Mix

When the Skratch Labs Recovery Sport Drink Mix came into the office, we knew just the person to test it out. One of our testers loves chocolate milk. Like, LOVES chocolate milk. It’s the first thing grabbed after a hot ride. How would it go if we asked our chocolate milk lover to swap out Skratch Labs Recovery Sport Drink Mix? Let’s find out.

I love chocolate milk. To the ire of my friends and neighbors, I savor the silky smooth chocolate milk sold at the local dairy farm. You must understand this is no ordinary chocolate milk. I mean, whole milk and Hershey’s is fine, but the Penn View Farm slings a solid choco-milk. I tell everyone it’s essentially melted ice cream. What sets it apart are two possibilities: it’s more than just whole milk, and the farm uses a malt chocolate mix instead of syrup. Any time of year, any weather, every post-ride glass is coated with remnants of the stuff. People would have to pry the glass milk jug from my hand. 

Which is what happened when I was asked to replace my post ride chocolate milk sludge with a Skratch Labs powder and water. I swore this was doomed from the start and took to the instructions. Two scoops into a bottle. Add water. Shake, don’t stir or use a metal ball. This all seemed odd. I should also add that it was Strawberries and Cream, not exactly the same flavor I was asked to replace, but I digress.

I must admit there are slight drawbacks to chocolate milk consumption. While it’s a good recovery drink, Skratch Labs states it’s lacking in certain areas. Personally, I feel like I inhaled a cement-soaked sponge and transferred it to my stomach for a few hours. Those few moments of bliss often get overshadowed by the sudden lack of consuming real food for a while. This would be one thing I hoped Skratch could eliminate.

Another drawback is my heavy reliance on milk to do the job of post-ride refueling. As I age, rides take more out of me. Skipping post ride meals has a longer effect. It could lead to sleeplessness and next-day exhaustion from both factors. If milk bloats me for even an hour post-ride, the window to refuel closes before a bite is taken. Chocolate milk from the local dairy cannot be the only recovery option.

If I wanted to test the Recovery Sports Drink Mix in the deepest of ways, I would especially scrutinize it after a long event. Enter the 2024 Tour of the Catskills where the sun beat me down and a massive finishing climb frayed the muscles. I had packed two scoops of Skratch Labs Recovery Sport Drink Mix in a plastic bag. It was stored for ease of access. Knowing I would be cooked at the finish, I wanted to combine water and the powder in a bottle and see how I felt for the rest of the day as well as the following day. Happily the finish line had cold bottled water while I took care of the rest. Upend the powder into a bike bottle, pour water over top of the powder, lid on and shake (not stir or metal ball). 

Per Skratch Labs’ site, the numbers are geared toward athlete recovery. With a 4:1 carb-protein ratio, the combination of both speed recovery time. The electrolytes featured in the Recovery Sport Drink Mix matches what an athlete has lost during the workout. Per Skratch Labs’ claims, the Recovery Sport Drink Mix is easily digestible to avoid GI issues. Further, Skratch Labs list natural ingredients including cane sugar, whole and nonfat milk, strawberry juice powder, dextrose, vanilla extract, lactase, salt, citric acid, and probiotics. Skratch informs users the Recovery Sport Drink Mix uses probiotic BC30 which is capable of replenishing muscles faster than common yogurt probiotics.

Some of this information rattled around my spent brain post Tour of the Catskills while I guzzled the Strawberries and Cream Recovery Sport Drink Mix at a rate mimicking chocolate milk consumption. That should be the first hint that things were going well. Meanwhile, I was sat in my car, windows down, and the air conditioning was running on high. I was not entirely with the moment. Yet there I was feeling my grip toward reality return. Years prior, I would have chugged a can of cola or coffee, grabbed a celebratory beer, and hoofed it home without any further recovery. This recovery drink gave me pause. The flavor profile kept me coming back for more. It was remarkable how two scoops of powder and a bottle of water combined to make a delicious shake.

I want to fast forward a bit to the hours after the ride. After finishing the shake, and before I left town I wound up eating at a local restaurant. I could taste each grain of salt, I was so spent. I fired off a selfie of me holding an absurdly-sized lollipop to the Missus. She remarked that I looked pretty good for someone who just rode seventy miles. Coincidence, I’m sure. The long car ride, while uncomfortable, was without the random debilitating muscle cramps. I continued to consume water during the car ride. Across the night and into the next day, I felt less beat up than in previous years. Naturally there are other variables, but I can’t help think my attention to recovery had a hand in this feeling.

For post-ride chores, the first thing I have done ever since is set up a Skratch Labs Recovery Sport Drink after a ride. It doesn’t matter the distance. The important points are that the mix got me excited to continue consuming and that the strawberries and cream flavor tastes great. Since the mix is formulated to carry me to my next meal, I no longer fight bloat to force food down. I have reentered the window of recovery with real food because of Skratch Labs mix. 

I love chocolate milk. I still do. I continue to shop at the dairy farm where I get my glass deposit bottle full of brown silk. Only now instead of daring people to pry it out of my hands, I simply keep it in the fridge as I shake up another round of recovery. The mix may not have solved everything for me after a hard ride, but it has sent me on the path back to recovery with real food. I did not see that coming.