Home made Isotonic Drink

Isotonic drinks rapidly hydrate your body and provide readily available energy. Here, the orange juice provides energy in the
form of carbohydrates, and increases the concentration of the water for speedy absorption, aided by the salt. It’s not as scientifically balanced as a shop-bought brand but, hey, you’re climbing a hill not running an Olympic marathon. It’s really useful for when you can’t refuel regularly.
Try it Pour 500ml unsweetened orange juice into your bottle, top up to
1 litre with water and add a pinch of salt. Shake well.

Ginger & Lime Cordial

On a sizzling hot day, this cordial has powers to reach the parts plain water can’t hope to satisfy. Read the recipe and it sounds like it’s going to be mighty gingery, but trust us on its subtle taste – you’ll like this even if you’re not that keen on ginger.

Try it Roughly slice 75g fresh ginger (that’s about one root), skin and all, and put into a small saucepan with 100g caster sugar and 250ml cold water. Cut 1 lime in half and throw that into the pan too. Keep stirring as you bring it to the boil, then boil for 4-5 minutes. Strain through a sieve and leave to cool. This makes 250ml of cordial: dilute to around 1 part cordial to 6 to 8 parts water. To store any excess cordial, freeze in an ice cube tray: then chuck a few cubes into your bottle of water whenever you fancy it.

Water

Your body is made up of approximately two-thirds water – so it’s not surprising that your performance on the hill drops off as soon as you stop drinking enough and become dehydrated. Take at least 2 litres with you onto the hill – more for long or strenuous routes or in hot weather – and make sure you drink it. And whichever other of these fancy fandoodle hill drinks you take with you, carry a bottle of plain water as well.

Try it If you’ve got a wide-mouthed water bottle or hydration system, try adding frozen wedges of lemon or lime – they’ll keep the water tasting cool and fresh throughout the day.

Home made lemonade

Don’t pretend you don’t indulge in one-upmanship! You can make this as is for a pass-the-bottle-around taste sensation, or dilute it for more serious hill hydration. Either way, it’s guaranteed to boost your hill cred.

Try it Scrub 2 lemons, chop them in half and juice them. Throw the juice, pulp and skins into a bowl. Now squeeze 50ml runny honey into a measuring jug. Top up to the 500ml mark with boiling water and stir to dissolve the honey. Pour into the bowl with the lemons and leave to cool. Strain through a sieve and taste it: you’ll probably need to dilute your lemonade slightly, depending on the strength and size of your lemons.

Fake Pink Champagne

Got a reason to celebrate on the summit? Then this is your poison! It’s remarkably easy to make, tastes remarkably good and looks, well, remarkable: for best effect, decant into plastic beakers at the trig point. And freezing the cranberry slush the night before means it’ll stay chilled for your big moment.

Try it The night before you need it, pour 300ml cranberry juice into a Tupperware container and stick it in the freezer. The following morning, mix the cranberry slush with 300ml lemonade and 400ml water. Job done!

Iced Lemon Tea

This takes no time at all to make, but it slips down a treat: if you’re guilty of not drinking enough on the hill, we wager you’ll be tempted to drink gallons of this. Oh, and for the pedants among you, it’s not really iced – but ‘lemon tea’ doesn’t sound so nice, right?

Try it Pour 1 litre of boiling water over 4 lemon herbal teabags. Leave for 5 minutes, then squeeze and remove the teabags and leave to cool.