Plop, Plop, Chug, Chug
Portable relief for athletic thirst

By Michael Kessler

"I can't reveal my secret," whispers Fred Marius, proud creator of Psycho Fred's Quic Disc, the first tablet that dissolves in water to create an energy drink. "I don't have a patent yet." Paranoid, perhaps, but also understandable, given that Marius spent three years working on his breakthrough. He's devised a way to stamp tablets without the foul-tasting coating (think Alka-Seltzer) typically used to keep ingredients from melting on the white-hot manufacturing presses. Now, with tablets tucked in your pack instead of a gummy baggie full of unmeasured powder, you can whip up your own energy drink far afield ù so long as you can lay your hands on 16 ounces of potable water. And rest assured: The contents do the trick. Each 75-cent package (800-882-9445) creates a grape-flavored boost of carbohydrates, sodium, and potassium. "It's the ideal mixture if you're exercising for more than two hours and don't want to bonk," says Andrew Coggan, an exercise physiologist who's done seminal research on the subject. "The point of a sports drink is carbos with convenience, and this is as convenient as it gets."