Longhaul Prolonged Energy Release Food (6 x 120g pouches)

"Drop the sugar and perform better with real food," says the manufacturer of Longhaul Prolonged Energy Release Food. Longhaul is a savoury alternative to energy gels supplied in squeezy pouches that can slip into a jersey pocket. They provide between 170 and 200 calories of slow-release energy. They avoid sugar spikes and might be good on long events when your palate gets tired of sweet things. But do try them before a race, as the flavours are unusual and aren't going to be for everyone.

• Pros: Made with real food, give prolonged slow-release energy release
• Cons: Lots of plastic packaging, powerful flavours that won't appeal to everyone

There are lots of reasons to want to avoid sugary foods on a long ride. While squeezy energy gels are great for convenience and for making it easy to know how many calories you're consuming, some people want alternatives to traditional gels – perhaps because they prefer the idea of eating 'real' food, perhaps because they want to avoid the energy roller-coaster that can come with eating pure sugar, or perhaps because they just don't have a sweet tooth. It's also common to lose interest in sweet foods late in long endurance events. So there's definitely a whole load of reasons why you might want a savoury gel for performance cycling.

> Buy these online here

'Savoury gel' was clearly the design brief for Longhaul prolonged release energy food. Like a gel, it comes in a squeezy pouch that can slip into a jersey pocket easily. The 120g pouches are about twice the size of most gels, though, and between the pouch body, the lid and the inbuilt spout, that's quite a lot of single-use plastic being thrown away after each snack. The lid can be replaced on the packet when it's partially empty, which makes it possible to ration out the dose over time.

The ingredients are notably different from most gels. Gone are the maltodextrose and fructose and in come appetising-sounding real foods like dates, quinoa, coconut oil, carrots and honey.

I tested two varieties of Longhaul, which varied a little in composition. A pouch of Turmeric Chicken flavour had around 170 calories of energy, 14g of carbohydrate and 8g of protein. A pouch of Sweet Potato and Quinoa had around 200 calories, 17.5g of carbs and 4g of protein.

Slow release energy

I took three pouches of Longhaul out on a long training ride. About an hour and a half into the ride, I started to eat the pouches at the rate of one per hour – eating each of them in two 'meals' half an hour apart. The replaceable lid made it quite easy to pop half a pouch back into my pocket.

> How to eat right for long rides and sportives

Out riding, it was clear that the energy from this food had none of the sugar spikes (and subsequent crashes) that you can get from using traditional energy gels. Instead, as intended, I experienced a nice, constant supply of energy that kept me powering along quite happily. The performance as an endurance food is pretty much exactly what you'd want.

The pouch made eating really easy and convenient, and the replaceable lid meant that putting the finished pouches back into my pockets left me with none of the sticky mess all over my clothes that sugary gels can lead to.

Super-savoury flavours

So the energy-release performance of Longhaul was nice. What I found more difficult to deal with were the flavours. Now, obviously, this is going to be a very personal issue, and your mileage might vary a lot from mine, but I really found the flavours quite a long way from my tastes.

The gels I took on my first ride were the Sweet Potato and Quinoa flavour and the best way I can describe the flavour is that it is arrestingly – almost shockingly – savoury. Large amounts of turmeric and tahini dominate the taste such that, despite the gel being 59 per cent sweet potato, the other ingredients mask every hint of sweetness and you have to concentrate quite hard to detect any of the usual potato flavour. I think it is the most avowedly savoury thing I have ever tasted.

Worried that my personal preferences might be biasing things here, I later passed one of these gels around a group of friends – including a professional chef. All were somewhat startled by the flavour and all agreed they struggled with it.

I later tried the Turmeric Chicken flavour and found this somewhat better than the Sweet Potato. The carrot and honey cut through in this variety and I found it a lot easier to eat. But still, this variety remains unapologetically savoury and I'd recommend you try either of these before relying on it in a race setting – it'd be a shame to find yourself with something you find hard to eat when you need the energy.

Now don't get me wrong: I suspect some people will love both of these. And it's possible I was partly thrown off by the psychological disconnect of tasting something so very savoury from the sort of pouch that normally delivers sweet flavours in a cycling context. Just be aware that these are (probably) not the sort of gels you've tried before, but if you lack a sweet tooth yet crave the on-the-go convenience of gels, Longhaul might just be what you've been looking for.

Verdict

Handy pouches of slow-release energy from real food, but the flavours won't be for everyone