Drink Tablets A Convenient Carbo Source Quic Disc A Cheaper Alternative To Name-Brand Sports Drinks

Sun., March 21, 1999

Rich Landers Outdoors Editor

It may be a bitter pill for Gatorade, but a small company has produced a convenient sports drink tablet that packs the carbos of popular drinks at half the cost.

Fred Marius, a long-distance cyclist who works for a pharmaceuticals company in Boston, Mass., devoted three years to developing a tablet that looks like a horse-pill-sized SweetTart and tastes like Pixie Stiks candy.

Drop three tablets in a 16-ounce bottle of water and you have Psycho Fred’s Quic Disc sports drink.

The grape-flavored drink packs 35 grams of carbohydrates, 220 milligrams of sodium, 60 milligrams of potassium and 100 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C.

Each three-pack of Quic Discs (one serving) has 140 calories.

“The retail price of 75 cents is half the price of the PowerBar Perform Plus powdered drink,” Marius said.

“We don’t use fructose because it bothers some people’s stomachs. Instead we use sucrose, dextrose and some more complex carbos. Other than amino acids PowerBar adds that we don’t think are necessary, there’s not much difference between our drinks except the cost.”

Quic Discs have been on the market less than a year, and so far are available mostly by mail order. But interest appears to be growing and sales are climbing, he said.

A tablet offers several benefits over traditional pre-mixed and powdered sports drinks.

The tablet can be packed for mixing at a water source, a convenience that appeals to backpackers and cyclists. It can be eaten like candy to get the nutrition. Tablets are less messy to pour than powders and easy to measure.

Some people who prefer a more diluted drink may drop two tablets rather than three into a 16-ounce water bottle.

The trick in developing the sports drink tablet was finding a way to bond the tablet using techniques that would not leave a film in the bottle or an aftertaste in the user’s mouth, Marius said.

So far, grape is the only flavor.

“We’re a small company,” he said. “PowerBar could squash us like a gnat, so we’re just trying to do one flavor, one thing, and do it right.”

A box of 12 packages (36 tablets) is available for $9 by calling (800) 882- 9445, or via the Internet at www.quicdisc.com.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.