Après Chocmalt Drink

There were a few brands at The Running Show that particularly impressed me. These tended to be the ones that had chatty, friendly representatives and a really great product. In most cases the people at the front of the stall were the people behind the product. Après is one of these. 

The product is a hot chocmalt recovery drink, in essence a hot chocolate powder that you mix up but one that is made with sustainably farmed, non-GM milk, sugar and cocoa has the magic 3:1 carb to protein ratio, and electrolytes. The company was founded by brothers Luke and Mat Farren, who I met. They’re passionate about their product. They cycle competitively, amongst other things and wanted something to warm them up and recover after hard, cold sessions.

As someone who really feels the cold I can get on board with this. I cool down remarkably quickly after long cold training sessions. During marathon training I would change into layers of warm, dry clothes as quickly as possible, have a hot bath and drink tea after my (cold) chocolate recovery shake and still feel cold for a while. Anything that warms me up more quickly is good as far as I’m concerned.

The powder mixes really easily and the resulting drink tastes lovely. Products that do not taste great or are a faff do not make it into my routines. I’d not save it to drink as a “sports drink”. Although it’s marketed primarily as a recovery drink I had some before a race and got a new PB and it didn’t upset my stomach at all, as some sports drinks are want to do. I was reliably informed that it tastes great cold too so I gave that a go and can confirm that it does indeed taste great. I used a protein shaker to mix one sachet with 200ml skimmed milk. It dissolved really easily and tasted just like a chocolate milkshake.

I’m keen to try using it in a breakfast smoothie recipe I often make. If it works you’ll be seeing a post about that in the not too distant future.

Delicious mid-morning snack for me!

Après are also involved in a series of events called Longman on the South Downs Way. In February and September you can run or cycle a number of distances and refuel with Après… après! The brothers talked about wanting to grow the series so keep a look out. You can follow the brand on twitter and find out more about the current events here and follow them on twitter here.