Sweat is dribbling down your thighs, wet strands of hair are sticking to the last bit of foundation on your face, and the thin stream of AC from the spin bike won’t cut it. Your legs start to tingle and your stomach drops: the cramps have arrived.
You smash the pause button on the bike, twist open a bottle of Pickle Juice, and smile to the artificial lights on the ceiling as the pain subsides. Your palate is cringing with the vinegar flavor, but your legs feel looser than frat house morals. Potential gagging and brine flavor is completely worth the muscle relaxation.
If accounting doesn’t work out, I’m going to become an ad writer for The Pickle Juice Company. This Texas-based company is changing the way athletes push their abilities to the max and handle stress on the body. Instead of sucking down sugary Gatorade of dubious color, more athletes are choosing to drink pickle brine, which has been touted for its muscle cramp relief for years.
The Pickle Juice Company (PJC)
Created in 2001, the PJC’s sole aim was to produce a sports drink that pulled the best qualities of pickle brine without actually using pickles in their formula. The key ingredient was vinegar, a substance that “triggers a nerve reaction” that stops cramps before the misfiring of muscle signals continues.
The salty nature of brine water does contain electrolytes—“10x more than your typical sports drink"—but it’s the vinegar that distinguishes pickle juice from run-of-the-mill drinks at Publix.
And can we just take a second to appreciate how their company URL is PicklePower.com? Sounds more like the pseudonym of an "Incredibles" character to me, but I’ll take it.
The Sexiest New Trend: Brine Water
Although their name is misleading (there are no pickles in their pickle juice), the other ingredients are water, vinegar, salt, Dill flavor, Potassium, Zinc, and Vitamins C and E. Sugars, carbs, and calories are also missing, making this unusual liquid healthy compared to sugar-loaded drinks such as Powerade.
Pickle Juice is also USDA-certified Organic and gluten-free—if its name was more appetizing, I'm betting it would be a smashing hit with athletes and hipsters. In addition to regular bottles of juice, PJC also sells “shots” of its formula, which got my brain to thinking of Pickleback shots and vodka/pickle juice mixed drinks. As it's also caffeine-free and has no artificial preservatives, pickle juice would be eons healthier than gas station cranberry juice or Four Loco.
Where Can I Get My Hands On This Pickle Power?
Amazon sells Pickle Juice (duh), but it’s also available on PicklePower.com (*cue superhero music*) and local sports and health stores. I find their green and black packaging alarming, but it gets the point of instantaneous power across. It’s not cheap (a 24 pack costs $51.78 plus shipping), but muscle relief and the satisfaction of having stomached essence of pickle is worth it.
Would I Try Pickle Juice?
Yes, I most definitely would try this. My palate is adventurous with any entity besides seafood and Asian food. Although my one-mile jog at the gym is barely commendable, my legs feel the twinges after lap six. If a person in a pickle suit offered me a free bottle of this brine, I would swig it down (with or without a vodka shot).