Thai Lime Iced Tea Chumy Gel (Cha Manao): Your Fueling Recipe for Hot Days

Who says fueling has to taste like fueling? Cha Manao – Thai lime iced tea – is refreshing, aromatic and slightly tart. Exactly what you need when it's 30 degrees out and the thought of another sweet standard gel turns your stomach.

With Chumy Gel Mix, you turn it into your own iced tea gel in 15 minutes: carbohydrates you actually look forward to drinking. And since you mix it yourself, you control the carbs and intensity – as always.

Why Iced Tea Gel Works

In the heat, your appetite for sweetness drops – a well-known problem on long summer rides. Acidity and spice counteract that: lime makes the gel refreshing instead of cloyingly sweet, the spices add depth, and the black tea brings gentle caffeine along for the ride.

The result: a gel you still look forward to in hour 3. Flavor fatigue doesn't stand a chance against Cha Manao.

The Recipe

Prep time: 15 min + 20 min cooling Makes: 2 Chumy gels

Ingredients

• 400 ml water
• 1 star anise
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2–3 cloves
• 1 teabag of black tea (Ceylon or Assam)
• Decaf version: 2–3 stems of fresh tulsi (holy basil) instead of black tea
• 50–100 g Chumy Gel Mix
• a pinch of ground vanilla
• juice of 1 juicy lime

Instructions

1. Brew the tea: Bring water to a boil, turn off the heat. Add star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and the teabag. After 2 minutes, remove the teabag and let the spices steep for another 10 minutes.
2. Prep your flasks: Meanwhile, add 25 or 50 g of Chumy Gel Mix per soft flask, depending on your carb needs.
3. Season: Strain the tea, then add lime juice and vanilla.
4. Mix & chill: Pour the tea into your soft flasks, shake well, and place them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
5. Run or ride and enjoy.

Tips From the Road

Carb dosing: 25 g per flask for easy sessions, 50 g for long or intense rides. You know your needs – your mix, your rules.

Caffeine timing: The black tea version delivers mild caffeine – ideal for the second half of a long session. For evening runs or caffeine-sensitive stomachs: go with the tulsi version.

Prep the night before: Brew the tea in the evening and store it in the fridge overnight. In the morning: mix, shake, go.

Ice cold on race days: Leave the flask in the freezer longer (30–40 min, don't let it freeze solid) – and you'll have a half-frozen slushy gel for the first hour. Game changer in the heat.

The Bottom Line: Fueling Should Taste Good

Cha Manao proves what Chumy is about: sports nutrition you don't force down, but actually look forward to. Self-mixed, no single-use plastic, with exactly the carbs you need.

Give it a try – and if you create your own gel recipes, show us. ◡̈

Get your Gel Mix and start mixing →

Less waste, more taste. – Chumy