OK, it didn't taste identical to barf, but after a while the taste gets harder for me to swallow. By the end of the 100 mile race, I was agonizing over the choices: keep sipping at regular intervals or run out of energy. The "keep sipping" choice won out, but not by much. I got a can of Heed(tm) on the recommendation that it was 'lighter-tasting' but that was a lie. I may try to get used to it this spring, just to see if it'll work for those longer non-stop rides that I occasionally do.