Creatine HCl: Hydrochloride Form Explained

Two creatine powders can share one compound and still be built differently. At 4ecoshop, creatine hydrochloride has its own category inside the creatine section, stocked by a single brand – in flavoured powders, an unflavoured powder and capsules. Creatine HCl is the salt form, bound to hydrochloric acid instead of water. Read on for how that form is put together, and how each version is prepared!

What is creatine HCl?

Creatine hydrochloride is a salt of creatine and hydrochloric acid, and that pairing is where the name comes from. The acid group changes how the molecule behaves in water, so one serving dissolves in a small volume. Kaged Muscle, the brand behind this shelf, uses a patented C-HCl form in the powders and in the capsules, where a single capsule holds 750 mg.

How does creatine HCl differ from monohydrate?

The two forms differ in what the creatine molecule is joined to. Monohydrate is creatine held together with a single molecule of water, which is what its name records. The hydrochloride form carries an acid group there, and that is the whole of the chemical difference. We keep both on the wider creatine shelf, in powders and in capsules.

The difference is visible on the scoop. A serving of the hydrochloride form is measured in milligrams, so the scoop supplied in the tub is a small one. Monohydrate is measured out in grams.

Powder or capsules: which form suits you

Powder is the more common format on this shelf, and capsules are the one alternative to it. The capsules take measuring out of the routine, since you swallow one and that is the serving, with 75 capsules in a pack. Their shell is made from plant cellulose. Creatine HCl capsules suit anyone who does not mix a drink in the first place.

The powders ask for a scoop and something to mix into. If you already measure out a shake, one more scoop changes very little – our whey protein isolate shelf runs on the same routine. Check the scoop size on the tub before you order, because it is not the same across the three powders.

How do you take creatine HCl?

One scoop goes into about 120-180 ml of water, taken before a session or during it. A capsule skips the mixing step and is swallowed with whatever you happen to be drinking.

The unflavoured powder can go into a drink you have already made up, instead of plain water. That suits the part of a session when you are drinking something else anyway, and our isotonic drinks shelf covers that side of the routine. Whichever you order, parcels go out with Royal Mail Tracked, so you can pick next-working-day delivery or the two-to-three-day option.

Flavoured and unflavoured options

The flavoured powders are Fruit Punch at 75 g and Lemon Lime at 76 g, with scoops of 1003 mg and 1019 mg. The unflavoured powder comes in a 56 g tub with a 750 mg scoop, sold under the name Unflavored. Unflavoured creatine mixes into something other than water, and EAA supplements are usually flavoured too, so a plain scoop leaves their taste alone. The flavoured tubs bring their own taste to the glass, while the unflavoured one leaves whatever it goes into as it was.