So, I did attempt to make my own sports drink. It was an interesting experiment, and I believe I have learned a lot from it, here is an entry from my journal:
2015/03/08 - Taste testing
Taste testing of the first formula at room temperature (67F) resulted in a concoction that would not be very desirable. After refrigerating to 40F the mix was more palatable, but still lacked any desire for consumption. Diluting this formula with 50% more water, doubling the volume of the sample poured, resulted in a much more palatable drink, though still a little salty. My first thought was I should double the sugar, then realized that by diluting it 50% and doubling the sugar we come full circle to Gatorade.
So now I see that there is a reason for why Gatorade, and other sports drinks, have half the recommended salts and twice the sugar, it is to make it more palatable. With that I do not see any problem with those drinks while exercising, but that should make it more apparent why we shouldn't be drinking these during the sedentary parts of our day.
Now, one variables which may change this could be flavoring. I used apple juice, not from concentrate, as my sugar, measuring the grams of sugar and salt already available, and added a lite salt mix, roughly 50/50 table salt and potassium salt, then added water to get the 1L which the recipe called for. I've thought of maybe adding some lemon to it to help the flavoring, and myself personally loves sour drinks, so this may not require any additional sugar to counteract the citrus.
A friend suggested getting the powdered Gatorade to carry in small packets that could be useful during refills on long rides. Another item to think about is length of ride and weather. Previously I had found that 20-50 miles I drank only 0.5L, but that was during the winter, now with spring giving us 70F days going through 3L and still running out on 75 miles is possible.