Pickle juice isn’t an electrolyte source, it’s used to elicit the gusto-facial reflex and short circuit the transmission of cramping signals in the nervous system. It’s well proven to be effective in this application.
For the OP - I use a gel flask. Works great.
Respectfully, that’s a bit of a stretch… It’s been proven to work -sometimes- for -some- people. And for some of those ‘some’ people I’d say it was somewhat placebo…like “Hey, I cramped, so I stopped for 10 minutes at an aid station and drank a hot shot / pickle juice and my cramps disappeared!!!”. OK, was it the juice, or the 10 minute break… And even when it ‘works’, it is a band aid for the underlying cause (pushing too hard) and the cramps will likely return in force. Even the creator of Hot Shots has acknowledged that.
I’ve tried pickle juice, hot shots (was a beta tester, so had cases of it), none of it ever helped, had some of the worst leg cramps at races while using this stuff. For me, and I’d venture most people, as mentioned above it was simply a matter of pushing too hard and the solution was to go easier.