For my first MC, I mixed up the drink ahead of time. I found that the drink was overpowed by the cayenne pepper and was not too tasty. For my second MC, I brought the drink sans cayenne pepper and brought a little packet of cayenne pepper to add as I drank each glass. I found that was MUCH tastier. Toward the end of my second MC, I brought the maple syrup and lemon juice separately and added the water at work too. I found that made the drink even tastier.
Word of warning - if you are adding the cayenne pepper by hand - that is, taking a pinch of it and adding it to your drink the way I did - WATCH OUT FOR YOUR EYES! Cayenne pepper burns like you would not believe. I rubbed my eye once after putting in a pinch of the pepper, and I was literally blinded for a few minutes. It was tremendously painful.