Ovaltine Malt Drink > Reviews (15)

The power of advertising is a very peculiar thing, it is even more strange when it makes a product enter one of your dreams for what would appear to be for absolutely no logical reason at all. This is what happened to me a few weeks when, I know it sounds very bizarre, but I had a dream about Ovaltine.

As a young kid I did sometimes drink the stuff, but albeit only occasionally, but I do remember that I always enjoyed the taste. It had a nice distinctive taste of malt and it was very easy to make.

Following my very odd dream I found myself looking at a tin of Ovaltine in the supermarket and decided to give it a try again for the first time in about twenty years.

I was also intrigued to find out about the origin of the product and decided to have a quick search on the Internet, but I was surprised to find so little information and so many myths about its origins.

The History of Ovaltine

One of the more plausible stories relating to the origins of Ovaltine begins in Berne, in Switzerland, where it is said have been invented in 1865 to give to undernourished children, being rich in vitamins its popularity soon grew and in 1904 it began to be mass produced on a large scale.
In 1935 it was marketed in Britain with a popular advertising campaign and a radio show on Radio Luxembourg called the Ovaltineys. Every Sunday evening the nation would tune into the show and sing along to the chorus:
"We are the Ovaltineys, little girls and boys……."
The Oviltineys were a distinctive gang of youngsters with their own secret codes and rules. Anyone who joined received their own official badge and rule book and by 1939, five million children had joined the league.

Ovaltine Today
Ovaltine has been been produced my many different Swiss companies over the last 100 years but in 2002 it was bought from a company called Novartis by British Associated Foods. Somehow it seems to be so appropriate that something that had symbolised the youth of Britain had finally been bought by a British company

So what does it taste like?

Ovaltine has a very distinctive taste, it has a malt taste with a grainy texture. It has a malty aroma too, one of the things I remember as a child.
Although the ingredients contain cocoa (the principal ingredient of chocolate) it has a far different taste and smell , it is not as sickly as chocolate but it is nonetheless still very sweet.

How is it made?

It couldn't be simpler to make, just place 3 to 4 heaped tablespoons of the brown powder into a mug and add 200ml of hot milk, from a saucepan. Alternatively, it can also be made in the microwave by heating the milk on full power for two and a half minutes and then adding the powder afterwards. From either method it is best to not allow the milk to boil.

The Packaging

The tin is bright orange and has an old fashioned feel to it, I suspect that it has changed little in the past 50 years. Nowadays the container is plastic but it was originally tin. On the front there is a picture of a tin of Ovaltine with the words "Original Ovaltine" underneath the picture.

There is also a picture of a rather buxom lady within a small logo surrounded by leaves , she is carrying a sheaf of barley in an alpine scene, and inscribed around the logo are the words "Rich in vitamins and minerals"
The packing contains the instructions and ingredients on the reverse and also informs you that it is rich in folic acid, and can be drunk at any time of the day.

Conclusion

If you've never tried Ovaltine before go on and give it a time, you will either love it or hate it, but you never know you may love it. A 400g jar (approximately 16 servings) will cost you about £1.90 which I reckon is pretty good value.

For more information contact

Ovaltine UK
South Way
Andover
Hampshire
SP10 5AQ

Their helpline number is 0845 600 9944

Thank you for taking the time to read.