No whisky in this malt (although you could add your own......) (Ovaltine Original)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Ovaltine Original
Date:	12/11/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great combo of tastes, good for you

Disadvantages: Cocoa flavour almost takes a back seat

As far as hot drinks go, Ovaltine falls kind of on the outskirts of the hot chocolate range. Although it has cocoa in it, this is minimal, and the main appeal of the drink is the malty goodness it contains. The cocoa is mainly there for the taste and smell, as if the malt is not enough.

However, what it does is provide an extra flavour to the drink. Ovaltine's appeal is in its nutritional, tasty and malty goodness, and the cocoa flavour satisfies the chocoholics among us who crave the notion of having choc every five seconds. I must confess: this often includes me.

The jar of Ovaltine is full of the fine, powdery product, and the best way of making ot is to add hot milk to it. You can add hot water and then a splash of milk if you want. It doesn't taste quite as nice and gloopy, but it still retains the malty and chocolatey flavour.

In fact, the taste almost verges on being confusing, with the two conflicting flavours calmed by the smoothness of the drink. I like how smooth it is as you take a sip, whether you have used milk or water to mix in with the powder. The aroma is enough to relax me, and once you have had a few sips, the flavours separate, with the malt giving the initial hit, and the cocoa coming in the aftertaste.

I suppose what this does is give you a cocoa product without such high calorific values as other hot chocolate does. Adding milk, and using a 25g serving of the powder with 200ml of milk, you get quite a sugary drink, under 200 calories and 22g of sugar or so. There are also vits and minerals and nutrients in the drink, and accompanied with the goodness of the malt and reduced fat cocoa, it's a lovely drink that almost seems healthy. Not bad for what is essentially considered a hot chocolate!

Overall, I think this is a drink well worth having. There are various forms that Ovaltine can take, and there is a 'light' version as well, with is even better for you in terms of calories. However, this is good enough for me. It tastes great, if good for you, and is really easy to make. It only takes a few minutes to make if you use hot milk, or if you use water, then as long as the kettle takes to boil.

A 200g tub can cost just over £1.20, unlikely to be more expensive than £1.50. Naturally, this depends on where you get it from. I recommend having this, as it's a nice change from the overbearing choc flavour most hot chocs have. Recommended.

Summary: Great blend of cocoa and malt