Hello, I’m trying to understand what Ovaltine is and what malt drinks are and why people would have malt in their drinks
I drank some Ovaltine and it just was chocolate milk so I don’t understand why it’s not just called chocolate milk
Thank you
There are chocolate flavors of Ovaltine. It was an early form of nutritional supplement -they throw in some vitamins and minerals. But think it should be regarded as a treat vs a healthy food product.
Malt is a separate flavoring from cocoa. I’ve seen it used to add depth of flavor in chocolate chip cookie and other recipes. Here’s an article if you’re interested: https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/what-is-malt
A cursory google search says malt is germinated cereal (farmed and cultivated grass like wheat barley and rice)that is dried to stop the process. This converts some starches in to sugars, which is probably what you’re identifying as familiar.
It can be used in different ways depending on the processing, but it’s a process that has been used for alcohol production for a very long time. It was more recently used as a nutritional supplement but I’m predisposed and can’t find any references except in the Wikipedia article about a book from 1907 detailing instructions.
There’s a whole article on Wikipedia about malt; you can go look that up to see what it is.
Malt gives a particular flavor that many people like. You can say it’s “just chocolate milk” but the malt gives it a distinctive flavor. Compare Ovaltine to Nestle Quik and you’ll taste the difference.
I was in the grocery store with my fiancé the other day and we walked past ovaltine in one aisle and I, without skipping a beat and in a kid-like voice, said “More Ovaltine Please!” I have never had ovaltine, nor have I seen a commercial for it in YEARS. That’s advertising. Core memory unlocked.
When i was small mum used to give us Horlicks (malt drink in UK) and said it would help us sleep. I liked the taste when i was small but ive no idea about wether it actually worked as an aid for sleep.
Did you try looking at the ingredients label? If you did, you would have noticed it contains very little actual chocolate. The whole point is the cheap malt extract can be used to create something that resembles chocolate milk without the expensive chocolate. Synthetic vitamins and minerals were added to market it to stupid parents as a healthy drink for their kids.