Forgotten hot drinks that your grandma swore by

We all have happy childhood memories of our grandmas making us comforting hot drinks in our favourite mugs. But what were these drinks, and how did Granny come to know about them?

In your grandma's day, Bovril had a number of different uses - it could be spread on toast, added as a flavouring to soups and stews; or, more commonly, turned into a beef-flavoured drink by adding hot water. It was traditionally a trademarked beef extract paste, although it has undergone a few recipe changes over the years - in 2004 all beef extracts were removed from the product, making Bovril completely vegetarian. However, due to popular demand, this decision was reversed just two years later - the beef was back, and a chicken version has also been introduced.

What Granny might not have known is that Bovril dates back to the 1870s - when Napoleon ordered that his troops should be fed with one million cans of beef. Scotsman John Lawson Johnston provided him with what he needed by developing "Johnson Lawson Johnston provided him with what he needed by developing "Johnson's Liquid Beef", which the world came to know and love as Bovril!

Grandmas everywhere will be pleased to know that the brand is still going strong and is now owned by Unilever.

Granny and Grandad have probably enjoyed a cup or two of Horlicks before bed over the years, and many of us were given it as children. This iconic malted milk drink was invented by British brothers William and James Horlick back in 1873, and was originally intended for "infants and invalids". However, it became popular with soldiers during World War I, and was adopted as a bedtime favourite by many people in the years that followed.

It has been drunk on expeditions to the North Pole, and was even given to all the athletes competing in the London Olympics in 1948!

The original Horlicks factory still stands in Slough. Berkshire; although these days the drink is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and marketed worldwide.

Another of Granny's bedtime favourites, Ovaltine is a hot malted milk drink traditionally seen as the main rival to Horlicks. Developed in Switzerland in 1904, it first appeared in Britain five years later, also making its way into the US and Canadian markets. A cocoa-flavoured version was also produced.

At the height of its popularity in the UK during the 1930s, Ovaltine even had its own weekly radio show, The League of Ovaltineys, on Radio Luxembourg. It featured promotions where children could obtain badges and other tie-in Ovaltine memorabilia.

The original Art Deco factory in Hertfordshire has since been converted into luxury apartments - but the drink continues to be manufactured in Switzerland and sold all over the world.

Long before Mochas and convenient hot chocolate sachets, Granny was making drinking chocolate as a treat - probably by mixing cocoa powder with milk and hot water. However, chocolate has been drunk for well over 2,000 years - the Mayans were mixing ground-up cocoa seeds with water as far back as 500 BC in Mexico!

Thanks to the Spanish explorer Cortez, the drink made its way to Europe in the 1500s, arriving in England approximately 200 years later. This led to a trend for "chocolate houses" in London, where the well-to-do would enjoy the expensive drink, which by this time was being served hot with milk added to make it less strong and bitter.

What most people don't know is that chocolate was drunk long before it was ever eaten! It wasn't until 1876 that cocoa butter was first mixed with sugar, creating the first edible chocolate, which has far overtaken the drink in popularity.

Whichever of Grandma's hot drinks is your favourite, why not indulge in a special mug in Mexico!

Amelie J Rose is a freelance writer, editor and author. You can contact her here.