Kumis
Traditional fermented mare milk drink of Central Asian steppes.
Kumis (also spelled coumis or kumyz), known as airag in Mongolia, is a traditional fermented dairy product made from mare milk. It is important to the peoples of the Central and East Asian steppes of Turkic and Mongolic origin, including Volga Tatars, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Kyrgyz, Siberian Tatars, Mongols, and Yakuts, and was historically consumed by the Magyars, Khitans, Jurchens, and Xiongnu.
- type
- Fermented dairy beverage
- primary_ingredient
- Mare milk (also cow milk in industrial production)
- alcohol_content
- 0.7 to 2.5%
- fermentation_time
- Hours to days
- traditional_containers
- Horse-hide, wooden vat, or plastic barrel
- serving_temperature
- Cold or chilled
Quick Facts
- Main Ingredient
- Mare milk
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Kumis is an ancient beverage. Herodotus, in his 5th-century BC Histories, describes the Scythians processing mare's milk, widely believed to be the first description of ancient kumis-making. The 13th-century traveller William of Rubruck called the drink cosmos and described its preparation among the Mongols, noting that it 'makes the inner man most joyful and also intoxicates weak heads.' Rubruck also mentioned a variety called caracomos ('black comos') reserved for 'great lords.'
Reader's Guide
Kumis is significant as a traditional beverage of Turkic and Mongolic peoples, reflecting their pastoral nomadic lifestyle and dairy culture. It is made by fermenting raw mare milk, with lactobacilli and yeasts producing a carbonated, mildly alcoholic drink. The drink is light-bodied with a slightly sour flavor and is served cold, often in small bowl-shaped cups called piyala. In Mongolia, the milking season for horses runs from mid-June to early October, with a mare producing about 1,000 to 1,200 litres of milk per season. Industrial production often uses cow's milk fortified with sucrose or modified whey. Kumis has a low alcohol content (0.7–2.5%) but can be strengthened through freeze distillation or made into the distilled beverage arkhi. It was used in the 19th century to treat gastrointestinal disorders, and in the Yuan dynasty it essentially replaced tea. The Japanese soft drink Calpis models its flavor after kumis.
Did You Know?
- Kumis is also known as airag in Mongolia and tsegee in some areas.
- The word kumis comes from the Turkic word kimiz, first appearing in the 11th-century Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk.
- In Mongolia, the milking season for horses runs from mid-June to early October, with a mare producing about 1,000 to 1,200 litres of milk per season.
- Despite some speculation, the Japanese soft drink Calpis does not have a confirmed direct inspiration from kumis in its official history.
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