So, what is kumis beyond that simple definition? It is part food, part fermentation tradition, and part cultural memory. It is strongly associated with Turkic peoples, but its story belongs more broadly to the pastoral cultures of the Eurasian steppe, including Mongolian communities.

I should also be clear about my own experience. I have never tasted kumis, and I have never personally seen it sold as an everyday drink in Turkey. My interest comes from something different: I grew up knowing the name kımız as a drink connected with older Turkic culture, and that made me curious about what it actually is.

What Is Kumis?

Traditional kumis is a fermented mare’s milk drink. A 2024 review of fermented mare’s milk describes koumiss, airag, and related drinks as products created by mixed cultures of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts.

The two groups of microorganisms have different jobs. Lactic acid bacteria contribute acidity, while yeasts produce ethanol, carbon dioxide, and compounds that influence aroma. As a result, the finished drink is sour, lightly alcoholic, and often slightly effervescent.

The name also changes from place to place. Kımız is the Turkish spelling, while qymyz is common in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Scientific literature often uses koumiss. In Mongolia, the closely related traditional drink is usually called airag, while fermented mare’s milk may also be known as chigee in parts of northern China.

A Drink Older Than Modern National Borders

It is tempting to describe kumis simply as an ancient Turkish drink. There is certainly a deep connection between kımız and Turkic culture, but the full history is more complicated.

Archaeological evidence shows that people in the northern Kazakhstan steppe were processing mare’s milk products around 3500 BCE. This does not prove that they were making exactly the same drink we call kumis today. However, it shows that the relationship between humans, horses, and mare’s milk in the Eurasian steppe is extremely old.

Much later, fermented mare’s milk became firmly established in the food cultures of several Turkic and Mongolian peoples. Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, Tatars, Sakha and other Turkic communities have traditions connected with kımız or related drinks. Mongolian pastoral culture has an equally strong tradition surrounding airag.

A Turkish academic study, Eski Bir Türk İçeceği: Kımız, documents the historical and sociocultural place of kımız among Turkic peoples. For me, that cultural connection is one of the main reasons this drink is worth discussing on ChefTurko.

The Mongolian Airag Tradition

Mongolia offers one of the clearest examples of how alive this tradition remains. There, fermented mare’s milk is known as airag and still has an important place in pastoral life, hospitality, celebrations, and ritual customs.

In 2019, UNESCO added the traditional technique of making airag in a khokhuur to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The UNESCO description is particularly interesting because it records not only the drink but also the knowledge around it. Fresh mare’s milk is cooled, added to a traditional cowhide vessel called a khokhuur, and repeatedly churned with a starter from an earlier batch. In the documented Mongolian method, the mixture may be churned more than 500 times.

This is a good reminder that kumis and airag are not simply recipes. They developed as parts of larger systems of horse breeding, seasonal movement, hospitality, and pastoral knowledge.

Where Is the Tradition Still Alive?

Fermented mare’s milk is still produced in several parts of Eurasia rather than surviving only as a historical curiosity.

• Kazakhstan: qymyz remains an established traditional product, particularly during the mare-milking season.
• Kyrgyzstan: kymyz remains connected with summer pastures, horse keeping, hospitality, and traditional rural life.
• Mongolia: airag continues to have an important cultural and social role, especially among pastoral communities.
• Russia: traditions continue in regions including Bashkortostan, Buryatia, and Kalmykia.
• Northern China: fermented mare’s milk is also produced among some Mongolian and Kazakh communities in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

The terminology, microorganisms, production methods, and cultural customs are not identical in all of these places. Therefore, it is better to see kumis as a family of related steppe fermentation traditions rather than assume that every region produces exactly the same drink.

Why Is Mare’s Milk Used?

The traditional raw material is mare’s milk. That detail matters because mare’s milk behaves differently from cow’s milk during fermentation.

It has relatively high lactose levels. This provides fermentable sugar for the bacteria and yeasts and helps explain why the fermentation can produce both lactic acid and noticeable amounts of ethanol.

Producing mare’s milk is also labor-intensive. The Food and Agriculture Organization notes that dairy mares may need to be milked five or six times in a day and that milk release depends on stimulation from the foal.

That makes traditional kumis very different from an industrial cow’s-milk beverage. Its history is tied to communities where keeping horses was already part of everyday life.

How Traditional Fermentation Works

There is no single production method that represents every Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Bashkir, or other regional tradition. Still, the basic principle is remarkably consistent.

1. Fresh mare’s milk is collected.
2. A portion of an active fermented culture, often from an earlier batch, is introduced.
3. The milk and starter are mixed thoroughly.
4. Lactic acid bacteria acidify the milk.
5. Yeasts ferment part of the available sugars and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.
6. The drink continues to develop as fermentation and maturation proceed.

Traditional producers may use leather bags, wooden vessels, or other regionally specific equipment. Modern producers can instead use controlled tanks and selected starter cultures. Fermentation time, temperature, milk composition, and the microorganisms present all influence the finished drink.

For that reason, it would be misleading to give one exact fermentation time and call it the universal kumis recipe.

What Does It Taste Like?

I cannot give you a first-hand tasting note because I have never drunk kımız. I prefer to say that directly instead of writing a tasting description as though it came from my own experience.

Published descriptions commonly characterize the drink as sour or sweet-sour, yeasty, lightly carbonated, and mildly alcoholic. Because mare’s milk forms a much softer coagulum than cow’s milk, the drink is generally more fluid than a thick yogurt-based beverage.

Its flavor also changes as fermentation progresses. A young and mild batch does not necessarily taste the same as a longer-fermented, stronger one.

How Much Alcohol Does It Contain?

Kumis is technically an alcoholic fermented beverage because yeast produces ethanol naturally during fermentation. No alcohol needs to be added afterward.

The amount is not fixed. The 2024 scientific review reports that koumiss commonly contains around 2% alcohol and also cites traditional classifications ranging from roughly 0.7–1% for weak forms to around 1.75–2.5% for stronger forms. Other scientific literature reports an overall range of roughly 0.6–3%, depending on the product and method.

So, checking the actual product matters more than relying on a single number.

Kumis, Kefir and Ayran Are Not the Same Drink

The three drinks can easily become mixed together because they are all associated with fermented dairy, but they have different traditions and production methods.

Traditional kumis starts with mare’s milk and uses a mixed bacterial and yeast fermentation that produces noticeable ethanol. Kefir is traditionally made using kefir grains and today is commonly produced from cow’s milk. Kefir can also contain small amounts of naturally produced alcohol, although the level is usually lower than in traditional kumis.

Turkish ayran is different again. It is based on yogurt mixed with water and salt rather than a yeast-driven alcoholic fermentation.

If you want to understand the dairy culture behind ayran, I also have a separate guide to Turkish yogurt.

Can Kumis Be Made from Cow’s Milk?

Traditional kumis is made from mare’s milk. However, mare’s milk is expensive and difficult to produce at large scale, so some commercial products use cow’s milk instead.

A review of koumiss production notes that commercial versions can be produced from cow’s milk after its composition is adjusted to behave more like mare’s milk during fermentation.

I would therefore distinguish between traditional mare’s-milk kumis and a modern cow’s-milk product made in the koumiss style. They may share fermentation characteristics, but they are not identical raw materials.

Kumis in Turkey Today: My Perspective

This is where my own experience differs sharply from the historical story.

I live in Turkey, yet I have never personally come across kımız during normal supermarket shopping, in restaurants, or as a drink served in everyday life. I have also never tasted it. Based on what I see around me, I would not describe it as part of mainstream modern Turkish drinking culture.

At the same time, the word itself is surprisingly familiar. In my own experience, when people casually talk about a drink associated with modern Turkish identity, rakı often comes to mind. When the conversation turns toward older Turkic history, however, kımız is one of the names people recognize.

This is a personal cultural observation, not survey data. Still, it explains why the subject interested me. Kımız feels culturally familiar to me even though the actual drink is absent from my everyday life.

That gap between cultural memory and modern daily consumption made me want to learn more about it. As someone interested in Turkish cuisine and Turkic food history, I find that part of the story more interesting than trying to claim the drink exclusively for one modern nation.

Is Kumis Halal?

This question cannot responsibly be answered with a blanket yes or no in a food article.

The scientific point is clear: traditional kumis can contain measurable ethanol created naturally by yeast during fermentation. The religious question is different because it involves Islamic jurisprudence, the properties of the specific drink, and the interpretation followed by the consumer.

I am not a religious authority, so I do not want to issue a halal or haram ruling. If this matters to you, check the alcohol content and certification of the specific product and follow guidance from a qualified religious authority you trust.

What About the Health Claims?

Kumis has a long history of being described as a health-giving drink. That cultural reputation is interesting, but it should not be treated as proof that the drink prevents or cures disease.

Scientists have studied the bacteria and yeasts found in fermented mare’s milk, including their possible functional and probiotic properties. However, the 2024 review notes that strong clinical evidence for many claimed health effects remains limited.

In other words, laboratory findings, animal studies, or small human studies should not automatically become claims that drinking kumis will treat a medical condition.

For ChefTurko, I think the more accurate approach is to describe kumis first as a traditional fermented food and cultural beverage. Its history is already interesting enough without calling it a cure, an energy drink, or a “life elixir.”

A Note on Making It at Home

Reading about traditional leather-bag fermentation can make the process sound deceptively simple. I would not recommend copying a historical raw-milk method at home without proper food-safety knowledge.

Traditional practices developed within living food cultures where people understood their animals, starter cultures, vessels, climate, and fermentation from repeated experience. Modern home preparation should instead use safe milk handling and a reliable culture or validated method.

That distinction matters because an interesting historical technique is not automatically a safe modern recipe.

Final Thoughts

Kumis is much more than fermented horse milk. It connects microbiology, pastoral life, horse culture, hospitality, and thousands of years of human history across the Eurasian steppe.

It also resists simple ownership claims. Kımız has a genuine place in Turkic cultural history, while airag remains a living part of Mongolian culture and related fermented mare’s milk traditions extend across several Central Asian communities.

For me, the most interesting part is personal. I have known the name kımız for years because of its connection with Turkic culture, yet I have never actually tasted it or encountered it in ordinary life in Turkey. Researching the drink helped me understand the difference between knowing a cultural symbol and knowing the food itself.

If I eventually get the opportunity to try genuine mare’s-milk kımız, I can add a first-hand tasting section here. Until then, I would rather keep the boundary clear between my own experience and what historical and scientific sources tell us.

Sources and Further Reading

• Fermented Mare Milk and Its Microorganisms for Human Consumption and Health — Foods, 2024.
• Traditional Technique of Making Airag in Khokhuur and Its Associated Customs — UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
• Milk from Other Animals: Equines — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
• Eski Bir Türk İçeceği: Kımız (Koumıss) — Türklük Bilimi Araştırmaları.
• Nutritional and Ethnomedicinal Scenario of Koumiss: A Concurrent Review.

The post Turkish Kumis: The Magic of a Deeply Rooted Beverage appeared first on ChefTurko.