Local Drinks

1. Максым

   Maksym

   Maksym (fermented roasted-grain drink)

   Usage

   A tart fermented drink made from talkan — roasted, milled barley, wheat or maize. In summer it is sold from barrels and bottles on every street. In some regions the word is also used for bozo, which is alcoholic. The maksym sold from street barrels is the non-alcoholic one

2. Жарма

   Jarma

   Jarma (roasted-grain drink)

   Usage

   Talkan simmered in water into a grain drink, usually finished with a dairy addition. It is grainier and thicker than maksym, and is sold chilled alongside it

3. Чалап

   Chalap

   Chalap (diluted sour-milk drink)

   Usage

   It is ayran or süzmö thinned with water. It is usually lightly salted and not sweet; bottled versions cut with sparkling water are widely sold. Do not order it expecting something sweet

4. Айран

   Ayran

   Ayran (soured milk)

   Usage

   Warm milk set with a starter (uyutku) for half a day. It is the base of the herding diet: süzmö is made from it and kurut from that. Thinned with water it becomes chalap; stirred into meat broth it becomes ak serke

5. Жуурат

   Juurat

   Juurat (soured whole sheep's milk)

   Usage

   Whole sheep's milk soured without skimming or watering down; goat's and yak's milk are also used. It is richer and fattier than ayran, and you may be offered it at a summer pasture stay (jayloo)

6. Ак серке

   Ak serke

   Ak serke (meat broth soured with dairy)

   Usage

   It is shorpo soured with ayran or kymyz. It is passed round after beshbarmak as a digestive. Note that some households sour it with kymyz, which carries a trace of alcohol — ask whether ayran was used if that matters to you. On its own serke means a two-year-old wether goat, but the serke here is unrelated to the goat and comes instead from Persian sirke, vinegar

7. Ала дөң

   Ala döng

   Ala döng (thinned meat broth)

   Usage

   It is sorpo with water or ayran added to make it easy to swallow. A cup is served after a heavy meat course; it counts as an after-meal drink rather than as a thin soup. Note that döng on its own means a hillock — the drink sense exists only inside the compounds ala döng and kara döng

8. Кара дөң

   Kara döng

   Kara döng (meat broth cut with cold water)

   Usage

   It is hot meat broth diluted with raw cold water, drunk after eating a lot of meat. With no dairy added it is clearer than ala döng, and the two names are cited as a pair: "ak serke menen kara döng"

9. Чай

   Chay

   Tea

   Usage

   The centre of the table: a guest is given tea before anything else. The custom is to pour a little at a time into the bowl (kese) — filling it to the brim can be read as a hint that the guest should leave soon

10. Көк чай

    Kök chay

    Green tea

    Usage

    It is a fragrant tea that brews yellow-green and tastes astringent; kök covers both blue and green. It is the usual partner for fatty dishes

11. Куурма чай

    Kuurma chay

    Kuurma chay (milk tea with roasted flour)

    Usage

    Flour, or talkan, browned in fat and simmered with strong tea and milk, salted rather than sweetened. It counts as a nourishing meal (münöz tamak) more than a drink, and turns up in the mountains and on winter mornings

12. Сүт

    Süt

    Milk

    Usage

    The general word for milk, not just cow's. On the pastures the milk of mares, sheep, goats and yaks is all süt, so it is worth asking which animal it came from

13. Кофе

    Kofe

    Coffee

    Usage

    Easy to order in city cafes; in villages and roadside canteens tea is the default and coffee, if any, is usually instant

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