Koumiss, A Tartar Wine

Take a quantity of fresh mare’s milk, add to it one-sixth part water, pour the mixture into a wooden bowl. Use as a ferment one eighth part of skimmed milk; but at any future preparation, a small portion of old koumiss will answer better. Cover the vessel with a thick cloth and set in a moderately warm place for twenty-four hours, at the end of which time the milk will have become sour, and a thick substance gathered at the top. Now, with a churn-staff, beat it till the thick substance above mentioned be blended intimately with the adjacent fluid. Leave it to rest twenty-four hours more; after which pour it into a higher and narrower vessel resembling a churn, where the agitation must be repeated as before. In this state it is called koumiss. The taste should be a pleasant mixture of sweet and sour. It should always be well shaken before used.