As you might expect, a lot of the traditional Mongolian cuisine is optimized for nomadic living. For example, they didn't really have beer, vodka, or wine, as t

As you might expect, a lot of the traditional Mongolian cuisine is optimized for nomadic living. For example, they didn't really have beer, vodka, or wine, as they didn't have easy access to grain, potatoes, or grapes and didn't want to ferment liquids for months or years on end. Instead, they made alcoholic drinks from milk. > Kumis is a dairy product similar to kefir, but is produced from a liquid starter culture, in contrast to the solid kefir "grains". Because mare's milk contains more sugars than cow's or goat's milk, when fermented, kumis has a higher, though still mild, alcohol content compared to kefir. > Strictly speaking, kumis is in its own category of alcoholic drinks because it is made neither from fruit nor from grain. Technically, it is closer to wine than to beer because the fermentation occurs directly from sugars, as in wine (usually from fruit), as opposed to from starches (usually from grain) converted to sugars by mashing, as in beer. But in terms of experience and traditional manner of consumption, it is much more comparable to beer. It is even milder in alcoholic content than beer. > Traditionally, this fermentation took place in horse-hide containers, which might be left on the top of a yurt and turned over on occasion, or strapped to a saddle and joggled around over the course of a day's riding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis