Milk | Prized for its health benefits, tourists and Kyrgyz locals can’t get enough of this fermented horse milk

High up in the Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the season for making kumis — or fermented horse milk — is in full swing.

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A person offers a taste of kumis, or fermented horse's milk, from a small drinking bowl — The region’s kumis is prized by Kyrgyz for its health benefits.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Connoisseurs of kumis — an important part of nomadic tribes’ diets for untold centuries — say the Suusamyr Valley is home to the best version of the drink.

Horses graze in a mountain pasture — Tribespeople draw the milk from the mares as the herd graze in the valley.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

In winter, the valley, which is 2,500 meters above sea level, is covered in deep snow. When the thaw comes, the abundance of water feeds dense grass and herbs.

By the end of summer, the valley is awash in a thick, emerald carpet of juicy blades of grass that horses eagerly devour.

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The milk then is left to ferment, or sometimes churned to promote fermentation, until it becomes mildly alcoholic.

A woman milks a horse in a mountain pasture — The brew has for centuries been an important part of the local diet.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voroninv)

Cow milk can also be used, but it is regarded as inferior. Horse milk has a higher sugar content, making it more amenable to fermentation.

Rustam Tukhvatshin, a Kyrgyz medicines professor, says kumis promotes the growth of blood cells and detoxifies the body, among other benefits.

A woman pours kumis into a bowl from a wooden barrel — After fermentation and churning, the milk becomes mildly alcoholic.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

He says he never misses coming to Suusamyr when kumis production is at its height.

A person pours a bowl of kumis as a child looks on — The grass and herbs in the horses’ diet also lends a particular flavour to the milk.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Tourists and people from other parts of Kyrgyzstan also are taking notice of the region’s kumis.

A traditional yurt and a Soviet style temporary house are reflected in a lake in a mountain pasture — Tourists and locals relax in the yurts while drinking the brew.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Large wood-framed tents known as yurts have been set up along the road with tables where kumis is sold.

A woman prepares a snack inside a traditional yurt for a man and a child — Among its other health benefits, locals believe kumis also detoxifies the body.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

With time to spare, a buyer can relax in the yurts while drinking the highly regarded beverage.

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