Local Drinks

1. Шай

   Shay

   Tea

   Usage

   The drink you will be offered most often. Usually strong and taken with milk, served in a kese, a handleless bowl. It is polite to fill the bowl only part way and keep refilling it

2. Қара шай

   Qara shay

   Black tea

   Usage

   Leaves oxidised for two weeks to a month. When someone says "shay" in Kazakhstan this is normally what is meant

3. Көк шай

   Kök shay

   Green tea

   Usage

   Tea whose leaves are unoxidised or oxidised for only a day or two. Kazakh kök covers both blue and green, and it is the word used for green tea

4. Қымыз

   Qymyz

   Qymyz (fermented mare's milk)

   Usage

   Mare's milk fermented in a leather saba. In Kazakh culture it is not an alcoholic drink but the most honoured of the "white foods". In season from spring, when the mares are tethered, until about October. Start with a small amount, but do take at least a sip when it is offered

5. Шұбат

   Shubat

   Shubat (fermented camel milk)

   Usage

   Fermented camel milk, rich in vitamins B1, B2 and C; a litre is said to cover a day's vitamin C. Most common in the dry west and south of the country

6. Айран

   Ayran

   Ayran (soured milk)

   Usage

   Cow, sheep or goat milk soured with a starter while still warm. Counts as both food and drink, and used to be carried on the road in a leather torsyq flask

7. Қатық

   Qatyq

   Qatyq (thick unstirred soured milk)

   Usage

   Ayran left to set without being stirred. Usually the thicker sheep or goat version, though in some regions the two words are used interchangeably

8. Шалап

   Shalap

   Shalap (soured milk thinned with water)

   Usage

   Ayran or shubat mixed with an equal volume of water, drunk to cut thirst in the summer heat. Some places salt it

9. Қымыран

   Qymyran

   Qymyran (camel and cow milk mixed)

   Usage

   A soured-milk drink, described as shubat blended with cow's milk; in some regions it is explained as a kind of ayran

10. Сүт

    Süt

    Milk

    Usage

    Covers sheep, goat, mare and camel milk as well as cow. Specify the animal by putting it in front, as in siyr süti for cow's milk

11. Ауызсу

    Auyzsu

    Drinking water

    Usage

    The single word for water fit to drink, used on supply and water-quality notices. When ordering in a restaurant, plain su is more natural

12. Шырын

    Shyryn

    Juice

    Usage

    Fruit or vegetable juice. Name the fruit in front, as in alma shyryny for apple juice

13. Кофе

    Kofe

    Coffee

    Usage

    Easy to order in city cafés, though in homes and in the countryside tea is overwhelmingly the default

14. Сусын

    Susyn

    Drink (general term)

    Usage

    The general word, defined as liquid food that quenches thirst. Used as a menu heading

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