🍶 Shubat

Shubat is a fermented drink made from camel milk: white, slightly fizzy and tangy. Traditionally, fresh camel milk is mixed with what is left of the previous batch of shubat (as a starter) in a leather or wooden vessel and left to ferment, stirred from time to time. Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts take part in the fermentation.

Shubat is a traditional drink of the Kazakhs; the Turkmen call a very similar drink chal, and it is known to Uzbeks too. In Kazakhstan shubat is especially valued in summer as the main refreshing drink. The finished drink sours quickly and does not travel well, so exporting it is difficult and it is mostly drunk where it is made. The fatty layer skimmed from the top of shubat is called agaran.

Shubat differs from koumiss in its raw material (camel rather than mare’s milk) and higher fat content; it is thicker and more filling. It differs from ayran in being milk fermented in its own right rather than a fermented milk product diluted with water. Shubat is drunk chilled, often with meat dishes.