kefir

A creamy drink made of fermented cow’s milk.

An effervescent drink prepared from the fermented milk of cows: used by the natives of the northern Caucasus region, and now extensively used elsewhere as a food for. invalids. It contains from 1 to 2 per cent. of free lactic acid and from 1 to 3 per cent. of alcohol. The original ferment used is a particular fungus called kefir grains (which see).

An effervescent liquor like kumiss, made from fermented milk, used as a food and as a medicine in the northern Caucasus.

A sour fermented milk drink, used in various regions of Asia, made by addition of Streptococcus or Lactobacillus cultures to cow’s or goat’s milk; it is considered by some as a form of yoghurt.

A fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.