The champagne tap. A champagne tap for drawing the koumiss is also necessary, as it contains so much gas, it is impossible to draw the cork without losing a good part of the contents of the bottle.
Receipt.—Fill quart bottles three quarters full of fresh milk; add to each one a tablespoonful of fresh brewer’s yeast and a tablespoonful of sugar syrup. The syrup is made by boiling sugar and water together to a syrup (the sugar must be used in this form). Shake the bottles for some minutes to thoroughly mix the ingredients, then fill them nearly full with milk and shake them again. Cork and tie them, and stand them upright in a cool place for two and a half days; then turn them on the side and use as needed. They should be kept in a cool, dark place, so the fermentation will be slow, and the temperature should be about 52°, or low enough to prevent the milk from souring.
Brewer’s yeast is best and gives the koumiss the taste of beer; but compressed yeast may be used, a fifth of a cake dissolved being added to each bottleful of milk.
[553-*] Huyler’s, Baker’s, and other brands of chocolate may be prepared in the same way, the proportions being regulated by the richness desired.—M. R.