If a little
is left, it is heated again before it is drunk. This milk-brandy, on
account of the aqueous parts which it contains, does not inebriate so
easily when a small quantity is taken, as brandy made from grain; but
it is found, by the example of the Russians and all the tribes of the
Steppes, that the drunkenness which it causes continues longer, and
entirely destroys the appetite. On the other hand, it does not produce
violent head-aches, like corn-brandy.
The rich Kalmucks and Mongols are in the habit, when they pass the
winter near towns, of distilling with or without milk brandy from
leavened bread. The product, it is said, is stronger, and has a keener
taste than milk-brandy. The residuum of the distillation of milk-brandy,
which is sharp, and has a smell like wine lees, is applied to various
uses. Sometimes it is mixed with fresh milk, and immediately eaten;
sometimes it is applied for preparing sheep and lamb skins; sometimes
the women boil it, either by itself, or, if it is too sharp, with a
mixture of sweet milk, until it thickens, and then pour the cheesy
substance into bags, which, when thoroughly dried, they throw into
heaps. They also, like the Tartar tribes, frequently form it into round
cakes, which they dry in the sun, and keep principally for journeys and
for winter use. The residuum of distillation is called _bosson_,
and by the Mongols _tsakha_.
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