Kyrgyz Drink Video Backlash

I used to make some videos every now and again for my blog, which I’d like to get back into doing, and I generally promote them on vimeo and also upload them to YouTube. I wouldn’t say I’m a successful video maker – they rarely get views, I make them with my pocket camera, and they never get comments… except for my Kyrgyz related videos.

I got two notifications today from YouTube about new comments on my Taste Testing Shoro video (below), and of course they are from a pissed off Kyrgyz individual who took the time to leave a comment in both English and Russian.

If you take a look at the comments, most of them have been negative in some way or another, and some comments have even been removed now – not sure why. It’s quite impressive the amount of comments received in respect to the number of actual video views. I knew that they really loved Shoro, but I never knew they would take so much offense to my reaction.

Is it bad that I don’t like this drink? No, I don’t think so. To me, it is a weird taste and not a flavor I had been introduced to before. It is not uncommon for people from other cultures to not understand the food and drink choices of another because they just aren’t accustomed to them. To me, Shoro was weird. It was sour and gritty… like really gritty – almost like drinking old beer that had sand in it. And, yes, the slight fermentation smelled like stale beer, or at least that was the closest thing I could associate it with. I tried it twice, downing an entire cup to give it a go, but it just wasn’t for me.

“facking american ass.holes we have a national drinks u dont !!!!!!! cuz history of ur country 500 years, ours- 2200 years ! morons !”

It’s unfortunate that this person had to take this video to another level. If only they knew how much I loved Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz culture. I may not like the drink, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t like them.