what cheeses are you trying today?
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Tasting notes and descriptions of your cheese
Westcombe Mature is a truly artisan cheddar from Somerset with a deep and complex flavour. Cheese has been made at Westcombe since the 1890s and the Calver family, who now run the farm, remain as one of the last three traditional producers of Somerset Cheddar. The cheese is made using the unpasteurised milk from the farm’s herd of 400 cows and is cloth-bound before being matured for at least one year. It has a deep, brothy flavour and mellow tang with notes of hazelnut, caramel and citrus coming through on the long, smooth breakdown. Locally, it is known as the 'five-mile cheddar’ as you’re still tasting it five miles down the road! Westcombe Dairy is also the home of ‘Tina the Turner’, the UK’s first cheddar turning robot, who patrols the rows of cheddar, and flips each 24kg cheese over to ensure even maturation. (Unpasteurised, Cows’ milk)
Trefadwyn Cheese was founded by Clare Jones, previously a local primary school teacher who gave up the classroom in favour of cheesemaking at her family farm in Llandyssil, Montgomeryshire. Having perfected the recipe on Clare’s kitchen table in 2018, it has now progressed to being produced at a purpose-built dairy within the Welsh Government Food Centre in West Wales. The cheese is a lovely, full-flavoured soft and creamy blue. It has won numerous awards, the highlight being selected as the best Welsh cheese at the 2022 World Cheese Awards. (Vegetarian, Pasteurised, Cows' milk)
Cornish Brie has a delicious mild and creamy flavour and melting, smooth texture using the finest natural ingredients. It is made by Philip and Carol Stansfield on their farm on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Cornish Brie is made using full fat, pasteurised cow’s milk sourced from farms across Cornwall. Cornish milk is rich and creamy and gives the Brie its characteristic yellow, buttery colour. The Stansfield began their cheesemaking journey in 2001 but stopped making their brie to focus on their popular Cornish Blue. However, they felt that the brie needed to be revived and so in 2021 with a new brand-new dairy, Cornish Brie returned. And what a return!! (Vegetarian, Pasteurised, Cows’ milk)
Maida Vale is a semi-soft washed-rind cheese made by Anne and Andy Wigmore at Village Maid near Reading in Berkshire. It is their newest creation, made using unpasteurised Guernsey cow’s milk with a vegetarian rennet. As the cheese matures, they wash the rind of the cheese with Soundwave, a local IPA from Siren Craft Brewery. This gives a tangy, punchy flavour and aroma with a buttery texture. In a nutshell, Maida Vale is pungent, full of earthy, hoppy character but soft and creamy with a satisfying salty edge. A fully-fledged British cheese at its finest. Obviously, serve with a west coast IPA! And another thing, it's not named after the London suburb but is simply a play on words – it is, after all, made with ale! (Vegetarian, Unpasteurised, Cows’ milk, IPA (trace) (water, malted barley, hops, wheat))