Calderwood Cheese from Jasper Hill

This cheese is all about hay, both inside and out.

Up in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, the cows at Jasper Hill Farm spend the summer out on pasture eating their fill of fresh grass. But when the weather turns chilly, it's time to keep the cows snug indoors and switch them over to eating hay. Since the quality of what the cows eat has an enormous impact on the quality of the milk they produce (and hence the cheese that the team at Jasper Hill can make), it's important to feed the cows the best possible hay. One way to ensure the quality of your hay is to grow and dry it yourself, which is exactly what the Jasper Hill team does. 

Producing excellent hay and milk is only the first step. To turn that milk into Calderwood cheese, the team at Jasper Hill brine washes these wheels for eight months while they age. The brine pulls moisture out from the interior of the cheese, helping it age and concentrating the flavors inside. The wheels are then coated in the same hay the cows eat (with a couple slight modifications—it's hand-cut to be in smaller bits and heat sterilized). Then the wheels are aged for another 4-6 months. The hay coating imparts the cheese with a toasty aroma and gives a striking appearance to the rind.

Like the great mountain cheeses of Europe, it’s nutty, complex, sweet, warming, and fruity. In a very real way, it’s all because of the hay.

Cow's milk
Unpasteurized (Raw)
Traditional rennet