Cheese of the week: Midnight Moon

Name: Midnight Moon

Brand: Cyprus Grove Chevre

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Arcata, CA

Price in Iowa: $22.40/lb.

Milk: goat

Processing: Aged six months

Texture: firm

Color: Straw yellow

Rind: Wax

Aroma: Nutty and mild dairy

Taste: Sweet, nutty, fruity undernotes

Mouth feel: firm
 
Notes:This is one of Cyprus Grove's Creamline cheeses and it is amazing.  It has a complex flavor profile that runs from nutty warmth to fruity sweetness.  Unfortunately, I only bought a small wedge of this cheese.  Now, I need to go buy more.

Cheese of the week: Maytag Blue

Name: Maytag Blue Cheese

Brand: Maytag

Place of Purchase: Fairway Foods in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Newton, IA

Price in Iowa: $2.99/oz

Milk: sweet Holstein cow's milk

Processing: made in small batches using the purest Penicillium strain

Texture: soft

Color: White to angry green

Rind: Natural

Aroma: Strong dairy/bleu

Taste: Smack your momma bleu

Mouth feel: Soft and creamy

Notes: Maytag blue cheese is the gold standard for American bleu.  Made in small batches from sweet Holstein milk from a dedicated herd.  It is uniform, creamy and strong.  Even though I live in central Iowa, I've never had Maytag Blue.  You can get it everywhere, and it was great.  The perfect strength of bleu flavor.  But, that's all there is to it.  There's nothing else to the cheese besides creamy texture.


Still, it doesn't get better than this pure bleu cheese.

Libation of the Week: Peace Tree Root Beer

Name: Peace Tree Root Beer

 

Brand: Peace Tree Brewing Co.

Place of Purchase: Ulrich's Meat Market in Pella, IA

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Country/Region of Origin: Knoxville, IA

Tasting Conditions: Chilled and bottled

Price in Iowa: $1.99

Description: a frothy, amber brew

Flavors: Caramel, vanilla, possibly sorghum, metallic undertones

Mouth-feel: Bubbly and heady

Aroma: Vanilla and caramel

Notes:I picked this root beer up one day when I was meat and bakery shopping in Pella.  It initially had a nice rich flavor, but the metallic flavors began to overpower everything.  I'm not sure if it is brewed in metal kegs or if something else is adding the flavor, but I didn't like it about half-way through the bottle.

Cheese of the week: Cave-aged Roquefort

Name: Cave-aged Roquefort

Brand: Societe des Caves

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: France

Price in Iowa: $29.07/lb.

Milk: sheep's milk

Processing: Sheep's milk and roquefort cultures, with cave-aging for at least 6 months

Texture: soft

Color: bone white and forest green

Rind: natural

Aroma: strong bleu and dairy

Taste: Sharp bleu flavors followed by cool creamy notes.

Mouth feel: SUPER creamy
 
Notes:This cheese was so good that I forgot to take a picture.  Now, I love bleu cheeses.  If I had one type of cheese to eat for the rest of my life, it would be bleu.  This Roquefort is the best bleu cheese I have ever had.  Find it.  Buy it.  Share it if you have to, but even my wife didn't get any of mine.

Cheese of the week: Pleasant Ridge Reserve Farmstead Cheese

Name: Pleasant Ridge Reserve Farmstead Cheese

Brand: Uplands Cheese Company

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Dodgeville, WI

Price in Iowa: $22.50/lb.

Milk: pasture-fed raw cow's milk

Processing: Curd formed with enzyme and cultures, cave-aged 4 months, washed with brine and cultures

Texture: Firm

Color: Straw yellow to tan

Rind: Washed/Natural

Aroma: Strong dairy

Taste: Sharp dairy, nutty, fruity

Mouth feel: firm and unyielding, but not chewy
 
Notes: I bough this cheese because it was the last slice of the wheel.  Apparently, I'm the last fromagophile to get to the store.  This cheese was tasty, but I left about 1/4-inch near the rind because it was too firm to enjoy.  This cheese has a tight paste, think Parmesan, but it holds together well.  The flavor profile is pretty complex, too.  I'm not sure what magic they're working up in Dodgeville, but they're making a really delicious cheese.