For our cheddars, it is important to me to have a solid cheddar flavor up front, backed up by the notes carried by the milk, like the milk I drank in childhood. I wanted to share the taste of my home farm. Southeastern Wisconsin has a unique flavor profile that carries from the land to the animals, to the milk, and through to the cheese.

People love cheese curds. It is Wisconsin’s famous snack food. The challenge with cheese curds is that it is a young, fresh cheese, which will show any flaws in the cheesemaking process. Because of this, I’m working very hard from batch-to-batch to maintain the most consistent product that I can. These cheese curds are also the base for the rest of my cheeses, so making them correctly is the starting point for people understanding my ability to make cheese.

With our Gouda, I wanted a creamy, tangy, nutty Gouda. I tweaked little steps in the process to attain the moisture level and culture levels I wanted, which makes the cheese express that nutty flavor that Gouda is famous for.