More and more U.S. cheesemakers are mixing and matching milk from cows, goats, and sheep to create delicious new cheeses.
Mixed-milk cheeses are probably as old as cheese itself, but they are a trending niche for America’s artisan cheesemakers. Pioneers like Nancy’s Hudson Valley Camembert—a sheep-cow blend from New York’s Old Chatham Sheepherding Co.—now have plenty of company as more creameries consider the benefits of combining milk from cows, goats, and sheep. For retailers, this blossoming category offers a new story to entice customers.
Some Practical Motivations
In Europe, mixed-milk cheeses are commonplace wherever the landscape supports mixed livestock. Greece’s feta (sheep’s and goat’s milk) and the mixed-milk robiolas of Italy’s Piedmont region come readily to mind. Mixing milks allows a cheesemaker to moderate supply fluctuations, ramping up the goat’s milk percentage in a recipe when the sheep output declines.
Mixed-milk recipes enable American cheesemakers to stretch precious and costly sheep’s milk and to keep a cheese below a target price point. Some cheesemakers are embracing mixed-milk cheeses for the creative challenge or as a way to add novelty to a familiar format like cheddar or brie-style cheese.
The annual American Cheese Society competition provides a good measure of the energy in this category. Mixed-milk entries jumped from 69 to 87 in the four years between 2013 and 2017.
Whatever their motivations, American producers are enriching cheese counters with these endeavors. Like the red wines of Bordeaux, the best blended-milk cheeses are a harmonious merger of components: buttery cow’s milk; tangy, lemony goat’s milk; and rich, faintly gamy sheep’s milk.
Mixed Milk Cheeses to Know
Here are a few domestic mixed-milk cheeses to know, some established, others quite new:
Alta Langa Margherita (California):
From the Italian company that produces La Tur, this newbie is made in Modesto from a blend of cow’s, goat’s, and sheep’s milk. The ratio is roughly 70/20/10 in this fresh interpretation of cream cheese. Packed in a tub, Margherita has a delightful sour-cream aroma and is so fluffy it almost seems whipped.
Beecher’s Flagsheep (Washington):
This American Cheese Society Best of Show winner includes one-third sheep’s milk but is otherwise identical to Beecher’s popular cow’s-milk Flagship Reserve. Think of it as a cloth-bound cheddar but with less sharpness and more sweetness, thanks to the addition of a Swiss culture. The 16-pound cylinder is matured for 18 months—longer than Flagship Reserve—and it develops a firm, waxy, cheddar-like texture and aromas of cave and caramel.
Bellwether Farms Blackstone (California):
Produced from a blend of Jersey cow’s and sheep’s milk (roughly 60 percent/40 percent), these 2-1/2-pound wheels are aged for six to eight weeks but get even tastier with more time. The firm interior is studded with black peppercorns, while the rind is rubbed with crushed black pepper, safflower oil, rosemary, and vegetable ash. It’s a mess to cut but so worth it. The fragrance is buttery, with floral peppercorn notes, and the finish is tart enough to make your mouth water.
Boxcarr Handmade Cheese Cottonseed (North Carolina):
Operated by siblings Austin and Samantha Genke, Boxcarr makes a variety of cheeses inspired by northern Italy, including this Scimudin-style bloomy-rind square. The recipe calls for a blend of cow’s and goat’s milk and a culture cocktail that includes both Geotrichum and Penicillium candidum. Weighing about 1 pound and matured for two to four weeks, the cheese smells of mushroom and truffle and is super-runny when ripe.
Central Coast Creamery Seascape (California):
Combining pasteurized cow’s and goat’s milk in equal parts, cheesemaker Reggie Jones has created a cheddar-style wheel with layered flavor. “You get the cow’s milk up front, and then it finishes with the goat’s milk,” says Jones. “It makes a much more interesting cheese.” The 10-pound wheels are ready in three to four months thanks to the addition of a culture that accelerates ripening. The creamery’s recipe veers from the traditional cheddar process—there’s no stacking or milling of curds—and yields a moister, creamier mouthfeel akin to the texture of young Gouda.
Hook’s Cheese Triple Play Extra Innings (Wisconsin):
Tony and Julie Hook, renowned for their aged cow’s-milk cheddars, are having fun with this new creation, which they debuted in 2014. They won’t reveal the milk ratios, but cow’s, goat’s, and sheep’s milk are all part of the recipe. The 40-pound rindless blocks are released at 15 months, when they have developed some internal crystals and a nutty aroma. Tony admits to using three different starter cultures (Gouda? cheddar? Swiss?) and hybrid techniques, including the curd-washing that is standard practice for Gouda. It has the creaminess of a young cheddar and the sweetness and caramel scent of aged Gouda. It breaks into cheddar-like nuggets but don’t look for much cheddar tang.
LaClare Farms Chandoka (Wisconsin):
Cheesemaker Katie Hedrich Fuhrmann blends her family’s goat’s milk with a neighbor’s cow’s milk for this cheddar-style cheese, produced in 40-pound rindless blocks and matured for two to three months. The goat contribution is only about 30 percent, and the goat flavor is pretty subtle. Expect an aroma of warm melted butter, a creamy texture, and some cheddar-like tang.
Vermont Creamery Cremont (Vermont):
Enormously popular, this double-cream disk makes a great case for mixing milks. Made from a blend of roughly 60 percent cow’s milk, 30 percent goat’s milk, and 10 percent cow’s cream, the little 5-ounce beauty has crossover appeal, seducing many who think they don’t like goat cheese. The recipe calls for a long, slow coagulation and minimal rennet, yielding a moist and tender curd and a tangy sour-cream flavor. Geotrichum yeast produces the wrinkly rind over time and helps develop Cremont’s luscious texture and mushroom scent.
Willapa Hills Creamery Two-Faced Blue (Washington):
One of America’s most appealing blue cheeses, Two-Faced Blue is a 5-pound, natural-rinded wheel made of pasteurized cow’s and sheep’s milk. The latter accounts for only about 25 percent of the blend but contributes to the buttery richness. What luscious cheese this is: smooth, moist, and creamy, with an open texture and an aroma of cellar, mushrooms, and toast. Despite three to four months of aging, it remains mellow.
Janet Fletcher writes the email newsletter “Planet Cheese” and is the author of Cheese & Wine and Cheese & Beer.
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