This Week's Warehouse Tasting (July 4 Edition)

Patriotism can manifest itself in many forms. The man pictured above chose to show his love for his country through ancestral dress. Here at the Dairymaids, all of our cheeses are made domestically at small dairies. Come celebrate your July 4th weekend the Dairymaid way--with all-American snacks!

This weekend we have a few special items: the SoCal burrata is back and in its honor, we'll also have Slow Dough pizza crusts for the first time ever. Maison Burdisso macarons will be in stock for another weekend (if French fries can be American, we humbly suggest these colorful treats get added to the national roster).

Cheeses include Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, the product of a partnership between Cabot Creamery and Jasper Hill Cellars. The muslin-wrapped cheddar wheels are made by Cabot, then aged in Jasper Hill's special cellars. The special attention during aging and high quality milk are evident in the smooth, yet complex flavors.

Our blue this week is the Caveman Blue, "from the domain of the Caveman," also known as the caves at Rogue Creamery. This delicious naturally-rinded, aged blue is deep yellow in color with the classic blue bite balanced by a smooth, vanilla-like flavor.

Extended hours continue--Friday 10am to 6:30pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.

This Week's Warehouse Tasting (New A.C. Edition!)

Bring it on, Houston summer! The Dairymaids' warehouse has just been installed with three new air conditioning units and it is practically sweater, mitten and snowball weather in here. We're even thinking of extending warehouse hours from now on and to start off the experiment, this Friday you can find the doors open from 10am to 6:30pm and from 10am to 4pm on Saturday.

Behind said doors, not only will you experience a blessed, artificial chill, but also some fantastic cheeses. We'll have Bosque Blue, Carmody and Barely Buzzed plus a few you might not see on the plate as often.

From Springbrook Farm in Vermont, the Tarentaise is styled after a Swiss or French Alpine cheese such as Gruyere or Comte. This cheese has a lovely lemon-yellow color--thanks to grass-feeding--a smooth texture, and nutty flavor. We'll also be featuring Mont St. Francis, a special treat from Capriole Dairy. It's a rare, washed-rind goat cheese and earthy with a slight funk.

As always, we'll have classic favorites including Pure Luck chevre, Texas Gold Cheddar and fresh mozzarella available on standby. All you need to do is ask for it.

This Week's Warehouse Tasting

As you can tell from this photo of the extremely strong Stuart Veldhuizen of Veldhuizen Cheese, dairy dads are the best. In their honor, we're featuring cheeses made by some amazing fathers--Pat at Beehive Cheese, Ben at Sand Creek and Stuart, who has 7(!) kids.

We can't think of a more dad (or grill) -friendly cheese than the Veldhuizen Redneck Cheddar. Stuart took his Texas Gold Cheddar and added Texas beer, St. Arnold's to be exact. The result is a subtle yeasty flavor that balances the cheddar tang. A drier-style of cheddar, it is rich in yellow color thanks to all the fresh green grasses the cows eat.

The folks at Beehive once again prove they're great at combining flavors (see: Barely Buzzed) with their Smoked Habanero Cheddar. This cheese makes you think you are sitting by a campfire. Lightly spiced with peppers, it has a slow-to-surface sweet-hot flavor.

At Sand Creek, Ben Godfrey lures us to the fridge late at night with his raw milk Gouda. Made from the Grade A Jersey milk of his small herd, the Gouda is buttery and mild with just enough tang to keep it interesting.

We'll also have fresh California burrata and Pure Luck chevre on the tasting plate, so please come by. We'll have gift boxes available for the big day and, as usual, if you're looking for something different, just ask!

This Week's Warehouse Tasting

Sometimes, on a hot summer day, we long to be cold smoked like a plump, 4 oz. chevre log. Instead, we must settle for eating one. This week at the warehouse we have a fresh shipment of Westfield Farm's Hickory Smoked Capri. This cheese was awarded first place in its category for the past four American Cheese Society annual judgments and is great as a creamy cooking ingredient.

For the hickory-averse (we hear this is a genetic condition much like hating cilantro and being short), we have a line-up of other Diarymaid all-stars. We're bringing back Reading Raclette, the Vermont version of the famous Swiss cheese that's tasty both as a snacking cheese and melted. You can also sample the latest batch of Vintage Granbury Gold from Matt and David Eagle, differentiated from Granbury Gold by a firmer texture and bolder flavor.

All that and more this weekend. Hope to see you!

This Week's Warehouse Tasting

The one consolation of this June heat? This year's first batch of Pure Luck Dairy Del Cielo. It's not often in stock, but when it is this Camembert-style goat cheese round always impresses with its creaminess. This current batch is still young and only starting to cream around the edges but still delicious and amazing with the peaches that are in season right now.

We'll be offering that today at the warehouse alongside a fresh batch of burrata, San Andreas, a sheep milk cheese modeled after Pecorino, and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.

Our blue cheese this weekend is Tilston Point. A delicious washed rind blue from Hook's Cheese Company in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Tony and Julie Hook started making cheese in the 70s. After mastering Colby and Cheddar, they turned their attention to blues in the late 90's. With its washed rind, the Tilston has an earthy, funky flavor that makes a great counterpoint to the sharp fruity flavor.