Artisan cheeses will develop color, texture, and flavor over time which is not conducive to high production needs. Many processed cheeses will often be made with real milk however, due to the high production requirements they will use chemical additives that provide color, flavor and preserve the cheese. Artisanal cheese is literally handmade from beginning to end and not managed by machinery or computers. Typically, when you hear the word “processed” you think of Cheese Whiz or Velveeta but I am using the term processed to describe all non-artisan cheeses due to the difference in both ingredients and how the cheese is made. So what are all the rest of the cheeses? I am going to use the term “processed” cheese to cover all the remaining cheese foods available. Yes, we do carry Humboldt Fog and YES, it is AMAZING! If you have not tried it, you have to come in and ask for a sample. A great example is Cypress Grove Farms from northern California. The pride of what they have built, produced, and maintain is inspiring. The stories, photo galleries and family backgrounds you discover from their websites are incredible. All are humane certified, and some cheese makers are so proud of their herds that they will even introduce them on their sites by name and give the animals credit for which cheeses their milk contributes to. There are no artificial treatments or ingredients introduced during any stage starting from animal husbandry to the actual process of cheese making. Most artisan cheeses are organic due to the high standards they use to maintain quality. True artisanal cheeses are made with unpasteurized milk that originate from the animals of a single-family farm. So, next time you're looking for the finest artisan cheese you can find, look north to Wisconsin.Prior to selecting cheese for Complexity we do research on the farm, cheese processing and types of cheeses the Artisan produces. It's also because we like to eat cheese, and when you eat as much cheese as we do, you want it to be dang good. It's why we require our cheesemakers to have a license, and why we have the only master cheesemaker program in the world outside of the one in Switzerland. Where does this single-mindedness for high-quality cheese making originate? Well, that's what happens when a whole state is dedicated to one thing: making the tastiest, most award-winning, highest-quality cheese on the planet. Today, Wisconsin cheesemakers lead the nation in producing artisan cheese, winning cheese-vat loads of international awards. So, settlers from France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, and Scandinavia soon began making the cheeses of their home countries. European immigrant cheesemakers found that our fertile dairy land was perfect for producing the high-quality milk they required to make cheese. Wisconsin cheesemakers have been making artisan cheese for more than 175 years – since before Wisconsin was even a state. Cupola, a semi-hard cheese with caramel notes and toasted pineapple flavor.Little Mountain, a traditional washed-rind alpine-style cheese made in the Appenzeller style, with a smooth and nutty flavor and aged at least six months.Brick cheese, a Wisconsin original that is a tamer but still strong-smelling version of limburger.Martone, a mixed-milk, surface-ripened, buttery, bloomy cheese made in small discs.Butterkäse, a decadently creamy cheese with a soft, silky texture, and mild buttery flavor.Marieke Black Mustard Gouda is an Old-World style gouda with a creamy, earthy flavor and extra bite from the addition of black mustard.Extra aged asiago is aged a minimum of 12 months to give it a creamy maturity and nutty flavor.Oaxaca is a semi-soft Mexican-style cheese with a flavor like a young Monterey Jack but a stringy texture like mozzarella. Originally made in Scandinavia from reindeer milk, it's a squeaky, buttery, slightly caramelized cheese with such low acidity that it softens rather than melting when heated. Juustaleipa, or " bread cheese" has a texture like toasted bread.Dunbarton Blue is a cellar-aged, natural-rind cheese with the earthy character of a fine English cheddar and deep veins of blue flavor.Here are a few of our favorite artisan cheese varieties from Wisconsin:
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