Jamaican Jack is the epitome of Jamaica in a cheese. Each wheel of this Jack style cheese is handmade, making every wheel unique in itself. The roasted scotch bonnet peppers that run through each wheel are grown less that a mile from the cheese making space on the family farm and the roasted pimentos are sourced as locally as possible. During the aging process, each wheel is rubbed with an in-house jerk rub which gives them their distinctive rind and deep herbaceous flavour. The scotch bonnets lend a touch of spicy to each bite while herbs like escallion and thyme add an earthy flavour. The crushed pimentos add texture to this otherwise smooth cheese.
Find Jamaican Jack at these retailers.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 8-12 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Guava jam or mango chutney, olives, caramel popcorn, pickled mild peppers, like Peppadews.
Cook with it:
Jerk chicken pasta, burgers and sandwiches, quesadillas, omelettes.
Drink with:
Fruity red wines, port, brandy, Trouble's Brewing Oktoberfest Lager, Red Stripe Beer.
False Banana
Every time you peel back the banana leaves that delicately hold the bloomy rind Jamaican cheese that is, False Banana, it's like unwrapping a delicious little gift. This small round gets dusted with banana leaf ash before being wrapped in banana leaf, and as it ages, a slightly fruity scent develops while the flavour becomes slightly citrusy and almost sharp with some classic umami, brie notes. Cutting into this cheese reveals a smooth and soft cream line with a firmer inner paste; when eating it, the delicate texture nearly melts in your mouth.
Find False Banana at The Butcher Block or Uncorked.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 5-6 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Honey, berry jam, strawberries, cured meats, French breads.
Cook with it:
Baked false banana, omelette, Pear and Apple Flatbread with Honey.
Drink with:
Bubblies, Chardonnay, Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Port, cider.
Half And Half
A young cheddar style cheese, Half and Half stands out as our most complex cheese. Each wheel is rubbed with a mixture of coffee and chocolate which adds a myriad flavours and attracts natural blue molds, which give the cheese a very light blue cheese taste closer to the rind. The actual paste of the cheese is sweet with a classic mild cheddar taste; although when aged at 4 months, this cheese develops more sharpness with a caramel sweetness. The texture is a bit drier than our other cheeses, making it perfect for shaving and grating over pastas but make no mistake, this cheddar is perfect melted on a beef burger patty.
Find Half and Half at these retailers.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 8 weeks (up to 4 months)
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Berry jam, caramelized onions, coconut gizzada, toasted crisps, Pure Chocolate or One One Cocao locally made dark chocolate bars, caramel sauce.
Cook with it:
Caramelized onion tart, beef burger, mac and cheese, cheese scone, cheesy potatoes.
Drink with:
Merlot, Pinot Noir, stout, port, scotch whiskey.
Williamsfield WildFlower
This Alpine style beauty has a rind packed with organically, homegrown flowers and herbs that makes this wheel almost too beautiful to cut into. Once you manage to cut through the beautiful rind, go ahead and smell the sweet scent of freshly baked pastries that this cheese offers. The taste is sweet, like light toffee and slightly herbaceous with a smooth paste that has small eyes, like the popular Alpine style cheese, Gruyère. Williamfield Wildflower, has amazing melt-ability and makes the perfect addition to fondue.
Find Williamsfield Wildflower only at The Butcher Block.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 12 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Honey, herbed crackers, Pure Chocolate or One One Cacao's Dark Chocolate, cured meats, fresh fruit, salted almonds.
Cook with it:
Fondue, mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich.
Drink with:
Trouble's Brewing Hefeweizen, Reisling, Rosé.
Red Maroon
Inspired by the traditional Christmas drink that so many Jamaicans love, Red Maroon is a Caerphilly style cheese that is washed with Red Label Wine and sorrel (roselle). Like true Caerphilly, this cheese boasts tangy notes but unlike Caerphilly, the tanginess in Red Maroon comes predominantly from the brewed sorrel that also stains the rind a light red colour which contrasts beautifully with the light yellow paste of this cheese. Fruity flavours come through with the addition of Red Label Wine, a rather sweet dessert wine that also adds a hint of 'boozy' to Red Maroon. This is cheese is beautifully smooth on the palate and makes a gooey, grilled cheese sandwich, let's see if you'll be able to stop eating this one.
Find Red Maroon at these retailers.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 8 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Sorrel (roselle) jam, mango chutney, cured meats, stinky (washed rind) cheeses.
Cook with it:
Chicken pot pie, pizzas, pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches.
Drink with:
Chardonnay, Merlot, cider, citrusy beers.
Crescenza
Crescenza is a testament to the quality of our milk, this young cheese is incredibly rich in fresh dairy flavour and tastes of grasslands and molasses. The dairy cows are given hay, mixed with molasses and are set free to graze on dewy grasslands as well. Our crescenza is aged for about two weeks, whereas traditional crescenza is a fresh cheese, meant to be consumed after being made; the age time we give our wheels allow the unmistakable taste of molasses, a unique flavour that is hard to find among cheeses worldwide, to come to the forefront on your palates. Overall fresh and mild but a surprisingly delicate taste.
Find Crescenza at our events.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 2 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Jamaican Jack, apples, pears, nuts, crackers.
Cook with it:
flatbreads, quiches, grilled cheese sandwiches.
Drink with:
Bubblies, Pinot Grigio.
Oscar
Oscar is the cheese for adventurous palates looking to experience a controlled cannabis cheese experience. Named after Oscar from Sesame Street for the similar dense and green form both he and cannabis plants share, Oscar is surprisingly light on the palate with a delicate, herbaceous flavour that anyone would enjoy. This experimental cheese is dotted with tiny cannabis buds throughout the paste and during it's aging process, the rind is rubbed with cannabis oil. The intent of this cheese is to calm nerves and encourage a more restful state, ideal for persons who are looking to relax their mind and body. Oscar is not available from our sales list but is included in our cave reserve collection featured on our farm tours and private events.
The Specifics
Origin: Jamaica
Milk type: Cow
Age time: 8 weeks
Pairing Recommendations
Eat with:
Strawberries, toasted nuts, caramel sauce, flavoured honey, cured meats, False Banana, tomato and tropical fruit jams.
Cook with it:
Potato au Gratin, pizza, mac and cheese, steak sandwich, stuffed chicken breat, stuffed pork chop with Granny Smith apples.
Drink with:
Bubblies, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Chianti, shiraz, Muscato.
