Alpencheddar
Distinguished artisan cheese producers join forces to create a unique blend of traditional German Alpine cheese and British Cheddar
HOFKÄSEREI KRAUS
Albert Kraus has been producing cheese from the best Allgäu milk in the Ebersbach dairy since March 1999. This milk comes from two traditional farms located within 5km of the dairy, which are run by his brother Xaver Kraus and by Albert’s neighbor. Every day, the milk of the two Brown Swiss herds is delivered to the dairy, which produces different Alpine-style cheeses, with age profiles ranging from 3 to 18 months.
Quicke’s
Quicke’s has nurtured the family’s land for nearly 500 years, crafting outstanding cheese from an idyllic corner of Devon. Quicke’s farmers carefully manage their ancient pastures, feeding specially bred cows on lush grass year-round so they give the very best milk for their cheese. Using time-honoured methods their award-winning truckles are handmade, clothbound and slow-matured for up to 24 months, giving the cheese its distinctive depth and complexity of flavour.
Alpencheddar Flavour profile
The result is a not quite hard/not quite soft cheese, unique in texture with a nutty, sweet aroma and notes of hay and damp straw. An orangey/brown natural rind coats a slightly open textured cheese with a smattering of visible air holes. The flavour is slightly hazelnutty to start, sweet with acidity from the cheddar coming through and a delicious apricot finish.
Tom Chatfield, Head of Sales and Marketing at Quicke’s, visited Albert’s dairy in 2018 and saw some of Albert’s experimentation with cheeses. Reminiscing on the visit a year later with Norbert Sieghart of Kaeskuche whilst at a wedding in California, Tom enquired as to whether aged cheddar could be added to the curd of Albert’s cheese to create a sort of hybrid. Norbert messaged Albert straight away and the path was set!