My first tasting of this round of Jasper Hill's Alpha Tolman Cheese was a quick, objective, utilitarian affair. A hectic schedule had kept me from truly enjoying this cheese. I promised myself that I would devote some time to relax and enjoy this cheese. Coincidentally I had promised my wife we would tour the Wollersheim Winery in Prairie Du Sac Wisconsin.

A few nights ago I finally sat down with my new box of cheese, glad as ever to have free, expirimental cheese
from "The Hill". I forced my lovely fiancee to professionally analyze these 2 contestants with me for some other
reactions. We kept it simple, cheese, knife, cutting board and water.
Lets get down to the real nitty gritty!

Appearance: Not a huge differance here except the size of the eyes and the fact that 109's rind looks more like
Mars than the more uniform 125. Both rinds have rich red and brown colors, very appropriate for the style.

Aromas: This is where it got good, we got buttery notes off of both but 109 was more complex. Notes included
cashew butter, wet hay and fondue. The rind of 125 did smell chemically but the paste was great.

Texture: The texture was pretty spot on ( based on the classics ) for the age. 125 came off
kind of mealy after a few chews. Both rinds were a nice break in texture and none too gritty.

August 26, 2012

When we finally received the second shipment of cheese from Jasper Hill, we were a bit disapointed to discover they were not as generous as they’d been the first time. We are embarassed to admit that we didn’t notice the name “Alpha Tolman” on the stickers, so when asked “What do you think of the name?” we weren’t sure what to write. Thanks to Anne who was the first to blog about her Round 2 experience, we were informed of the name. As we wrote on the feedback form, we don’t really get from whence came this name—it doesn’t make us think of Vermont nor Alpine nor even cheese for that matter! So we’re not sure how successful it is as a name. [After looking at some of the other blog posts we understand it’s named after an obscure Vermonter with no clear connection to the cheese. Perhaps Beta Tolman would have been better for this round?]

Hey culture. My husband and I are moving halfway across the country next week. We've been packing and doing all those tedious things you need to do when you move for a while, and we were ready for a fun break. Enter round two of Jasper Hill's newest cheese, now named Alpha Tolman! We were especially excited to see our shipment arrive safe and sound after a few changes in the shipping date. I was extra especially glad to see it finally come pretty late in the afternoon – due to a misspelling of our address which confused the delivery driver.

So after allowing the two new samples to come to room temperature, we plunked down amidst the boxes and packing tape to give them a closer inspection and have a much appreciated snack (moving is hard work!)

I took a 3-week trip to Florida and North Carolina in July and August, but got back to Chicago in time for the second shipment of samples in Culture's Birth of a Cheese Project 2012. New information has emerged, too, about the cheese we are birthin.'