With autumn comes a shift in seasons and cheeses. Gone are your lavender-infused goudas and rinds dipped in wildflowers—a dip in temperatures means it’s time to dip into smoky blues and pumpkin-spiced logs.
Fall for these seven cheeses with harvest time twists.
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Roth Cheese’s Smoked Moody Blue Blue Cheese
If there’s a chill in the air and your first thought is to head to the woods, start a campfire, and eat s’mores, then this cheese is for you. This Wisconsin blue is small-batch and smoked over fruit wood to create its savory flavor profile. It’s a versatile cheese, too—perfect pairings include thick-cut slices of bacon, stouts, and salads. However, this author suggests putting Moody Blue with Divina’s caramelized onion jam and Ardbeg Wee Beastie scotch.
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Nettle Meadow’s Pumpkin Spice Chèvre
Congratulations, pumpkin spice fans—your favorite latte comes in goat cheese form. Nettle Meadow offers a slew of flavored cheese each season, but we’ve highlighted this one as our sole pumpkin spice pick. Made with maple syrup, cinnamon, and cloves, expect this cheese to be sweet, but not overly sweet. Pair with Rustic Bakery’s Artisan Pumpkin Spice Crisps to double up on pumpkin.
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Artikaas’ Youngsters Black Garlic Gouda
Fermented black garlic plays with gouda’s creamy texture in each bite of this four-to-six-week-old cheese. With Black Garlic Gouda, umami’s abound and the possibilities are endless—you can casually snack on this cheese or place it on your Halloween cheese board. Artikaas recommends drinking a Bloody Mary or a glass of citrusy Sauvignon Blanc in terms of pairings. If you ask me, a Bloody Mary with a Black Garlic Gouda-topped butter burger sounds like an excellent brunch.
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Big Moo’s Harvest Cranberry Baked Cheese
It’s giving Thanksgiving: real cranberries, cinnamon, and Wisconsin Creamline milk come together in Big Moo’s recently released baked cheese. Big Moo specializes in small-batch cheeses and sources its milk exclusively from small family farms in Wisconsin. This cheese is made to be grilled; Big Moo prides itself on designing cheeses that crisp up on the outside while maintaining a melty interior. If you haven’t been making jam-slicked grilled cheeses this season, now might be the time.
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Springside Artisan Cheese’s Apple Cinnamon Monterey Jack
The label for this cheese states that it’s “creamy and buttery with a slightly sweet flavor.” Think of this cheese as the savory-sweet oatmeal of fall cheeses. It’s a day-to-night workhorse, whether it’s topping your breakfast burrito, a Monte Cristo sandwich, or acting as the centerpiece of a dessert cheese board. If you go the breakfast burrito route, add a salsa such as Trader Joe’s Fall Harvest salsa, which features a blend of apples, butternut squash, and pumpkin complementary to this Monterey Jack.
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Red Apple Cheese’s Bourbon Gouda
Hickory-smoked with a hint of Kentucky bourbon, this Wisconsin cheese has Southern flair. This is a cheese you should have sitting on your porch with a cup of the brown stuff after work, watching red leaves fall in the evening light. It pairs well with sausage, in case you feel like firing up the grill one last time before winter sets in. This cheese is also certified kosher.
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Calkins Creamery’s Vampire Slayer
Last but not least is Vampire Slayer, a bespeckled, garlicky cheese hailing from Pennsylvania’s family-owned Calkins Creamery that served as the centerfold cheese for our Cheese 101 issue. Vampire Slayer’s got a kick and it’s super crushable; a stirred curd cheddar base is mixed with garlic, onion, and paprika. Wheels are then dipped in black wax, which looks sexy as hell. It’s a spicy cheese that’s positively haunting because once you have it, it’s hard to stop thinking about it. Make a bowl of mac and cheese with Vampire Slayer, then sit back and watch your vampire movie of choice for a solid night in.
Alana Pedalino
Alana Pedalino's work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Bon Appétit, and The Buffalo News. She's currently serving as culture's social media manager. She loves to write poetry, eat spaghetti carbonara, and kayak. Follow her @APstyle on X. Read more by her here: https://alanapedalino.com/#/.
