I have strong opinions about a lot of food items. Some of you will call it snobbery (and probably rightfully so), but I consider it knowing what I want. One of these areas is cheese. Especially cheddar cheese. It’s my favorite, and I have taken a lot of time and sampled a lot of different varieties and producers to know what I like. I’ve had cheddar from Vermont, Wisconsin, Oregon, California, New York, Quebec, Ireland, England, the list goes on. So what’s my favorite? English Coastal Cheddar. Now I see you out there rolling your eyes, but this style of cheddar cheese is simply my favorite.
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So what makes it so good? Well this style of cheddar has usually been aged around 12-15 months and has had time to develop calcium crystals. This gives the cheese a sweeter, crunchier, hazelnut flavor (I once got into an argument with a Dean & Deluca sales associate over this flavor profile). A calcium crystal manifests itself as a white streak running through the cheese. English Coastal Cheddar is a yellow cheddar, which again to me tastes better than it’s orange siblings. (Cheddar isn’t naturally orange by the way, this results from being dyed, usually with annatto.) This cheddar goes well with anything. I like it best in a roast beef sandwich on a nice sourdough (add whichever toppings you like).
Does this mean I won’t get down with your finest Cracker Barrel or a sharp Cabot. No way. I love cheddar in all it’s forms. But something about an English Coastal Cheddar, to me, just tastes better. You can find in a good cheese shop, or go to Whole Foods where they have the popular Ford Farms variety. Stop and taste the difference, you may never go back again.
Amen brother. There is a subtle sweetness and smooth nutty quality to the flavor which softens the sharp and slightly sour taste of many cheddars. I too love cheddars, but a good coastal is my favorite.
I just sampled this cheese at Costco two weeks ago and it was the best
cheese I have ever tasted. I decided to buy a block and it was only around $7.00 for 17 ounces. My family loved it so I went back this week to buy more, and was so disappointed to see that it had been discontinued. They could not give me a reason as to why it had been cancelled. The same think happened with my favorite popcorn, Skinny Pop. I have tried every popcorn product there is and Skinny Pop was my favorite. I know lots of people that share my opinion about the cheese and the popcorn. Why do they stop these products. I would love to know. Costco is only two miles from my house so I love going there.
I always see this cheese Costco… I buy a block about once a week there!
Absolutely LOVE Coastal cheddar cheese. Can you freeze it to keep it longer?
Hands down, this is the best cheddar for your money. The cheese drawer in the fridge has a wide variety of cheddards, Coastal is out cheese to celebrate a perfect day. A piece of Coastal, a multigrain toasted chip and a generous glass of Chardonay and everything turns into a holiday. BTW, a vacuum bag will keep your best Cheddar a good long while in your refrigerator. Wishing you a good life my friends. Tom
Coastal cheese is ,”Hands Down” the best cheddar I’ve ever had.Unfortunately Costco does not stock this cheese in Clifton NJ store..I insist they get it….They stock it at my West Palm Beach Costco….
Just moved to Placerville, Ca! Hoping Folsom Costco has Coastal!
Do any Costco stores in Northern California carry Coastal?
Rohnert park costco
I absolutely love the Coastal Cheddar from Costco. Trader Joe’s also sells one that’s pretty darned good. Can someone tell me if this cheese can be frozen for any length of time. Thanks
This is the only white cheddar we will use in our mashed potatoes (picking some more up this week for Thanksgiving) and we have even shredded it and used it on tacos (can’t use any other cheese on there now) and it is the best white cheddar I have ever had. Such an amazing taste and quality to it that I find difficult to describe, but that makes it sublime.
We buy several blocks of this at a time to be used as we need it and we freeze them all when we first get them home (unless we intend to use it that night), and I have never noticed any differences in taste or quality after freezing. We generally use this stuff pretty quickly, but I believe that we have had at least once where it was frozen for a couple of months before it was used.
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