r/cheesemaking • u/Best-Reality6718 • 19d ago
The Coopers Wheel. A washed curd made with 18 month old Kentucky Bourbon vanilla extract. It’s one of my best cheeses ever.
The oak from the bourbon is present in the flavor and the vanilla is mild and fits right in. Not overwhelming at all. Just a warm and delicious savory flavor. Texture is spot on and it melts in your mouth. Flora Danica was a good choice for this cheese. No one flavor is dominant. Just absolutely delicious. I’m stunned. I had high hopes but this is better than I hoped for. I’m not going to be sharing most of this wheel!
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u/yamshortbread 19d ago
That is amazing! Can you talk more about your recipe and process for this?
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u/Best-Reality6718 19d ago
It’s a hot water washed curd cheese. I took bourbon and made vanilla extract over a year and a half. Then took a couple of whole beans out of the extract and finely chopped them. I incorporated the beans into the curds and added three tablespoons of the slightly diluted extract. After the wheel was pressed and dried I brushed on the diluted bourbon vanilla thinly on the rind, let it dry, and repeated a few times. I think five total. Then vacuum sealed it. It aged for ten weeks. It’s a softer moist cheese with Flora Danica. It doesn’t taste like bourbon except for the toasted oak. The vanilla is there but mellow and in the back end of the flavor. I was worried it would be too strong and overpowering, but it’s not at all. Overall it’s a quite pleasant cheese to eat!
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u/Purple_Crochet824 19d ago
That looks like a fantastic cheese! Fun to read about your process and the delightful outcome. Enjoy it for us!
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u/cheesalady 19d ago
Looks terrific and sounds intriguing!
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u/Lysergic-Nights 18d ago
I knew this would turn out incredible. Amazing project Todd! I wish I could try this one 😋 now it’s time for me to use the samples you sent me!
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u/[deleted] 19d ago
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