Beehive Cheese

~Beehive Cheese~

Barely Buzzed Cheddar

It's Sunday evening and the Santa Ana Winds have spread warm summer-like weather across our city. It seems fitting to have some appetizers and wait until it cools a little more to have dinner. Our find and recommendation for our appetizer tonight is: Barely Buzzed Cheddar by Beehive Cheese.

Beehive cheeses come from Utah. Two brother-in-laws, Tim Welsh and Pat Ford left their software and real estate jobs in 2005 to begin an artisan cheese company. They claim they make cheese from some of the creamiest and cleanest milk in Utah.

We tried their Barely Buzzed Cheddar. Wow! We have never tasted anything like it! You can see in the picture above that there is a sprinkling of what appears to be pepper on the surface of the cheese. We were amazed to find out that this cheese is hand rubbed with a Turkish grind of Colorado Legacy Coffee Company's Beehive Blend. The blend consists of a mix of 3 coffee beans from South and Central America and Indonesia. They are roasted to different styles. Then French Superior Lavendar buds are ground with the coffees and the mixture is diluted with Canola oil to suspend the dry ingredients in the rub. The rub imparts notes of butterscotch and caramel which are prevalent near the rind and work their way into the center of the cheese. The cheese is aged in temperature controlled caves. This cheese has taken 1st place for the last three years in the Flavored American Cheddar Cheese Society's annual competition.

This is how we served it up with grapes, nectarines, a good "toothy" bread and the delectable bites of Beehive Cheddar.

If you have a Whole Foods in your shopping area, they most likely carry this cheese. Try it! You will be amazed at the creamy, lovely flavor.