tomcam
3 months ago
If you like sharp cheddar, the best cheese in the world is "Cougar Gold" from WSU Creamery in eastern Washington, USA, a region not known to be a hotbed of find cheeses. It comes in a can, also not thought of as a delivery vector for a great cheese, but there you have it. Tastes great out of the can or you can age it for a few years in the refrigerator. Five or 6 years is fine. I absolutely love the crystals. No mold forms unless you open the can.
WSU's other cheeses are okay but do not stand out to me. Nothing from England or France has delivered the sharp cheddar experience like Cougar Gold.
fishmicrowaver
3 months ago
I'm not easily Influenced so I'm mystified at how canned cheese had me checking out ways to order it.
AlanYx
3 months ago
The canning process is the result of post-WW2 government funded research at WSU. It's a cool backstory for a cheese.
tomcam
3 months ago
Had no idea! Love this! The website looks like it dates from WWII tbh
supportengineer
3 months ago
user
3 months ago
jmdeon
3 months ago
Yeah I just ordered one. The effectiveness of this HN post plus this parent comment has me convinced they're in cahoots.
tomcam
3 months ago
I knew you had it in you
peterldowns
3 months ago
I just ordered two cans of the cougar gold, one of the viking, and one of the mild cheddar. If it's not good I will blame you.
The archaic checkout system and the fact that this is a Washington State school agricultural product make me think that this will be the best cheese I've ever eaten in my life. Quite fond of their apples!
carabiner
3 months ago
Each can is almost 2 lb. You are ready for this?
peterldowns
3 months ago
Born ready
tomcam
3 months ago
The responsibility weighs heavy on my shoulders
PeterHolzwarth
3 months ago
The well known Rainier cherry cultivar similarly comes from Washington State University - quite an ag program they have there!
Wingman4l7
3 months ago
Not the first time I've seen it organically recommended, and I'm not surprised. A buddy has some of this stuff, he usually ages it for a minimum of a year, ideally 2+, in the fridge. Will sometimes have fantastic crystals, and even if it doesn't it's still exceptional sharp cheddar.
user
3 months ago
user
3 months ago
carabiner
3 months ago
Some guy cracked open a 15 year old can of Cougar Gold and said it was good: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cheese/comments/1oas900/update_i_op...
foofoo12
3 months ago
We once popped open a bottle of red wine from 1968. After tasting, we figured it was probably the best before date.
IAmBroom
3 months ago
Aging requires (1) fairly constant temperatures (no extremes) and (2) only helps some wines. Many wines, especially whites, tend to lose too many of their ideal esters with age, while gaining too many undesirable notes.
Or, to put it another way, they go stale.
msuniverse2026
3 months ago
I remember hearing about that cheese in the past. Does it need a cold chain to be shipped overseas?
tomcam
3 months ago
Not sure what a "cold chain" is but yes, it's shipped ice-filled styrofoam containers. Without it the cheese would sweat, which freaks people out.
SideburnsOfDoom
3 months ago
> Not sure what a "cold chain" is
Why do you choose that over looking it up? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_chain
tomcam
3 months ago
Because I’m an idiot and assumed it was a typo. Thanks—had no idea that was a thing. Enthusiastically upvoted your comment.
tbrownaw
3 months ago
"chain" as in "supply chain".
omnicognate
3 months ago
I'd love to try that but the only site I can see selling it here in the UK wants 85 quid a tin.
There are plenty of extra mature cheddars with crystals here, though. Marks & Spencer have a 2 year aged one called Cornish Cruncher that I'm partial to.
noir_lord
3 months ago
Not like we are short of Cheddars in the UK tbf.
omnicognate
3 months ago
Indeed, including a cave aged one actually made in Cheddar (which is amazing). Godminster and Black Bomber are both very nice, and are wax sealed so might be similar to the canned stuff. And that's before you get into the unpasteurised stuff you're not even allowed to sell in the states. (Edit: I'm wrong about that - you can if it's aged more than 60 days.)
I'd really like to try this Cougar Gold, though. People get nationalistic about cheese, but good is good wherever it's made. If England can have the best brie I know of (Baron Bigod) there's no reason in principle the US couldn't have the best cheddar. Canada makes rather nice cheddar too, which you can buy in UK supermarkets.
The US terminology is odd, though. Sharp isn't how I'd characterise most extra mature cheddar.
omnicognate
3 months ago
Re unpasteurised cheddar: Keen's is a good example of that. Makes your teeth itch... in a good way.
tomcam
3 months ago
What's your fave?
ndsipa_pomu
3 months ago
Davidstow Reserve - matured for 36 months.
TheAmazingRace
3 months ago
I'll be making a stop in Seattle here in a few weeks. I'll see if this is available for purchase at Haggen.
tomcam
3 months ago
I'll give you a can if you're willing to visit Redmond, a suburb of Seattle.
TheAmazingRace
3 months ago
Sorry stranger. I just saw this. Maybe I can work something out? I’ll let you know and I appreciate the offer.
ndsipa_pomu
3 months ago
Hmmm, I'm somewhat doubtful about cheese from the USA as my experience there (only on holiday, mind) was that most cheese seems to be made of plastic. However, I fully acknowledge my lack of knowledge about good/great american cheeses and I'm sure there are small scale producers of quality products.
Some of the best cheddars that I've tried are Wyke Farms Cheddar (from Somerset, but not quite in Cheddar itself) and my favourite is Davidstow which comes from Cornwall. Quite why you'd be expecting quality Cheddar cheese from France is beyond me - wouldn't they consider it insulting to be making an English style cheese when they have so very many unique types of French cheese?
technothrasher
3 months ago
Most of the mainstream cheese that you're going to encounter here in the US is boring and tasteless. Even most of the cheddar we get imported from the UK is terribly mediocre, I've found. It's just what many American's like, apparently. But that doesn't mean you can't get good cheese, both domestic and imported, if you frequent a specialist local cheese shop. There are quite a few farms in Vermont and New Hampshire, and also a couple in Massachusetts, that I've found make really good cheddars, rivaling some of my favorite Somerset cheddars. I'm sure there are good producers outside of New England too, I just know those ones as that's where I am.
carabiner
3 months ago
Isn't McDonalds massively successful in Paris? Here's one artisanal creamery in the US: https://www.cascadiacreamery.com/photo_gallery.html
There are hundreds of these across the country, but you have to seek them out. You can also get raw milk cheeses in the US.
ndsipa_pomu
3 months ago
Those certainly look like proper, tasty cheeses.
I don't doubt that there's a thriving junk food culture in France, but they do have something like 1000 different varieties of cheese, so I can imagine the french getting annoyed if someone asks them for a nice bit of cheddar.
The U.S. seems to have a strange relationship with raw milk - I believe it can be fairly freely sold over there, whereas we in the UK can't buy/sell raw milk in shops although it can be purchased from farms and farmer's markets. Meanwhile, raw milk cheese are common in supermarkets - they just put a label on it warning pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.
IAmBroom
3 months ago
Raw milk is outlawed in many places, but allowed in others. We do indeed have a strange relationship.