the cheese blog

Blacksticks Blue

Blacksticks Blue is a pasteurized cows milk made by Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses. The interior color is a bright amber, from being colored with annatto, with veins of blue-gray mold and a nice beige and gray mottled rind. The interior paste is soft and creamy. It has a quite pungent aroma.  The taste is a bit salty, tangy, and spicy sharp when you hit a vein of mold, but overall it’s reasonably restrained and subdued. It’s mild-ish.

I really enjoyed this cheese. I wasn’t expecting to as it’s sold in almost every major grocery chain in the UK, which raises the quality question. Yet, it fulfills that satisfying cross between a cheddar, blue-cheese, while having a cracker-friendly, spreadable paste.