Classic Box

Founded in 2002 by Mike Koch & Pablo Solanet, FireFly Farms sources fresh goat milk from family farms within 30-miles of the creamery, all of which is free from added hormones or antibiotics. They pay farmers a premium for this high-quality milk. Firefly has a deep commitment to the environment and sustainability and has high animal welfare and worker welfare standards. Merry Goat Round is a brie-style, approachable cheese with a fresh milky flavor and mushroomy notes. Its silky texture is decadent.

• Farm/Producer/Importer: Firefly Farms
• Place: Accident, Maryland
• Style: Bloomy
• Milk Type: Goat
• Rennet: Vegetarian
• Age: 3-4 weeks
• Pairing: Rosé , Lambic ale

The Swiss classic Appenzeller inspires the recipe for Alpha Tolman. Alpha has a dense texture and smooth paste which melts beautifully. When young, Alpha Tolman is milky, nutty and a bit fruity and as it ages it develops deeper oniony, beefy notes. It is made using traditional Alpine methods of cooking and pressing the curds to achieve a tight, elastic, smooth texture. Like all of Jasper Hill's cheeses, Alpha's name is a nod to the history of Greensboro. Alpha Tolman was a pioneering dairy farmer in Greensboro.

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• Farm/Producer/Importer: Jasper Hill Farm 
• Place: Greensboro, VT
• Style: Firm
• Milk Type: Raw Cow
• Rennet: Traditional
• Age: 8-12 Months
• Pairing: Nero d'Avola, Nut Brown Ale

For five generations, the Cravero family has been hand-selecting young wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano from the best farms of Emilia-Romagna and bringing them to their maturation caves in Bra, a village in central Piedmont. One of the smaller producers they work with is Caseificio Sociale San Pietro which is located in the town of Benedello di Pavullo. Massimo and Laura Libra produce just six wheels of cheese per day, and they work with five local farms, all of whom feed their animals exclusively on local grass and hay. They are located at altitude and because of that they are permitted to use the designation Prodotto di Montagna, (product of the mountain) a designation the Consorzio reserves for high altitude cheeses. Cravero believes the best Parmigiano Reggiano is aged for 24 months when the flavor is deep and developed, but the cheese still retains enough moisture to make it toothsome. We believe the small production and the affinage (the aging) sets this Parmigiano Reggiano apart from wheels available at supermarkets and big-box retailers.

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• Farm/Producer/Importer: Caseificio Sociale San Pietro/Cravero/Essex St. Cheese
• Place: Benedello di Pavullo, Italy
• Style: Hard
• Milk Type: Raw Cow
• Rennet: Traditional
• Age: 24 months
• Pairing: Prosecco, Lager