Specialty Cheeses

What do you get when a financial services executive and a chef buy a farm in rural Maryland? A creamery, of course! Mike Koch and his chef husband Pablo Solanet didn’t have any cheesemaking experience, but they quickly learned by attending classes at University of Wisconsin at Madison. Following cheese legends like Mary Keehn at Cypress Grove and Judy Schad at Capriole, they started making goat cheese. Mike and Paul source fresh goat milk from family farms within a 30-mile radius of the creamery. They work around the goats’ natural milking cycle, adjusting their cheese production and ageing process accordingly. They now have a line of nine cheeses, most of which have won multiple awards.  Cabra LaMancha is their Spanish inspired, semi-soft washed rind cheese. Every other day, they flip and wash each wheel by hand, resulting in a beautiful orange hue. The goat flavor is clean and not overly barnyard, while still being meaty with a hint of umami. The small 5lb wheel is the perfect cheese for curious goat cheese lovers. This year, Cabra La Mancha took home 3rd place in the Washed Rind goat cheese category at the American Cheese Society Competition.