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. — This spruce wrapped goat’s milk brie is the perfect party cheese. Just slice off the top rind and stick a spoon in it! The creamy, fondue like texture is perfect for a crusty baguette or a crudité platter. The flavors from the spruce bark comes through, rounding out with a clean pleasant goat flavor.