cheese

Driving home from my most recent trip to Wisconsin Dells, I stopped to refuel in Black River Falls. While refueling, I was drawn to what appeared to be a barn converted into a liquor store/cheese shop/antique store/coffee shop/gift shop/art dealer. I had stumbled onto the headquarters for Chippewa Valley Cheese. Drawn by the possibility of discovering some good local coffee/beer/cheese, secretly excited by the "Fresh Cheese Curds" sign, I headed inside to check it out.

2 parenthetical thoughts before continuing:
1) When it comes to food and drink, local is better, and handcrafted is best. I believe in farmer's markets, owner-operated coffee suppliers, home-made bread, hand-crafted cheese, and microbrews. Call me a snob if you like.

When I stumble onto a place which potentially offers a unique culinary experience, even if it's just cheese, I get excited.

2) Wisconsin is supposedly known for it's cheese and it's consumption of beer. Which is strange because I've yet to find a Wisconsin produced offering of either which could be classified as anything better than average. Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss isn't a bad beer, but it isn't great. Besides, Lienkugel's is owned by Miller.

Greeting us at the entrance of Chippewa Valley Cheese was the smell of fresh coffee mixed with a slightly pungent aroma of fresh cheese. I made a beeline for the coffee barrista, but a table with (free) samples of cheese caught my eye, and my caffeine craving was put on (temporary) hold. I sampled most of their offerings 3 or 4 times, using a tree's worth of toothpicks, and in the end was most satisfied with "True Blue Cheddar," a suprisingly well balanced mix of cheddar and blue cheese.

The next time you find yourself driving across Wisconsin on I-94, think about stopping in Black River Falls. Otherwise, you can order Chippewa Valley Cheese online. I recommend the 4 year aged white cheddar and the True Blue Cheddar.

And the cappuccino was good, too. Not too milky ("dry" in coffee snob lingo) - just the way I like them.