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Restaurant Daily News Marketplace G Saturday, May 21, 2016 ARTISANAL CHEESE PARTNERSHIP SPRINGBOARDS CREATIVITY By Lorrie Baumann Cabot Creamery's partnership with Cellars at Jasper Hill won an American Cheese Society first-place award for Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Select and another first place for Cabot Clothbound Cheddar last July and now is inspiring new Cabot Creamery cheeses created for distribution in mainstream grocers, says Craig Gile, New Product Manager for Cabot Creamery. The recipe for the clothbound ched- dars was developed jointly by Cabot Creamery food scientists and Cellars at Jasper Hill Cheesemaker Mateo Kehler and was designed to make a cheese with a sweet, nutty finish. Cabot Creamery's large production capacity made it possi- ble to produce large quantities of the cheese – as much as 5,000 pounds a month, depending on market demand, which peaks during the winter holiday season. The cheese is aged for a few months at Cabot Creamery and then sent over to The Cellars at Jasper Hill for affi- nage, packaging and eventual sale to specialty cheese shops, where it fetches around $25 a pound for wheels aged 12 to 14 months. The difference in scale between the two companies means that while Cabot Creamery can make mas- sive amounts of cheddar cheese for the mass market and take advantages of the economies of scale that come with that kind of production, which depends a great deal on consistency, The Cellars at Jasper Hill can take a small percentage of that product and lavish a great deal of attention on it to produce a product that commands a premium price for its uniqueness. Cabot Creamery also gains access to the artisanal cheese market as well as the cachet of having its name on award-winning cheeses sought after by cheesemongers. "Not only do we get a link to that artisanal cheese world, it gives Cabot the reputation that we're able to make the artisanal cave-aged product as well," Gile said. As the partnership has prospered, though, it's had some additional effects as Gile, who moved over from managing Cabot's warehousing and grading to new product development, has had the chance to share knowledge with Jasper Hill Cheesemakers Mateo and Andy Kehler. "We're each pursuing different areas of what we're trying to do, and we've learned a lot from them," Gile said. "We're getting a lot of insight into what the artisanal base is looking for and finding paths to the customers that shop at these cheese shops." "I really like what that whole cheese shop environment brings to us," he con- tinued. "It's a place to launch new cheeses, to get honest feedback about what you're working on, to get their feedback from customers.... What I like about the cheesemonger role is that we have people selling it who have passion about the product and can tell the story about it. It's another challenge for us to come up with products that are excit- ing.... You have to convince cheesemon- gers that you have an exciting, interest- ing, and high-end product." That insight into the artisanal cheese market has inspired the cheesemakers at Cabot Creamery to apply that informa- tion as well as knowledge about new cheese cultures as they're figuring out how they can use their existing cheddar- ing equipment to make new cheeses with different taste profiles. Instead of just adding new flavoring ingredients to existing cheeses, they've begun develop- ing the recipes to create entirely new cheeses that the company is able to pro- duce in quantities large enough to target the lines at mainstream delis. These cheeses, which Cabot has dubbed its Founder's Collection, aren't intimidat- ingly different from the mainstream, but they're definitely designed to appeal to the novice turophile who's ready to take a step up from the cheeses he's used to picking up at the supermarket. "These are aimed at the deli counter," Gile said. "We didn't want to launch four new cheddars, so we've got three cheddars and another unique cheese.... We were looking for a way to add genuine value to the product, not just to make it look pretty." The Cabot Creamery Founder's Collection includes Cabot Private Stock, which has the familiar tang of the New England-style cheddar that consumers expect from Cabot Creamery but with a stronger Northeastern bite to it. Adirondack is made in the New York facility acquired with the 2003 acquisi- tion of McCadam Cheese Company by Agri-Mark, the dairy farmer cooperative behind Cabot Creamery. Aged 1.5 to two years, it's similar to Cabot Private Stock but made with the McCadam original stock cheese with its tangier citrus bite that lends a unique flavor profile com- pared to Cabot's Vermont cheddars. Lamberton is similar to Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, except that it's packaged in plastic rather than with cloth bindings. The name is a nod to one of Cabot's original founding farmers, and the cheese has a buttery sweetness over- laying the traditional flavors of a strong yankee cheddar. The last is Orne Meadows, which is completely different from most milk cheddars. It has powerful nutty notes redolent of a Grana-style Alpine cheese with a subtle New England sharpness to it. "That one, we don't actually call it a cheddar on the package," Gile said. " We just say it's a unique Vermont cheese." CIDER ACT BRINGS REFRESHING CHANGES By Micah Cheek Cider producers have scored a victory for their craft with the passage of the Cider Industry Deserves Equal Representation Act, or CIDER Act. Passage of the act means that cider and perry producers can make beverages with higher alcohol and carbonation contents without being pushed into a much more expensive tax category. Consumers wanted ciders with qual- ities that required coming up against these highly taxed levels, cider makers said. "Cider in the tax code is defined very narrowly," says Dan Rowell, CEO of Vermont Hard Cider. Prior to the pas- sage, ciders would be taxed as wine if they exceeded a seven percent alcohol content, and taxed as champagne if they exceeded 3.92 grams of carbon dioxide per liter. While producers normally paid 17 cents per gallon in taxes, going over the required carbon dioxide content limit bounced their taxes to $3.30 per gallon. "A lot of smaller guys have been living under that risk and hoping they don't get caught," adds Rowell. "Smaller players were either paying that tax or running the risk." Customer comments drove the movement, according to Rowell. "People would try a beer, then try a cider, and say our product tastes flat," he says. "If we go any higher(in carbonation), it's the champagne tax, which makes this prohib- itive." As the cider industry grew, produc- ers were finding that they couldn't afford to make the kinds of ciders that cus- tomers were becoming interested in. They organized and found that they were dealing with an industry-wide issue. "There wasn't one single event – it was more of a critical mass," says Nat West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider. "Someone raises their hand and says 'I know the senator in my state, let me call them up and ask them what to do.' There was enough critical mass that we looked around and realized we could make it happen." "Once we had a bill in Congress, then it was that grass roots… (Producers) calling their representatives," says West. "As a result, the bill was very highly sponsored. There were dozens of senators and reps for the bills; it was very biparti- san." Support for the bill was enhanced by the cider producers' contention that the change isn't going to cost the government anything, according to Rowell. "Congress was asking, 'How much is this going to cost us?'" he says. "One of the keys is, it's revenue-neutral or -enhancing." With the passing of the act, cider and perry producers are looking forward to new opportunities. "We'll have more lee- way with our products," says Micheal Beck, President of the United States Association of Cider Makers and Co- owner of Uncle John's Cider Mill. "You definitely have more room to work with. You're definitely at less risk of being taxed at a much higher rate." Beck notes that this leeway is important to a quickly growing industry. "We hope to sustain this growth. We still haven't achieved 100 percent market penetration. Some retail places have yet to try cider." Greater flexibility also means a greater ability to innovate. "I don't think you'll see established companies increas- ing the alcohol level that much. What you will see, though, is medium-sized craft producers having the option to make ciders we wanted to make, but couldn't afford to make because of taxes," adds West. "Retailers are going to see a greater variety…. When a consumer goes and sees a cider on a shelf, they'll say, 'cider shmider.' But when they see 20 on the shelf, they'll say, 'Hey, I want to try that.'" BUMBLEBERRY FARMS: RICH, CREAMY SPREADS Inspired by the flavors of her Pennsylvania childhood – cinnamon rolls, hot cocoa, homemade caramels and maple hot cakes – Bumbleberry Farms Founder and Queen Beekeeper Karen Mosholder began preparing her rich, creamy spreads on her honey house stove, making just 18 jars at a time. "I think our strongest food memo- ries are ones associated with people and experiences we loved as children. My grandmother kept honey butter on her kitchen table, and I always looked forward to a slice of toast served up with a dollop of cinnamon honey but- ter," she said. "I've tried to recreate those flavors with my honey spreads." Still locally craft- ed, Mosholder uses clover and wildflower honeys, local, fair-trade organic cocoa, cream- ery butter and other premium ingredients to create a collection of four decadent flavors: Lovers' Leap Sea Salt Caramel, Sticky Buns Cinnamon, Squirrel Crazy Maple and Molten Lava Chocolate, all beautifully packaged for gifting singly or in a four-pack. The versatility of these spreads make them perfect additions to bakery, cheese and gourmet food depart- ments because they pair well with salty cheeses. Slather easily on artisanal bread, or use them as as glaze for meat or fish. For more information, go to www .bumbleberryfarms.com or email karen@bumbleberryfarms.com.