Washington State Cheesemakers Association

Home
United States
Eatonville, WA
Washington State Cheesemakers Association

Supporting Washington cheese through education, promotion and collaboration among its members and partners.

06/30/2025

Today is the last day of Washington Cheese Month, but it's definitely not your last chance to enjoy delicious cheese crafted in Washington state.

We like to eat local cheese all year-round--and we especially enjoy eating seasonal cheeses that are only available during a certain time of the year. Mountain Lodge Farm in Eatonville is one creamery that has a seasonal operation, and their fresh cheeses are only available in the late spring, summer, and fall.

We hope you are inspired to look for local cheeses all the time, but we encourage you to seek out these special gems at farmers markets and local retailers to find the ones that are fleeting and enjoy them when you can -- because we all deserve a little treat!

📸 credit to Janee' Muha, The Mobile Monger

06/26/2025

Many folks don't realize this, but lots of cheesemakers are also farmers! Creameries where cheese is made on the same land where the milk is produced are called "farmstead creameries." This means that duties at the creamery also involve farm chores like feeding, caring for, and milking the animals, maintaining fields and harvesting feed, and dealing with waste. Just like cheesemaking, there is also lots of cleaning involved, and a lot of heavy lifting that goes into the job!

These happy cheesemakers and farm hands are at Lum Farm in Eastsound, Washington, a farm that makes mostly goat cheese but also raises sheep, cows, pigs, and even Christmas trees.

📸 credits to Janee' Muha, The Mobile Monger

06/24/2025

"Terroir" is a word used most frequently to describe wine. It is a French word that means "taste of place," and we can use it just as much to describe cheese. Cheese is very much a product of the place where it comes from. Grass and plants are grown in the soil, animals eat them and transform the nutrients of those plants into milk, which a cheesemaker then crafts into cheese. Aged cheeses also take on characteristics from the environment where they are aged (and all of the natural mold, bacteria, and yeasts in the air there).

This beautiful scene is at Glendale Shepherd, a sheep creamery on Whidbey Island. The terroir of their cheese is very much a taste of the island. How could you not make delicious cheese in such a gorgeous place?

📸 credit to Janee' Muha, The mobile Monger

06/20/2025

Cheese curds! Behold these baby versions of cheese that will go on to be pressed into a wheel of delicious cheese. These are cow's milk cheese curds in the vat at Ferndale Farmstead in Ferndale, Washington, and they are destined to become one of the creamery's Italian-style cheeses.

Are you more of a fresh cheese fan (think Mozzarella Fior di Latte!) or an aged cheese fan (like Asiago Pressa, Fontina, Provolone, or Roundbale)?

📸 credit to Janee' Muha, The Mobile Monger

06/18/2025

Have you heard? We are looking for a new executive director! The WASCA Board of Directors is collecting Requests for Proposals until June 30. If you are interested or if you know someone who'd be great at running a small non-profit that supports cheesemakers, head to the RFP at the link below.

https://washingtoncheese.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/RFP_WASCA-Executive-Director-2025.pdf

06/16/2025

Much of cheesemaking is science, time, and craft -- a little bit of hope. The magic of microbes helps transform milk into cheese, and with time and technique, cheese becomes a tasty and nourishing food. These wheels aging at Fantello Farmstead Creamery in Enumclaw, Washington, are made from raw cow's milk. They age for a minimum of 60 days in the creamery's cave -- waiting at the correct temperature and humidity until they have achieved the proper moisture level, texture, and balance of flavor. During that time, colonies of bacteria, mold, and yeast shape the cheese and give it just the right character.

06/13/2025

These cows from Clover Mountain Dairy in Chewelah, Washington, hope you have a MOO-tiful day!

06/11/2025

We finally received our proclamation from the governor's office. It's officially official -- it's Washington Cheese Month 2025!

06/02/2025

It's June -- which means it is officially Washington Cheese Month!

We look forward to this month every year because it gives us an extra reason to celebrate our state's many talented licensed cheesemakers every day (not that we really needed a reason).

What Washington cheeses will you be celebrating with this month?

05/15/2025

This is a cheese press, which helps to form a wheel of cheese into a compact shape while also pressing out as much whey or residual moisture as possible. Cheese curds go into the press and either gravity, a weight, hydraulic power, or a little help from the cheesemaker helps the press to create a firm and uniform shape out of the fermented milk solids within.

Here, this is how Cherry Valley Dairy's gorgeous golden butters take their shape. While you might mistake the finished wheel for a nice yellow cheese, it is in fact made of cultured cow's cream--with or without salt, coffee, or herbs and rose petals. These beautiful wheels of butter are pressed to perfection in Duvall, where the creamery also crafts fresh cheeses and aged cheeses like the Cheddar-style Queen's Currency--which also benefits from the press.

05/13/2025

Have you ever thought about what happens while a cheese ages? They don't just sit there getting better all by themselves, you know.

Aged cheeses go through a lot to get to the state of perfection you find them in at the grocery store. While the process is different for every type of cheese and depends on its environment, some cheeses are flipped over several times a day or daily to ensure even ripening, brushed or wiped down to control mold growth on the rind, or even washed with a brine solution to encourage the right kinds of yeasts to grown on the rind.

All of these things happen at Cascadia Creamery in Trout Lake. Fluffy, young wheels of Cloud Cap are flipped, wheels of Glacier Blue are rubbed down, wheels of Sawtooth get a little rub-a-dub-dub with some brine, and wheels of Sleeping Beauty get a nice brushing. All of these treatments contribute to the beautiful, well-aged cheeses that you get to take home later on.

05/09/2025

Cheese curds! That's how all cheeses start out -- as milk, transformed into a solid mass, that has been cut into curds and separated from its whey.

At Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Seattle, those curds are milled, or cut twice, in a process that is also known as Cheddaring.

Beecher's cheddars a number of cheeses, including their Flagship, Flagship Reserve, 4-Year Flagship, SheepSheep, FlagSheep, and all of the flavored versions that run the gamut from Jerk Spice and Smoked to Marco Polo and Hatch Jack. Have you tried them all?

Address

43423 37th Ave E
Eatonville, WA
98328

Website

http://www.washingtoncheese.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Washington State Cheesemakers Association posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Washington State Cheesemakers Association:

Shortcuts

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Eatonville?

Washington State Cheesemaker’s Association

Over the past decade, we have seen a substantial growth spurt in the production of cheeses in Washington State. Today, the offerings from our cheesemaker's offer enormous variety and diversity. With over 70 licensed cheesemaker's in the state offering up farmstead, artisan, small batch, original and traditional style cheeses from cow, goat, and sheep's milk there is certainly no shortage of options!

WA cheeses have been winning awards around the world, and there is almost always something new for fellow cheese lovers to enjoy. Check out your local farmers markets, cheese counters, and grocery stores and ask for WA cheese! The cheeses coming out of the the State's producers fall under a variety of categories, including:

Farmstead - milk is produced on the same farm where the cheese is made Artisan - small-batch cheeses - usually produced by hand - with particular attention paid to the technique. Milk can be sourced from surrounding dairy producers. Specialty - cheeses produced in more limited production, with special attention paid to natural flavor and texture profiles