BLOSSOMS CHEESE , Whole Wheel | Austrian Lactose-free semi-hard cheese | 8,1 kg | Blumenkäse

The specialty of this cheese wheel lies in its production: Only the edible cheese rind is carefully treated with a specially selected flower-tea mixture. This blend harmonizes perfectly with the fine cheese, imparting a mild, aromatic flavor profile.

The cheese itself remains free from additives or spices, preserving the pure, natural taste of high-quality alpine milk.

The result is a cheese wheel that stands out for its fine, harmonious composition. The flowers release their aroma in the rind, giving the wheel a scent of a blooming alpine meadow. Its taste remains mild and balanced without being overwhelmed by excessive flavors.

This cheese wheel represents the highest quality and a conscious return to traditional cheesemaking, emphasizing natural flavor. The result is a product that delights with its aroma, purity, and simplicity.

Our Bregenz Forest Flower Cheese Wheel is a treat for anyone who appreciates the pure taste of high-quality cheese. Its flavor is mildly aromatic, and the spices release their aroma, creating completely new flavor compositions.

With the Flower Cheese from dairyman Christof Schneider, you hold a special cheese wheel in your hands. The base of Berchtold’s Flower Cheese consists of the best semi-hard cheese wheels from various selected Bregenz Forest dairies. These are then transferred to the cheese cellar of the Berchtold family for further care and maturation.

Our Flower Cheese develops its wonderful flavor through manual care. Its rind is coated with a special herb blend. Its cut surface is creamy white, nicely dotted with holes, and made from firm dough.

Our Flower Cheese is part of our family of flavored cheeses in our shop overview.

Historical Background of Vorarlberg Cheese

Cheese has been produced and matured in Vorarlberg on alpine and valley dairies since the beginning of the last century.

The production method of “fat cheese” (as opposed to lean cheese or “Sura Käs” in Montafon) originated in Switzerland and rapidly spread in the Bregenz Forest.

Semi-hard cheeses are made from natural (non-thermized, pasteurized, or centrifugally skimmed) raw milk (hay milk) with at least 45% fat in dry matter.

Thanks to the small-scale farming structures that supply the raw materials and the traditional craft maintained by alpine dairies, artisanal production and care of high-quality cheeses have been preserved to this day.

Further interesting details about semi-hard cheese can be found at Wikipedia.

Holes in Flower Cheese

The smooth, tender texture of Flower Cheese features cherry- to hazelnut-sized holes.

Flower Cheese Rind

The Flower Cheese is a semi-hard cheese with a tea blend on the exterior and features an edible rind.

Storage and Maturation of Flower Cheese

The semi-hard cheese is aged for approximately 10 weeks in a ripening cellar, where it is turned and treated. Later, flowers (Blümle) are added to the cheese, allowing them to fully release their aroma.

Special Quality Features of Our Semi-Hard Cheese

• The rind of cheese forms when the cheese wheels are immersed in a non-iodized salt bath after shaping.
• The salt bath promotes rind formation and acts against bacteria. Depending on the type of cheese, the wheels remain in the salt bath for varying durations.
• The salt draws water out of the cheese wheel. Subsequently, the cheese wheels are regularly treated with non-iodized salt & brine until fully matured.

Taste Magic

The unique feature of this semi-hard cheese lies in the flowers. They release their full aroma, giving the cheese a scent of meadow flowers and fresh hay.

Flower Cheese Intensity

How mild or spicy is the cheese? We define it on a scale of 0 (mild) to 10 (spicy).

4/10

Flower Cheese Texture

How firm is the cheese? We define it on a scale of 0 (soft) to 10 (firm).

5/10

Flower Cheese Maturation Time

How long did the cheese age? We define the maturation time between 1 to 12 months.

4/12