Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company

The Cheddar Gorge is famous for the cool caves that were used in the storage process of the cheese that they made in this area. I like cheese so I popped into this factory shop and I’m very glad that I did.
On the way down the hill from the car park I popped into another gift shop that seemed to be offering cheese tasting, but the guy behind the counter had no customer service skills and I just left.
The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company shop, however, in extreme contrast to the first shop, has staff members just standing around behind the counter with the soul duty of offering you a sample of all the various varieties of cheese that they make in the factory behind the shop.
You don’t feel awkward at all asking to try them all. I DID buy some before I left the shop and it wasn’t touristy expensive.
I wish that there was a shop like this in my town. Not a lot of photos being taken but everyone in the shop was saying cheese.
Pity it is 388 miles away.

Bought Cave & Oak Cheddar very yummy! Both are award winning cheeses it was very hard to choose as soo many lovely varieties although they do let you try before you buy. Good news they now do Internet orders throughout UK & North America

We really enjoyed ourselves here. Of course, they sell cheese here, as you’d expect. And it’s very good. Many varieties, though I like things simple.
What we really enjoyed was the cheese making process. Naturally, you don’t get to see the whole process, as it takes many stages to make cheese (I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that).
I always knew that one uses rennet and then you get curds and whey and you need to wait a while till it becomes the finished product (in most cases). But for me, it still didn’t quite make sense, so seeing it in the flesh helped me. And seeing people doing it, made me realise that I could make it too. And not so long ago, I made my very own curds, fed the whey to the cats and made a Yorkshire curd tart. Thanks to The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company’, something my mother used to do regularly, became doable for me. You never know, you may feel inspired to make your won cheese after a trip here.
They charge you nothing to learn about the making of their cheese/​watch them make it. At the end of the exhibit, is the cheese tasting and cheese shop.

Although Cheddar cheese is produced all over the world these days, it originated in this Somerset village.
The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company is the only cheesemaker left in the village and a visit to the village wouldn’t be complete without a visit to see the manufacture of the cheese, which probably gives the name Cheddar such worldwide recognition.
For £1.95, you can visit the factory to see the cheese being manufactured. From the viewing gallery, you can see the whole process — the rennet being added to fresh milk to produce curds and whey, the solid curds being cut, rubbed with salt and then stacked. The cheeses are then matured and turned regularly — the vintage cheddars being matured for up to 15 months.
At the end of the tour, there’s an opportunity to taste the finished product, biscuits and accompaniments.

This was a nice little shop and sold many varieties of Cheddar. We took home Cave Matured Cheddar and Cheddar with chives and cider which are both delicious. There are tasters of all the cheeses there but the staff seem slightly reluctant to let you try them. The cheese is expensive, abour £4.50 for a small piece, but it is worth it as it is lovely.

One must buy cheese when in Cheddar! Interesting little place although rather busy as it was August. They do make rather nice cheese although it is sold throughout the village so no need to go here if not interested in seeing it beeing made. Not one for teenagers!

The only place in Cheddar making Cheddar cheese. Have a tour aound and see how Cheddar is made in Cheddar. Wander around the little shop and try before you buy. Let’s face it Cheddar is the best cheese in the world.