The Pride of Utah: Beehive Cheese Trio

I have known Pat Ford, one of the owners of Beehive Cheese, for more than a decade, through our membership in the ACS. His wife and The Man volunteered with us as Proctors for the ACS CCP Exam several times which gave us plenty of time to catch-up, talk cheese and life. Read Beehive’s story here.

Beehive cheeses have been a favorite around The Manse since 2010 when we discovered Barely Buzzed. From 2013 through 2015, I wrote a monthly cheese column for the ACS Newsletter and in one I featured four of Beehive’s cheeses: Promontory, SeaHive, Smoked Apple-Walnut and Cajun John. You can read all my reviews for the ACS Newsletter, by clicking here.

In 2018, I hosted two Charity Grazing Table events and Pat and company generously donated Promontory and Promontory rubbed with EVOO and Rosemary. Both were hits at the events.

Fast forward to early 2020 and COVID lockdowns called a halt to my cheese events. I had to re-invent my small cheese “enterprise” here in NE Georgia. For food safety and convenience after the lockdown was lifted, I purchased two small glass door refrigerators and stocked them with pre-wrap/pre-cut specialty cheeses, cured meats and olives, peppers and cornichons. LaDonna and the fine folks at Sweet Combs of Honey invited me to create a “cheese grotto” and a new path began. Included in my “Always Available” cheeses are three of Beehive’s cheeses: SeaHive, Pour Me A Slice and Barely Buzzed. (Sometimes I have their curds – like right now you can grab a pack of their curds at Sweet Combs of Honey.)

All of the BeeHive Cheeses begin with the basic Promontory Irish-style Cheddar made with jersey milk from  a local dairy. And from there, the fun begins with finishing and finishes:

SeaHive is finished with a rub of local wildflower honey and ancient sea salt found in Utah (who knew…). The creaminess of the cheddar, the high butterfat content of the jersey milk and the finish creates a delightful snacking cheese that I love to pair either with Doux South Creole Mustard or Bonne Maman Raspberry  Preserves. You can go sweet or you can go savory – both work.

My dear friend, Nathan Aldridge, ACS CCP and educator at Gourmet Foods International in Atlanta, introduced me to the world of bourbons during our travels together opening Murray’s Cheese Outposts. Although I never acquired a taste for it, I did learn about the top-shelf bourbons. Pour Me A Slice is infused with a top shelf bourbon, Basil Hayden. The sweet spicy notes of the bourbon blend perfectly with the cheddar’s creamy and lactic finish. I found grapes, a simple pairing, to work well with Pour Me A Slice.

Barely Buzzed is finished with a heavy rub of Espresso and Lavender. The Espresso is the prominent taste almost, but not quite, squeezing out the lavender. It’s there but much more subtle. I paired BB with a chunk of Dark Chocolate Almond Bark. Chocolate and espresso, holy smokes!!!

Rather than crackers, I toasted a fresh baguette and bam… with some cornichons,  a little ham and a few slices of bacon leftover from breakfast (how could there be bacon leftover???), dinner is served… The Man swooned…

You can find these cheeses in my cheese grotto inside Sweet Combs of Honey in Downtown Lavonia (right next to the Honey Bee Cafe) and at my Amazon Influencer store.

In addition to being a member of the Internationale Guilde des Fromagers (Jura and Garde) and an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.

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