NEW CHEESES
March-April is kidding season, which means lots more goat’s milk and Lazy Lady goat’s milk cheeses coming our way soon! To tide you over in the meantime, we’ve brought in the tangy, creamy Baby Buche from Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram, Ohio. It’s a faithful rendition of a French Loire Valley goat’s milk classic, crumbly in the center, gooey towards the rind, with a mushroomy-tasting white exterior.
St. Pat is Cowgirl Creamery’s spring seasonal cheese, rich, mellow, milky and semi-soft. It’s made from rich organic Jersey cow’s milk and wrapped in nettle leaves, which lend a smoky, artichoke, “green” flavor.
Barick Obama is another seasonal, made from cow’s milk by Lazy Lady in the winter when goat’s milk is scarce. Semi-firm, smooth and a little sour from its brine-washed rind, it tastes a bit like a really good muenster – not the kind from the supermarket!
It’s not new, but it’s news: Meadow Creek Grayson fans need to know that we’re on our last wheel until mid-June! Grayson is only made from the most flavorful cow’s milk, produced when the cows are grazing on fresh grass, so the Meadow Creek cheesemakers will start preparing a new batch in the next week or two. If you can’t wait until June to taste it, come in today for your last chance at the 2011 Grayson!
NEW BEERS
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum is a double IPA made with a blend of whole-cone hop flowers. It yields delicious and intense fruity, floral and woodsy flavors – a must-try.
Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro is a roasty, chocolatey stout, carbonated in part by nitrogen as it’s bottled. The nitro creates tinier bubbles in the beer, and a more thick, creamy head (like a good Guinness on tap). It has a luxurious mouthfeel, something that rarely comes out of a bottle.
For sour fans, Goose Island Lolita is a Belgian style pale ale fermented with wild yeast and aged with raspberries in wine barrels. If you’ve ever enjoyed the mass-produced framboise beers or syrup-sweetened lambics, this is a great next step into the world of sours flavored with real fruit.
We’ve been lucky enough to receive another case of Hitachino Nest 3 Days, the tasty wild-fermented ale that was miraculously born from last year’s earthquakes in Japan. This will definitely be our last case, so don’t miss your chance to try it.
SUGAR RUSH
One of the amazing perks of our job is that the most awesome food makers from all around Brooklyn like to stop in and seduce us with samples of their wares. This month there are three sweets-makers who we just couldn’t resist – and you’ll love them too.
Emily’s Homemade cookies are baked right around the corner here in Greenpoint, but they taste like they just came out of Grandma’s oven – assuming Grandma has a very sophisticated palate. Our favorite is the plush ginger cookie, but the peanut butter chocolate chip and sea salt chocolate chip are winners as well.
Salty Road salt water taffy also comes in an impressive range of flavors: from vanilla and salty peanut to bergamot and raspberry rose. Research has shown that Salty Road is exactly 3000 percent more delicious than boardwalk taffy.
Last but not least, Sucre Mort pralines will absolutely whet your sweet tooth. Handmade in Brooklyn from the recipe of a New Orleans grandmother, they’re rich with buttery sweetness. Choose the original pecan praline, or almond with coconut or sea salt.