A head-and-shoulders illustration of Anika. They have light skin, medium-length brown hair with bangs, and are wearing a teal shirt with a red bandana, making a peace sign with their left hand.

All 42 cheeses I tasted in college by Anika H. '26

i am a cheese enjoyer

Throughout my four years, my friends have hosted multiple charcuteries, Random Hall Sharkcuteries, movie watch parties and events with cheese, and just gotten cheese just because it’s a new cheese. Here are all the cheeses I ever had in college.

my final cheese rankings

  1. Vintage Gouda – has crystallization, taste slightly crunchy at times. This is my my favorite of the weird cheeses. Subtle grains of sweetness. Sharp hard cheesiness when the cheese is sitting on your tongue, light salty aftertaste. Probably my all time favorite. 10/10
  2. Comtesse- smells fruity, a little crumbly sweets calcium crystals, tastes a little like Gouda. Fine on its own, tastes more bitter with meat 10/10
  3. Mozzerella string cheese – YES MMM STRING CHEESE I LOVE STRING CHEESE 10/10
  4. Triple Creme Brie – Tastes really soft and salty, kinda like butter almost but way better. Amazing with honey and bread. 10/10
  5. Red Leister – Had this all the time in the UK. It’s like cheddar but better tasting 9.5/10
  6. Creamy Toscano dipped in Syrah – warm aftertaste, kinda like cheddar, not as sharp tho. Rich sweet flavor with apricot preserves. Not great with meat 9.5/10
  7. Cello Sweet Tomato Fontal – tomatoes pressed into the rind. Soft squishy and moist, gentle mozzarella ish taste, really freaking good with the spiced tomatoes, tastes like a nice meal with the meat. 9/10
  8. Fiesta Pepper Jack – pepper flavored cheese, small bits of occasional spicy bits, 8/10 good with cracker and salami 9.5/10
  9. Garlic Herb Cheese – Had a ton of this during Radio Society Field Day. Tastes like a really meal; I think it would go great with pasta. 8/10
  10. Goat Cheese – crumbly, very meaty, salty aftertaste. Feels like I’m eating meat but it’s just cheese. 8/10
  11. Affine Black Pepper- black pepper on the rind, very nice cheese, 8/10
  12. Mimolette – Mite cheese! A bunch of mites live in the cheese before it gets sold. Tastes surprisingly good. Didn’t taste the extra protein though. 8/10
  13. Aged Goat Milk Cheese – Sharp and nutty. Tinge of sweetness in the strong flavor, slightly meaty compared to other cheeses. Quite acidic. 7.5/10 9.5/10 with honey
  14. Everything Bagel Cloth-Bound Cheese Curd – Tastes like an everything bagel but is surprisingly good 7.5/10
  15. White Stilton Cheese with apricots – soft, solid, crumbly, like peach yogurt?? Weird texture but I kinda like it. Fruity, 7.5/10
  16. Ivy’s Reserved English Cheddar- relatively sharp cheddar, warm fruity aftertaste 7.5/10, gets softened/balanced out with the crackers. 9/10 w cinnamon honey, tastes sweet and salty.
  17. another reserve cheddar- quite salty, warm aftertaste, a little lighter compared to the goat cheese and a bit more cheese per cheese. 7.5/10
  18. Light Havarti- small holes, bouncy cheese, taste fades in, strong aftertaste for not a lot of initial taste. 7/10 Very nice with sweet crackers. 8/10
  19. Toma provenance – very standard herb cheese 7/10
  20. Fresh Goat Milk Cheese- creamy , milky, kind of like a meaty, salty yogurt. 7.5/10
  21. Vintage Cheddar – tastes like aged cheddar I guess 7/10
  22. Manchego Aurora – flavorful mild cheese 7/10
  23. El Pastor Chèvre (goat cheese) – cream spread on cracker, surprisingly sweet, soft aftertaste. Deeper, meatier taste with honey,apple or sweeter things 7/10 cracker, chese and spicy honey 9/10 more aftertaste than taste, which is weird
  24. Montamore Cheddar – a little bit nutty, medium amount of sharp, smooth. A little crumbly 7/10
  25. Sharp White Cheddar – SHARp. Strong flavor, with a light funk to it. A bit too strong for my taste but still good. Tastes better with prosciutto. 7/10
  26. Smoked Cheddar – tastes like regular cheddar, but a stronger flavor. It was like I was eating bacon but I could taste no bacon. Smells very pleasant. 7/10
  27. Gruyère – bitter with a slight funk, good with a tiny bit of honey. 7/10
  28. Prosecco – softer, feels spreadable, tastes like cheddar 6.5/10
  29. Manchego – softer flavor, a strong smell and aftertaste for the small amount of initial taste, stays a bit longer than other cheeses. A little nutty, really nice with honey. Tastes like a distinguished swiss cheese 7/10
  30. Smoked Gouda- very cheesy cheese, quite savory aftertaste. Tastes heavy and smoky. Feels like a standard strong cheese. 6/10
  31. Sharp yellow cheddar – sharp and surprisingly bitter? Not a lot of cheese per cheese. tastes well with raspberry, would taste even better with a bit of honey. 6/10, 7/10 with honey
  32. Parmesan – Good topping. Can’t say I’d eat it on its own though. 6/10
  33. Colby Jack- soft cheese, cheddar/ mozzarella ish. Common marketplace cheese 5.5/10
  34. Affine truffle tapenade- a tolerable amount of truffle, good with honey. 5.5/10, 7.5/10 with honey
  35. Mild Orange Cheddar- very mild, barely any flavor; all the flavor went to color the cheese. Tastes like the after taste of all the other cheeses. 5/10
  36. Wensley Dale (blueberry) – slighty fruit flavored, tastes sweet, It a bit too sweet and the flavors clash. It feels like fruit trying too hard to be a cheese. 4/10
  37. Wensley Dale (apricot) – I like apricot 4.5/10
  38. Pecorino Toscano(sheep’s milk cheese)- quite strong, tastes like truffles, better with honey. Tastes meaty with crackers and gives better definition to prosciutto. 4/10, 7/10 with olives or anything slightly more acidic.
  39. Whiskey Cheddar – tastes like a block of wood 4/10
  40. Truffle Gouda – Good with honey, too intense by its own, tastes pungent, very much like truffles, but I don’t really like truffles. One of the times there were food trucks at Stata, they served a small side of tater tots covered in truffle oil. I don’t like truffles. 3/10, 5/10 with honey
  41. Caciotta Al Tartufo – another truffle cheese 3/10
  42. Gas station “Sharp” cheddar cheese – not sharp at all. Tastes like crappy Lunchable’s cheese. 3/10
  43. Kraft Singles – not cheese, tastes like microwaved plastic with the texture of rubber. -100000/10

 

Also please excuse the grammar and spelling, Ceri promised us Chipotle if we could finish a blog during blogger meeting like rtfn

 

Also also I posted this for free food but these notes were four years in the making and started October of my freshman year