A bold California blue with confident peppery bite and creamy finish.
Shaft's Blue from Cedar Ridge, California. Buttery cow's milk paste, confident peppery veining, long savory finish. Order online.
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Shaft's Blue is a cow's milk blue from Cedar Ridge, California, the kind of American blue that earns its place next to the European classics. The paste is semi-soft, buttery, and shot through with veins of Penicillium roqueforti that the wheels are pierced to encourage, letting the mold breathe evenly all the way through.
The flavor opens buttery and clean, then the blue kicks in with a confident peppery bite that pulls back before turning sharp. Plenty of salt, a mushroomy cave-driven depth, and a long savory finish that lingers well past the swallow. It crumbles when you want it to, holds together when you want a slab, and stays creamy enough to spread on a piece of walnut bread.
This is a blue for people who already love blue, the kind of wheel that holds its own next to a Stilton or a Roquefort while staying recognizably Californian, a little drier on the rind and a little fruitier in the paste.
Semi-soft and crumbly with a creamy pull, breaks into open clumps under the knife while still holding together on a board.
Bold blue character with a confident bite, plenty of salt and tang up front before the buttery cow's milk paste rounds it out.
The peppery blue veining lingers well past the swallow, pulling toward a long savory close with a steady salt note underneath.
Buttery cow's milk paste reads through the veining, with a clean cultured-cream note that keeps the blue from feeling sharp on its own.
A quiet brown-butter undertone in the paste, more background than headline, sitting beneath the dominant blue character.
Cave-driven mushroomy depth from the Penicillium roqueforti, with a damp-stone quality that anchors the bigger flavors.
A peppery piccante bite from the veining, building on the back of the palate without tipping into burn.
Natural rind
Natural rind, dusty and rustic, contributes a savory mineral edge when eaten with the paste.
Shaft's Blue Cheese stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
Sweet fortified wines and dessert wines balance the salt and pepper of the blue, while a big red or stout matches the intensity.
Sweet fruit and honey lift the salty bite of the veining, and toasted nuts or walnut bread give the buttery paste a place to land.
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“Shaft's is an affineur first — they take an American cow's milk blue and age it nearly a year in California cellars, far longer than the category standard, to develop fudgy texture and concentrated savory depth.”
Extended cellar aging of cow's milk blue cheese for approximately twelve months, well beyond typical American blue release windows.
Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
Taste it for yourself →Cold-ship 2-day overnight nationwide
