Buff Blue
GOODBYE CHEESE LOVERS!
10 YEARS OF AWARD-WINNING CHEESES • 2009-2019
Bleating Heart Cheese enjoyed a decade of cheesemaking in California.
Our last remaining cheeses were sold in 2019.
It was our immense pleasure to share our handcrafted, award-winning
"American Original" cheeses with all those who supported us.
This site is no longer being updated,
but all content about our cheeses and our history will remain here.
***PLEASE CONTINUE SUPPORTING LOCAL ARTISAN CHEESEMAKERS***
*THIS CHEESE IS NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION DUE TO LACK OF MILK*
We like big buffs and we cannot lie. Did you know we are the only cheesemakers in the United States making water buffalo milk blue cheese? This was not a goal we set for ourselves, it was never part of our business plan - we just got lucky. Water buffalo dairies are extremely rare in North America, but it just so happens that we have a friend who milks a small herd of water buffalo nearby. His dairy is known as Double 8 Dairy, and is a short 9 mile drive from our creamery. When our friend is not turning all of his milk into luxurious gelato, we get to buy some of the excess milk. Cheesemaker Seana embraced the challenge of working with this exotic milk, even though she had no colleagues to lean on for advice since the milk is so rare. She had little interest in making Mozzarella di Bufala, which is the cheese for which this milk is typically used. Instead, Seana had a hunch that this milk, with an 8 to 10% fat content (double the fat of cow milk), would make a wonderful blue cheese. She was right. Buff Blue was launched in 2014, and we were thrilled to win a bronze medal that same year at the World Cheese Awards for this super limited and truly unique cheese. The following year at the American Cheese Society annual competition, it also won a ribbon on its first time competing. In 2016 - it's second time competing in the American Cheese Society annual competition - Buff Blue won 2nd place for BEST OF SHOW, out of over 1800 entries! Woohoo! A truly one-of-a-kind cheese, Buff Blue often reveals hints of chocolate, smoke, coconut, and a flavor we can't quite put our finger so we just call it "buffaloey" - which is delicious! Savor it in a cheese course or for dessert, and try paring it with a rich imperial Russian stout or rich porters.
- ***2nd BEST OF SHOW*** AMERICAN CHEESE SOCIETY 2016
- SILVER MEDAL WINNER, CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR 2016
- 3rd PLACE WINNER, AMERICAN CHEESE SOCIETY CONFERENCE 2015
- BRONZE MEDAL WINNER, WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2014