Ashe County Cheese

Can’t go back to Georgia without Ashe County Cheese, ally friends and co-​workers text me their orders. Love the horseraddish cheese, cant find it anywhere else. Other favorites include ghost pepper, gàrlic chive with fresh herbs and the fried jalepeno. The store staff is always friendly and helpful.

Always have to get a bag of cheese curds to take home. Love snacking on these things. Walked across the street, and went to the cheese viewing area, and they were scooping curds from the vats. We also bought a package of their homemade butter. I’m expecting that to be good also.

I love the quaint little downtown area of West Jefferson and do not go here without a stop at the Cheese Co. The shop is awesome and carries everything cheese, including yummy cheese curds!
They also carry some great country staples like homemade butter. The butter is so fresh and tasty! They also have some great wines. They carry wine from my favorite West Jefferson winery, Thistle Meadow.
If you ever find your way to this little town in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, stop at the Cheese Co.

I love Ashe County in general, but the Cheese Co. just makes me love Ashe that much more. It is situated on Main Street in beautiful downtown West Jefferson. Don’t expect much as far as tours, demos, etc. They have a small viewing room by the factory where you can see what goes on, but that is about it.
The real treat is the shop. They have about everything you could think of when it comes to cheese. My favorite is the 5 y/​o cheddar. I do wish they had some «older» cheeses available for purchase though. In my opinion, cheese really isn’t worth much until it hits that 10 year mark. With that being said, the cheeses they make are top notch.
Now, let me spend a moment talking about something other than Ashe Co Cheese Co.‘s wonderful cheeses. If I could be honest, the thing that really keeps me coming back time after time is the homemade BUTTER. This stuff is absolutely, ridiculously, wonderfully amazing. It is always fresh, always in stock, and never disappoints. Someone once told me, before I made my first visit to Ashe Co, that you could eat the butter with a spoon. Well let me tell you… I do! It is that good. And don’t even give me that whole «butter isn’t good for your» garbage. Just read up on the new information available about the differences between butter and margarine. Butter is in, and Ashe Co butter is the cream of the crop! Every time I go, I take a cooler and bring back 10 lbs or so of this deliciousness.
So, let’s recap:
Ashe Co. Cheese = really good
Margarine = really bad
Ashe Co. Butter = AMAZING
Have a nice day!

Great blue cheese and jams. Their website orders are processed quickly and accurately. In addition to great Xmas present ideas, always use some of my annual bonus this time of year to order a large box of good stuff from Ashe County Cheese Co.

I like this place, but then I’m completely stoopid for cheese. They have recently greatly increased the variety of their offerings as well, which is more good news. Not everything here is all that good, but the stuff they do well, they do very well. Also, they sell some cheeses from other vendors, so not everything is actually made by the ACC operation. I love the smoked Swiss and the gouda in particular, though you should avoid anything they have that is purportedly bleu cheese.
They usually have 3 – 4 samples out and they also sell some local souvenir-​type stuff as well as some wines. The prices are pretty reasonable and the service is friendly.

We bought a tub of Ashe County Cheese’s butter at a Country Store near Mabry Mill, VA. I’m hooked. I had some on an english muffin with Tuggle Farms strawberry preserves and it may have been the best thing I’ve had in my life. I am a fan!

Purchased a cheddar and Swiss with caraway seeds. Cheddar was okay-​but not any better than name-​brand grocery brands. Swiss was AWFUL… taste and texture were like processed cheese. I wanted to like this place… so dissappointed

A great excuse for a trip up to the mountains. The historic appearing town of Jefferson is picturesque and humming. Dont miss out on the cheese curds, which should be eaten the same day for best flavor, that is if you have any left within minutes of opening the bag for a taste! They also have an amazing selection of many other cheeses, jams, honeys, wines, fudges and ice cream along with other assorted goodies and a few souvenier items. They even have excellent butter made with their own milk. The jams and honeys are all top notch. Different days of the week are cheese making days and are listed on their website. The prices are very reasonable. If you forget to bring a cooler have no fear, they offer cooler bags and ice packs. Make sure to follow your visit with a meal at the Shatley Springs Inn which is nearby.

Always a fun place to shop. Ashe County Cheese has much more than great cheese! The prices are great, the wine and candy selection is fantastic.

One of the few Cheese making companies in North Carolina. They make the cheese here and they have a showroom/​tasting room where they sell their cheeses and a whole bunch of other local and not so local items.
You can see cheese being made from a viewing area.

I am from upstate NY and like many have a local favorite for cheese made in the area, but I am always open to finding new sources and now as my husband would say ;; where do I live? I don’t live in upstate NY. Finding a NC Cheese provider that makes something other than wheel cheese of which I am not a big fan, was both a challenge and a treat.
I found my first Ashe County cheese at a local farmers market at the coast. I was hooked. A blue marble unlike any blue you have had. It’s mild without the bite of many aged blue cheeses. Soft like a Gouda, not nearly as crumbly (which for crumbles makes it a challenge) but if you like sharp, but not typically Blue cheese try it you might be a convert.
Travel ling in the area I and a friend stopped in the shop in W. Jefferson, The drive was great and the location easy enough to find. The store is laden with all the cheese made at the factory across the street, and additionally ‘souvenir’ and country style goods. Skip the tourist section and head for the cheese counters.
For the sharp cheese fans, they have a 1 year, 2 year and 5 year (I believe) I don’t recall seeing a 3 year. the sharp 5 year will melt in your mouth and has all the bite you want out of an aged cheddar, nice texture very uniform. Their Gouda was surprisingly mellow and smooth not as soft as some but it was not intended to be I bought more blue and have eaten it til I am blue. :)
the only non Ashe Cheese I purchased was a sage which if you have not tried is an amazing cheese, like thanksgiving butter in your mouth.
Staff was knowledgeable enough. Service was helpful and polite. They were all very young so I am not sure there were any experts in the house but I could be wrong. I had not real questions for them.
Lines were long but moved quickly. My only annoyance was a family with a string of kids that must have spent 10 minutes sampling the same for cheeses like they thought they were at the steak house. Hey feed em when you can but if the line to test is long bring em around again and let some others have some.
My only real disappointment was the Curd, small, and very crumbly with excessive water. I think this is new to the factory? But it’s not something that is easy to perfect and I suspect it could be batch related. Taste was good, very mild, and it squeaked sufficiently, I just did not like how small the curds were.
Made eating from the bag rather messy definitely a toothpick was necessary for these little morsels. I will try it again.
Had coffee in town and looked around a bit many lovely scenes and as is most of this area very picturesque.
Look for it in local organic markets, or take a trip. I paired the blue with some VA Gala apples would have rather had honey crisp but the season is trashed by early frost. The cheddar is perfect with ripe heirloom tomatoes on hard bread.

If you’re a cheese lover, you’ve got to go by here!
I’ve never seen such a variety of cheese in one place. Most is made right there at the store and so yummy. If you’re not sure about a certain kind, they’ll gladly let you try a sample.
We found the big discount rack which was nice — and the reason they’re discounted? Because the cheese blocks are not a perfectly shaped rectangle since usually end pieces. All same age and taste though! So, if you’re on a budget and don’t care how clean cut your cheese is, take note of that tidbit!
Of the many cheeses I brought home with me, the Tomato Basil is definitely my favorite. So unique and just delicious. Reminds me of sun dried tomato. Never tried any cheese quite like it!

We like cheese. So much so that we drove way the heck out of our way just to find this place. Of course, it would have probably helped if we had bothered to get directions before leaving. So for those of you that are going, you might want to do that.
It’s easiest to find your way if you go the short way — 421 to 221 to 194. Very simple. If you go the long way — 421 to ⁶⁷⁄₈₈ to 194 and down from the mountains, you’ll see some great scenery, and perhaps have a nice chance for some fishing in the creek that hugs the road, but it’s a bit of a ride.
Once you’re there, the store itself is cool. You can buy cheese curds, a nice variety of cheeses, fudge and also some country ham from the area. You can buy other things too, such as jerky and canned product — but most of that comes from places in Ohio, so we didn’t. We’re more fans of stuff that you can only get where you are, so we picked up what we can get there. We’ll go to Ohio to get the other stuff.
As to the cheese, it’s not bad. Worth the long drive? Perhaps. That might be better off just for the drive. Worth the short drive? Definitely. You can even go for the churches in West Jefferson.