Meet Keith Adams & Wm Cofield Cheesemakers
Keith Adams of Wm Cofield
Keith Adams founded the acclaimed Alemar Cheese company in Minnesota in 2008 but these days you’ll find him in California, the state where he was raised. Alemar was named after his two daughters, Alexandra, who works at Alemar today, and Mari. He and his partner named their California-based cheese company Wm Cofield also with a combination of family names—Cofied is his middle name and William is his father’s name. The use of “Wm” for William was a British styling he saw in England.
“There’s no better milk than what you get in Sonoma County and it’s a beautiful place to live,” says Adams who may have moved back to California, but it was to make English style cheese. Making English style cheese in Northern California didn’t just make sense to Adams, but was warmly welcomed by his customers. Emily O’Conor, Gourmet Cheese Coordinator for Oliver’s Market was an early supporter of Wm Cofield. Says O’Conor, “ We were familiar with his Alemar cheeses so we were on board from the beginning. No one else in Sonoma does a bandaged cheddar and uses raw organic Jersey milk. It gives you a wonderful local taste, the grassiness, it is fattier in the winter. We’ve had a tremendous response and our customers love it. It’s phenomenal.”
Wm Cofield cheeses
If you’ve had a traditional English clothbound cheddar, you might be wondering how Cofield’s cheddar compares. It’s easily recognizable as cheddar with the characteristic crunchy crystals and crumbly texture. Says O’Conor, “He’s done a good job following their style, it has a nice sharpness, and kind of buttermilk tang, it’s maybe a little richer because of the grass in Petaluma. The color is so bright yellow from the grass-fed Jersey cow’s milk, It’s something unique.”
Wm Cofield’s produces a younger clothbound McKinley Cheddar, an older version clothbound the Big McKinley Cheddar aged at least one year, and Bodega Blue, a Stilton style cheese in addition to a carryover from time spent in Minnesota—cheese curds. Wm Cofield cheese is available at various retailers, at their retail shop at the Barlow in Sebastopol, and also through a cheese club. For $85 per quarter, club members get a shipment of all of their cheeses plus a “guest cheese” which includes free shipping to anywhere in the continental US.
We spoke with Adams to learn more about his appreciation of British cheese and what it’s like making them in California.
What is it that appeals to you about British style cheese?
I think it's under-appreciated compared to cheeses from the European mainland. Also, my heritage is firmly Anglo, and I lived in England for a few years when I was young.
Where do you source milk from?
We source exclusively from Willow Creek Jerseys in Bloomfield, nine miles from our plant. It's a certified organic dairy, and the cows are roaming on pasture year-round. The Camozzi family runs it. They've been farming in the area since the early 1900s.
What have been the biggest challenges to producing cheddars and a Stilton style cheese?
The cheddar had a steeper learning curve. After about a year in production, I felt competent. The blue has been a constant challenge because it has so many difficult variables. When it's right, it's so satisfying--and good. It has certainly kept me humble!
McKinley extra aged clothbound cheddar
What is the ideal aging for cheddars and Stilton style cheeses?
Cheese ripens by the size of the wheel and the moisture content. The blues are smaller and higher moisture, so they age approximately four months before release. The cheddars are big wheels with lower moisture, so they take a minimum of 12 months. We have some extra-aged wheels that are 30 months, and they are so dramatically different in flavor and texture from their younger siblings.
How is clothbound cheddar different from other cheddars?
Cloth binding cheddars became a way to protect the rind and trap in moisture for better aging. This was the best technique before the advent of plastic. Using cloth is actually better, in my opinion, because it allows the cheese to breathe.
How did you learn about the technique of “cheddaring” the stacking of cheese curds that is so unique to cheddar?
I spent time at Westcombe Dairy in Somerset, England. They put me to work and I absorbed as much as I could. I also have a number of master cheesemaking friends I can lean on for advice.