ColoRouge by MouCo Cheese Company in Fort Collins

[Melanie Wong]

In mid-July, my first stop on arriving in Fort Collins was to stop at the Sunday morning farmers market. I discovered MouCo’s booth and tried samples of the Camembert and ColoRouge cow’s milk cheese. The rounds of cheese were on $5, less than prices in grocers I was told. I bought a young ColoRouge to take home with me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/5964146525/

After seven more weeks of aging in the refrigerator, the ColoRouge was shared with some friends and we enjoyed it immensely. Described as a “smeared” cheese on MouCo’s website, I’d categorize it as a washed rind style cheese. We agreed that it could be a “gateway” washed rind cheese for those frightened by the pungent aroma of Epoisses and its kin. At this stage, ColoRouge wasn’t stinky at all and the center paste had softened and started to develop some creaminess in texture but had not hit the oozy stage yet. Relatively mild in taste and scent, yet very luscious with the buttery flavor of rich cream, moderate salting, and a mushroom-y aftertaste.

The box for the cheese is coded with suggested dates for enjoying the cheese at the stage you prefer. This round was forecast to hit full maturity three weeks later. I’ll have to get my hands on another one to age longer.

More about ColoRouge
http://mouco.com/MouCo_Cheeses/MouCo_...

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MouCo Cheese
1401 Duff Dr, Fort Collins, CO 80524

[withalonge]

melanie!!! i quit checking chowhound for a little while and find you've been stomping around in colorado. just wanted to say hello! we met up a few times out in california at some chowdowns a few years ago. we moved out here a few years ago... hope you are well.
:)
megan

[Melanie Wong]

Meeeeeeegan, hello back! Of course I know you, and you've been away from the boards for too long. I was in Wyoming and CO in July, still haven't gotten around to posting about the places I tried. Today, some of my threads from last November in PHX just popped up again and I think I should finish those too. Or my recent two weeks in Santa Cruz, CA closer to your former home.

Have you tried either of these two cheese producers? (trying to stay on topic)

[monopod]

ColoRouge is great stuff; you can get it at the Boulder Farmer's Market as well. If you like that, I'd also recommend trying the Haystack Mountain cheeses, especially Red Cloud and Haystack Peak. Also washed-rind styles, but goat instead of cow's milk. They're delightful.

[Melanie Wong]

Finally got around to looking at Haystack's website, and yes, those washed rind, raw goat milk cheeses look fab. And the Red Cloud is discounted right now at farmers markets and the creamery's retail shop.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...

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Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy
1121 Colorado Ave, Longmont, CO

[monopod]

Funny, I just ate a ColoRouge that's been aging in my fridge for a few weeks last night. It was great, as always. Might have to pick up a Red Cloud at the Boulder farmer's market this weekend.