If you’re an at-home or beginning cheesemaker, I have excellent news to share. Madison’s long-time cheese culture supplier, Dairy Connection, is opening a retail store today on the east side and will sell small amounts of rennet, cultures, cheese forms and all cheesemaking supplies to the public.
Located at 501 Tasman Street in Madison, GetCulture Inc. is connected to the main Dairy Connection building. It’s a cute little shop with lots of awesome stuff for cheese geeks. Dozens of small, hard-to-find plastic cheese forms line one wall, along with stainless steel pots and pans, cheese cloths, and a whole cooler full of microbial, vegetarian and veal rennet. A nice supply of cultures – including those for yogurt, kefir and most any kind of cheese, are also available in small, easy-to-use and experiment-friendly sizes. It’s like the dream shopping experience for a hobby or beginning cheesemaker.
The grand opening is today and tomorrow, May 31 & June 1, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Lots of door prizes – including two tickets to the August 3 American Cheese Society Festival of Cheese in Madison – are up for grabs. You’ll also get to meet store co-managers, Katie Potter and Valerie Tobias, both experts in cheesemaking supplies.
If you can’t make it to the open house, no worries! GetCulture Inc also has a website at www.getculture.com, where they sell everything online. Lipase? Check. Coagulants and rennet? Check. Fermented cheese cultures? Check.
“We’re excited and a little nervous to see how the new store does,” Valerie says. “We’re off the beaten path, but people have already been finding us, plus we have an online store, so customers should find everything they need.”
The GetCulture Inc store is a long-planned offshoot of Madison’s renowned Dairy Connection, launched in 1999 by Dave and Cathy Potter. For nearly 15 years, the business has supplied ingredients to some of America’s best-known cheesemakers, specializing in serving artisan and specialty cheese companies.
In fact, more than two-thirds of all awards handed out to American cheesemakers at the 2011 American Cheese Society annual competition went to companies that count on Dairy Connection for their supplies. That’s a pretty good track record!
Congratulations to everyone at Dairy Connection on your new venture. I know I’m happy to have a great place to recommend supplies for small and beginning cheesemakers.
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