July 2026: World Cup Cheese of the Month Club

Lake Effect 🇺🇸 

Goat's Milk

When most people Wisconsin, cheddar comes to mind immediately. But Wisconsin's goat cheese scene has been quietly catching up, and Blakesville Creamery is leading the charge. Lake Effect is a small-format bloomy-rind cheese made entirely from the milk of Blakesville's own herd, pastured on the shores of Lake Michigan. It's a soft-ripened lactic style in the French tradition, firm when young, developing a liquid cream line beneath the rind as it matures. The flavor is buttery and gentle, with earthy mushroom undertones that deepen with age. An American Cheese Society award winner, this is the cheese that makes people rethink what's possible in the Midwest.

Serve with honeycomb, sliced stone fruit, and a crisp sparkling wine or wheat beer.

Cow's Milk

There's cheddar, and then there's this. Made from high-grade milk from herds in the Saint Lawrence River Valley and aged using a closely guarded proprietary culture and process, Old Quebec's Private Stock line represents top tier cheddar. Only a small number of blocks from each batch are ever identified as candidates for extended aging. The result is a dense, crystalline wheel with the kind of complex, lingering flavor that only a decade of patience can produce: deeply savory, fudgy in texture, with notes of toasted caramel and a sharp, clean finish. A World Cheese Awards silver medalist.

Serve on its own, with marcona almonds and dried apricot, or alongside a full-bodied red or a dark ale.

Queso Navarro Chihuahua 🇲🇽

Cow's Milk

Often called Menonita, in reference to its origins, this cheese has an interesting backstory. It traces its roots to Mennonite communities who settled in the northern state of Chihuahua during the colonial era, bringing with them a cheesemaking tradition that gradually became woven into Mexican culture. Quesos Navarro, an award-winning producer from the highlands of Jalisco, makes a beautiful version: semi-soft in texture, smooth and closed with a pale golden paste, and no rind to speak of. The flavor is mild and fresh, with a clean milky quality and just a whisper of butter that deepens gently as the cheese warms to room temperature. It melts like a dream and is extraordinarily versatile, on a board or in a quesadilla.

Serve with pickled jalapeños, fresh fruit, or sliced alongside the other host-country cheeses for a proper World Cup tasting.

Lawrence Salami 🇨🇦

Pork