Driftwood Cheese

Driftwood is a lovely goat’s milk cheese made by White Lake Cheese, a small dairy tucked away near the Glastonbury Festival fields in Somerset. White Lake was started in 2004 by cheesemaker Roger Longman and his friend Pete Humphries, but the Longman family have been making cheese since the 1930s. From the beginning, White Lake set out to try new things with goat’s cheese, and it didn’t take long for them to get a reputation for being creative and a bit ahead of the curve in British cheesemaking.

Driftwood joined the White Lake line-up in 2009, right in the middle of this burst of creativity. The idea was to make a soft, log-shaped goat’s cheese with a bit more going on than your usual fresh chevre. The name Driftwood suits it perfectly; the ash-dusted rind and its shape really do look like a piece of wood that’s been washed up on the beach, all smooth and full of character.

Over the years, Driftwood has become a bit of a star for White Lake, picking up all sorts of awards: Silver at the World Cheese Awards, Silver at the Artisan Cheese Awards, and plenty of praise at the Great Yorkshire Show and British & Irish Cheese Awards.

Driftwood is made with goat’s milk from White Lake’s own herd , a mix of British Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanen goats, all fed just the right diet to make their milk extra tasty for cheesemaking.

After the milk has set and drained, the cheese is shaped into a log and given a gentle dusting of vegetable ash. The ash isn’t just for looks; it helps the special geotrichum rind to form and keeps the acidity in check, which means the cheese ripens more smoothly and develops lovely layers of flavour as it matures over a few weeks. It just goes to show how thoughtful ageing, careful feeding of herd animals, and simple natural techniques can yield a sophisticated artisan product.