Please see our new page all about sustainability!
Questions and Answers
What is Sustainable Farming?
What is the fat content of this cheese?
Our cheeses are low in fat and salt which is great for anyone watching their diet! The soft cheese has a fat content of between 14% for the Divine to 18.2% for the Log and Original.
How long will my cheese last after I open it?
Not long as it’s so delicious you'll eat it all! Once opened up the Original and Divine should be eaten within 3 days. The log and the crottin will last longer as they will mature on and hopefully just improve with age.
Is the cheese made from raw milk or pasteurised?
The Divine and Original are both pasteurised. The other cheeses can be supplied either raw or pasteurised. All of our cheeses are clearly marked whether they are raw or pasteurised. Please check with your stockists /supplier at time of purchase.
How can I get St Tola into my shop?
Contact Grainne at St. Tola on Tel: 065 683 6633 or by email on sales@st-tola.ie and we can organise distribution either directly or through a wholesaler if it is more convenient for you.
What's the shelf life of the products?
Full details of the products are available on our products page
Can you come and do some tastings to help promote the product?
We can provide P.R. material and samples and will try to arrange to do a tasting to help launch and promote St Tola through your store.
Do you have full traceability on your products?
All our products are fully traceable from farm to fork. We are fully certified by the Department of Agriculture and as such our farm and cheesehouse are subject to rigorous inspections.
What's the recommended price of your cheese?
Prices and other details for stockist can be discussed on application.
How should I store my St. Tola Goat Cheese?
St. Tola cheeses are handmade cheeses, to which no additives or preservatives have been added. Our cheeses behave like living organisms and as they mature they become more distinctive in flavour. They will continue to mature in your premises if stored properly. Our cheeses should not be wrapped in cling film, as they needs to be able to breathe like you or me!
Please store in cheese paper or greaseproof paper. We do not create a synthetic rind to put on our soft St. Tola range (logs, crottin and slices). Instead we develop a natural geotritum mould rind and this grows as the cheese matures. It works to protect the cheese and enhance the flavour. As in all good artisanal cheeses, other natural moulds, usually green or blue, may also develop, but these cause no harm. Many cheese lovers actually look for these moulds before they purchasing! The rind is just removed before the cheese is consumed or used for cooking.
We mature our cheese to suit our customers’ individual requirements from young, fresh and mild to mature and more pronounced in flavour.
All of our cheeses are best stored between 4-7 degrees Celsius (38-45F).
To enjoy them at their fullest, always bring to room temperature before serving as this brings out the full flavours of the cheese.
Is St-Tola Goat Cheese vegetarian?
Our cheese is made from animal rennet.
Where can I find your cheese?
Please email us at sales@st-tola.ie with you location and we will e-mail you our stockists in your area - or check out our Stockists section on this website.
How can we book a farm tour?
Please look at the tab at the top of the page and it has all the information about coming to see us here at St Tola. Please note that there are no tours on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays.
Why does my cheese have moulds on it?
St Tola Soft cheeses (our logs, crottin, Divine and Original ) are all truely artisinal cheeses. As such, each batch is a little different and they all change as they mature. All our cheeses will develop a natural bloomy rind that is often a creamy colour. This is a naturally occuring geotrichum candidum rind and is highly prized by artisan cheesemakers! As the fresher cheeses ripen, they may also develop some small spots of mould but there is nothing to worry about with these, in fact some cheese connisseurs actually look for these moulds as a true sign of the artisan nature of the cheese! If you see any of these moulds, please just scrape them off and enjoy the cheese as we would hate to see it wasted. We only use 1% salt in the creating of our cheese (though others who make cheese often use 3-4% salt as it is a preservative which gives a product a longer shelf-life) We feel too much salt interferes with the flavour of the cheese so we only use 1% as we do not want shelf-life to be our priority over true flavour.