In The Media

Why should we be eating raw milk cheeses? Many of our customers ask about the very important topic of raw milk and raw milk cheeses. We were recently sent this interesting article by Neals Yard Dairy in London. They have been champions of Raw Milk cheeses for decades and incredible supporters of St Tola Goat Cheese.  Attached here is a clip from the article but it is difficult to see in the photo properly.  The complete link is here: https://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/blogs/cheese/why-raw-milk-cheese

It is as follows:  “Unless people go out of their way to eat raw milk British cheese, it will be gone,” our Technical Director Bronwen Percival says. That's why we've made this selection that showcases just four of the two dozen raw milk cheeses that we are proud to sell. Raw milk cheese includes microorganisms unique to each herd, farm, and dairy, and which help develop unique flavours and textures in cheese. This diversity is one of the reasons why we are committed to supporting raw milk cheese and why we encourage you to do the same"

Why raw milk cheese is worth it
JBrie de Meaux. Comté. Parmigiano Reggiano. What do these cheeses have in common? They are made with raw milk.

There is a reason many of the best-known, most-loved cheeses in the world are made exclusively with raw milk. “Raw milk cheese is more complex,” says our Technical Director Bronwen Percival. “If it wasn’t, we’d all bring out the pasteurisers and call it a day.”

The worst thing about pasteurisation is also the best thing about pasteurisation: it kills microorganisms living in milk. That includes microorganisms that can make people sick. It also includes microorganisms unique to each herd, farm, and dairy; microorganisms that help develop unique flavours and textures in cheese.

“We all want to use great ingredients in our recipes,” says Julie Cheyney, who makes beloved raw cow’s milk cheeses St Jude and St Cera. For Julie, the foundation of cheesemaking is great milk, produced by healthy animals with a varied diet. “If you have that, why would you pasteurise it?”

When raw milk cheese is good, it’s very, very good
By killing microorganisms living in raw milk, pasteurisation eliminates variation. In other words, it strips away the milk’s character. That’s not always a bad thing. 

“[With raw milk cheese] you're going to get the odd batches that are like, ‘whoa. I’ve not come across this before. That’s amazing,’” says Carrie Rimes, who makes the raw sheep’s milk cheese Brefu Bach. “There are going to be some batches... you might call them interesting.” That’s a diplomatic way to say strong, unexpected, and even off-putting.

Pasteurised milk, on the other hand, can be made into consistently delicious cheese. “For your average pasteurised stuff ... you’re going to know pretty much what you’re going to get every single time. On average, it might actually be better than unpasteurised,” Carrie says. “But you’re never going to get those really amazing batches.” 

Those really amazing batches are thanks to the bacteria, moulds, and yeasts that live in milk. They vary from farm to farm, herd to herd; even day to day. “What’s going on for those cows in that part of the world, at that time of year?” Julie says. All of that influences the balance of microbial life in raw milk.

Sometimes, that one-of-a-kind microbial mix aligns with skilled cheesemaking in just the right way. The result is a particularly delicious cheese: St Jude that tastes of caramel and salted peanuts, or delightfully chewy, floral Brefu Bach. Carrie calls them batches that “sing.” 

Raw milk cheese makers take safety seriously

With great microbial diversity – and great potential for delicious cheese – comes great responsibility. Because raw milk cheese makers don’t eliminate pathogenic bacteria with pasteurisation, they must take extra care to ensure pathogenic bacteria don’t enter the milk in the first place. “I'm in the cheese room looking at things the whole time,” Julie says. “I'm there with the bucket and scrub brush. I’m there watching other people clean.”

Hygiene is just the beginning – or, rather, the end. The first step to safe, delicious raw milk cheese is safe, delicious raw milk. St Jude Cheese is based on Dulcie and Jonny Crickmore’s family farm in Suffolk, which is home to a healthy herd of Montbéliard cows.

In addition to regularly sending milk samples off for official laboratory testing, the team performs simple, daily on-farm tests for so-called indicator bacteria. Low levels of indicator bacteria are a signal that the milk is being produced with the utmost level of care. “We’re using Petrifilm tests so we can make sure everything is going in the right direction,” Julie says. Petrifilms are not definitive, she explains, but an aid to flag issues for further investigation with the help of a certified laboratory. If their on-dairy, daily test comes back with concerning results, the team can begin investigating the issue and ordering additional microbiological tests immediately. 

Milk is so fresh that it is still warm when Julie begins her work. “The milk is piped from the milking parlour to the cheese room where, barely an hour old, the cultures are added to acidify the milk and thus the cheesemaking process has begun,” she wrote on her website. That gives pathogenic bacteria less time to proliferate before the starter cultures get to work. 

So, is pasteurised cheese safer to eat than raw milk cheese? Not necessarily. Careless practices can introduce pathogenic bacteria at any time – including after pasteurisation. All it would take is one poorly cleaned piece of equipment to introduce Listeria monocytogenes to a vat of perfectly pasteurised cheese-in-the-making. And without bacteria ready to outcompete that Listeria, it could proliferate, ultimately reaching vulnerable customers and making them sick. 

“The great thing about raw milk cheese is you know it is produced to the highest standard—there is no safety net. Many people who make pasteurised cheese take great care with that milk too, but you don’t have to be perfect if you pasteurise,” Bronwen says. “That is the moral hazard of pasteurisation.” 

British raw milk cheese is rare
In the United Kingdom, we eat plenty of raw milk cheese. Just not British raw milk cheese.  While French cheeses like Roquefort and Reblochon are stocked on supermarket shelves, British raw milk cheeses are a specialty product, found in specialty shops. And even that is at risk. “Neal’s Yard used to have so many raw milk cheeses,” Julie says. “There are fewer on the counter than there used to be.”  

Why? The short answer is that it is very difficult to make raw milk cheese. Part of this is fundamental to the product. Raw milk is different every day. That means the cheese recipe must be slightly different every day. It takes a very skilled, very patient cheese maker to make these adjustments.

Government regulation adds another layer of difficulty. Raw milk cheese makers often face higher levels of scrutiny from the environmental health officer assigned to their dairy. “I have to do three lots of shelf-life studies, per product, per year -- all on these very tiny production quantities,” Carrie says. For an industrial cheese maker, completing that number of shelf-life studies – tests of how long a product stays fresh – would be simple. For Carrie, who operates a microdairy in a converted church, it is a herculean effort. 

“It's really difficult,” Carrie says. “But we're still here.” She’s not alone. “I want to stay small and stay raw,” Julie says. For cheese makers like Carrie and Julie, the natural variation of raw milk cheese – and the amazing heights it can reach – make it all worth it.

At Neal’s Yard Dairy, it’s our job to bring out the best in their cheeses and encourage as many people as possible to try them. “Unless people go out of their way to eat raw milk British cheese, it will be gone,” Bronwen says.

Siobhán was delighted to be invited along with two other Irish female cheesemakers (Sarah from Cashel Blue and Theresa from Kylemore cheese)  to speak as part of the St. Brigid Days celebrations in Lyons & Dijon in France at the end of January.The event was being organised by the Consulate General of Ireland based in Lyon to celebrate the creativity and diversity of women in Ireland.  

We are delighted to announce that St Tola will be featured in Anna Haughs new BBC production Anna Haughs Big Irish Tour! Each epiosde shows Anna returning to her roots here in Ireland and features an Irish producer and another local celebrity or person connected with the area. Those featured in the very diverse line up include:  Dennis Taylor, Katherine Ryan, Diarmuid Gavin, Vanessa Feltz and Bundee Aki

Filming took place here on the farm and in the cheesehouse last summer and we had great craic on the day with herself and the fabulous Liz Bonnin.

The series started this Monday on BBC Northern Ireland at 8pm and will run every Monday. 

The St Tola episode with be episode number 12 and will be on BBC Northern Ireland and will air at 8pm on Monday 21st April. More details about the programme can be found on  https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2025/new-series-anna-haughs-big-irish-food-tour

Siobhán 

The annual Blas na hEireann event at the Dingle Food Festival took place at the weekend and we were delighted that our St Tola Karst won Gold! It was a fabulous couple of days meeting lots of fantastic folk from the Irish Food Industry and lots of our loyal customers. Other highlights included "Meet the Maker" with Anthony O' Toole and the Backyard Sessions. 

It was a double weekend of winners, as we also won Irish Food Producer of the Year at the Irish Made Awards at the Irish Country Magazine Awards! 

Many thanks too to Janine Cronin for the fabulous write up in the Irish Times at the weekend. 

We are delighted to announce that we are finalist in the 2024 Irish Made awards from Irish Country Magazine!

We do need your votes to win, so if you like our lovely cheese please follow this link https://irishcountrymagazine.ie/vote24/ and vote for St Tola! 

Come join our crew this Wednesday 12th June  at 10.30am for first Public Tour. You'll get up close with our lovely ladies, learn all about farming, breeding+milking & of course get to taste our delicious cheese!
€15 /head adult, €8 kids or €35 family ticket
Drop us a DM or email to info@st-tola.ie to let us know you are coming!
Find us using the EIRCODE V95 XA9C, 30 mins from Ennis, 15 mins from Lahinch.

After 45 years in business we are delighted to still win major awards! Our classic Original log won Gold at the Irish Cheese 2024 last week! We also won 2 silvers and a bronze for some of our other cheeses! The awards ceremony and lunch was a real pleasure at the lovely Kilishane House in Tipperary and it was great to meet up with fellow cheesemakers, journalists and cheese enthusiasts! 

So many thanks to all at CAIS for organising and our great sponsors for all the help.  

Sponsors: SYSCO, Bord Bia, Traditional Cheese Company, Horgans Delicatessen Supplies Ltd., and Ornua

It was a joyful day and we look forward to the next one in 2026

Siobhán 

We are delighted to announce that Siobhán will be speaking at a special seminar at UCC to celebrate+ discuss the rich culture+ history of artisanal cheeses in Ireland. The event is supported by CAIS the Irish Cheese Makers Association.

This Friday November 10th from 6.30 to 9pm Block A, Level 1, Food Science Bld, UCC

Winter has set in here at the farm at St Tola - we are still very busy however! We are preparing our Christmas cheeses including St Tola with Cranberry Logs, Divine and Crottin and also our very special St Tola Gold. Our on-line shop is fully open also! https://st-tola-irish-goat-cheese.myshopify.com/

I feel privileged and  honoured to have been selected alongside these unique folks  as Food Ambassador for the 2023 Food on the The Edge Symposium! 

Food on the Edge International is a two-day symposium that takes place annually in Ireland. It is for chefs & food enthusiasts all around the world who want to create a better global network.

I look forward to meeting everyone next month at Airfield Estate, Dundrum in Dublin on Mon 16th & Tues 17th October 2023.

More details on Food on the Edge can be found https://foodontheedge.ie/

We are delighted to be doing some super events in the next few weeks and we hope to see some of our lovely customers! 

Brian will be up near his home place in Kells at the Sheridans Festival in Co Meath on Sunday 24th September. This is always a great day out and a highlight for all foodies around the country. More details can be found on https://sheridanscheesemongers.com/sheridans-annual-irish-food-festival/

The following weekend, 29th September to 1st October, Siobhán will be attending the Irish Food awards at Blas na hEireann  and also Dingle Food Festival in Dingle Co Kerry. She will be at the Burren Ecotourism Tent and its a great chance to come and taste food from around Ireland but most importantly from Co.Clare! Details for the Dingle Food Festival are here https://www.dinglefood.com/ and for Blás https://www.irishfoodawards.com/

The end of October heralds another turn of the year as we go into our winter months. Unfortunately this means here our milk does stop to drop naturally with the darkening days and we have had to make the difficult  decision to stop making our Greek style and Gold Cheeses until next spring.  However the good news is that of course here in County Clare we like to have celebrate these changes in the seasons also! The Burren Winterage Festival take place on the Bank Holiday weekend and the annual Winterage walk will take place this year starting and ending at the Michael Cusack Centre in Carron where we and lots of other Burren producers will meeting customers old and new at the Burren Food Fayre. More details and a weblink for this will be up soon.  

And finally, if you miss us at all those events and  you'd like to come along and have a look at the farm, we are opening up the farm to a public tour on Wednesday 1st November at 11.30! You'll get to meet our lovely goats, learn all about farming and cheesemakeing and taste all our delicious awardwinning cheeses! €15/ adults €8/children or €35/family ticket please let us know if you are coming along and drop us an email on info@st-tola.ie 

Summer is in full swing here at St Tola Goat Farm. 

We are delighted to announce some dates for our public tours.   Tours will start at 11.30am sharp.  Tours will include a visit to the sheds to see our beautiful goats, hear a talk on farming, feeding and breeding.  Visitors will also get to taste our range of award winning cheeses including our newest cheese St Tola Karst, which is named for its resemblance to the amazing limestone Karst landscape in the Burren! Prices from €15/adult and €8/child. If possible, please let us know you are coming on info@st-tola.ie more info will be available on our social media shortly!
Dates are : 

Fridays July 7th, 14th and 28th and Wednesday 19th .

We hope to see some of you very soon!

The first few weeks of January are about the only down time we have here on the farm at St Tola. It is a chance for us to get some essential jobs done and maybe a few days off before kidding starts. This year, we have around 96 nanny goats waiting to kid in approx 2 weeks time Goats normally give birth to twins (though sometimes it can be triplets!) so it is a super busy period for the farm with around 200 babys expected! Of course with kidding comes lots of delicious milk ready to be made into our fabulous cheese.  

Our on-line shop is back up and running again after the winter break so log on here to order cheese and selection boxes for your loved ones for St Bridgets Day! https://st-tola-irish-goat-cheese.myshopify.com/

We are also taking bookings for private and group tours for 2023. Click here for more information:  https://www.st-tola.ie/irishcheese/visting-our-goat-farm  and email us at info@st-tola.ie to book

Siobhán 

We wish all our loyal customers a safe time during this Covid19 crisis. As we can't find the off switch on our goats,  we have reduced our production of soft cheeses and we will soon be making our St Tola Hard Cheese. Please support Irish food producers at this critical time. Our soft cheeses are available on a 20% discount from today at Supervalus Nationwide! Stay safe. from Siobhan and all the crew at St Tola x

in the meantime, here is Petru our Farm manager and some lovely kids from earlier in the year! x 

Mid term Goat Therapy! So our kids can meet your kids come along to our public tour this Friday 31st February at 10.30am! Its a one hour tour and you get to see our lovely goats and kids and taste all our delicious goats cheese! €10 adults, €5children or €30 for a family of 2 adults and 3 children. All welcome!

Public Tours are still running here at St Tola! Come along every Wednesday at 10.30am for a tour of the farm, a simple cheesemaking demonstration and a taste of all our cheeses! SSo that is the 14th, 21st and 28th August!  €8 adults, €5 children or €25 family ticket. Great craic whatever the weather!

We can't promise Brian will be in full pagan gear but come and join us at our May Day Bealtine Public Tour on Wednesday 1st May at10.30 for a one hour tour! €8 adults, €5children €25 family ticket!

Lovely video from a few years back from visitor Rebecca Bingham!

Spring has really sprung here at St Tola! Our goats are kidding well and there are lots of lovely babies and of course lovely fresh goat milk and cheese!

Some calendar dates to remember:

Sheridans Cheesemongers Galway 23rd March 11-4pm,

Burren Food Trail Long Table events 07/06, 06/09 and 21/11 see www.Burren.ie/food-dining for more details

Slow Food Clare Festival 11/12 May www.slowfoodclare.cm

Sheridans Food Festival 26/05/2019 www.sheridanscheesemongers.com

Open Day here at St Tola Wednesday 24th April from 10.30 to 12noon! gates open at 10.15 for tour starting sharp at 10.30, €8/adult,  €5/children €20 family ticket

What a year it has been for St Tola Goats Cheese! Never before have we won so many awards as 2018!  Firstly the much coverted Irsh Food Writers Guild Environmental Award for our sustainability ethos which we are so very proud of.  St Tola was also one of only 5 Irish Cheesemakers to win 2 Stars at the Great Taste Awards - one of the finest international food competitions in the world!  Our St Tola Ash log also won both Gold at the Blas na hEireann award in Dingle in October and Bronze at the World Cheese awards this month!

As our St Tola Ash (which wins all the awards!) is difficult to come by in the market place we have decided to have the farm open to the public from Monday 3rd December to Friday 21st December from 9am to 4pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-12noon.  Pre-order if possible to guarentee orders.  We will have the full range of our St Tola cheeses, including the rare and just released St Tola Hard Cheese, specially designed St. Tola Cheeseboards, Sheridans crackers, Burren Kitchen Garden Winter Jelly & other Irish Farmhouse Cheeses to make up delicious hampers! Ring Carmen or Grainne on 065 683 66 33.