The 8 Best Tasting Cheeses to Try, According to a Cheese Expert
Quick Summary: The best tasting cheese is not one cheese but a handful of styles that win every tasting: bloomy rinds, alpine cheeses, clothbound cheddar, washed rinds, and aged blues. This guide breaks down 8 styles worth trying, explains why each one tastes the way it does, and shows you how to serve and store them so every wedge tastes its best.
The best tasting cheese is the one whose flavor keeps changing as you eat it. Great cheeses share three things: quality milk, careful aging, and a texture that releases flavor slowly. Styles that deliver this most reliably include bloomy rinds like camembert, alpine cheeses, clothbound cheddar, washed rinds, and aged blues.
That is the short answer. The longer answer is more fun, because "best tasting" is not one cheese. It is a handful of styles that have earned the title over centuries, and once you know what each one offers, you can find your own favorite instead of taking anyone else's word for it.
This guide walks through 8 cheese styles that consistently win over both first-timers and lifelong cheese lovers, what makes each taste the way it does, and how to serve them so you get the full experience.
What Actually Makes a Cheese Taste Great?
Before the list, it helps to know what you are tasting for. Three factors decide most of a cheese's flavor:
The milk. Cheese made from the milk of pasture-raised animals carries the flavors of what they ate. This is why farmstead and artisan cheeses taste noticeably different from industrial blocks, and why the same cheese can taste different in spring versus fall.
The aging. Time builds flavor. As cheese ages, proteins and fats break down into hundreds of new flavor compounds. Young cheeses taste milky and bright. Aged cheeses develop nutty, savory, sometimes crystalline depth.
The rind and the make. How a cheese is treated during aging, whether it grows a soft bloomy rind, gets washed in brine, or is wrapped in cloth, shapes everything about its final taste.
Keep these three in mind as you read. Every cheese below tastes the way it does because of them.
The 8 Best Tasting Cheese Styles
1. Bloomy rind cheeses (camembert and brie style)
If a poll asked the world to name the best tasting cheese, this style would likely win. A ripe bloomy rind cheese has a velvety white exterior and a paste that softens toward gooey as it ripens. The flavor is buttery and rich with a gentle mushroom note from the rind. It is approachable enough for someone trying artisan cheese for the first time and complex enough that experts never tire of it.
How to serve it: Fully at room temperature, never cold. The paste should give when pressed.
2. Alpine cheeses
Made in the tradition of the mountain wheels of France and Switzerland, alpine cheeses are smooth, dense, and taste of toasted nuts with a quiet sweetness. American creameries now make alpine styles that win international awards, and one bite explains why: the flavor is deep without ever being aggressive. If you want one cheese that pleases an entire table, this is it.
How to serve it: Thin slices rather than chunks. Thin pieces melt on the tongue and release more flavor.
3. Clothbound cheddar
Forget the plastic-wrapped blocks. Cheddar aged the traditional way, wrapped in cloth and matured for a year or more, becomes something else entirely: crumbly, earthy, with a sharp finish and notes that can lean toward caramel and roasted nuts. Many people who think they know cheddar have never actually tasted this version, and the difference is dramatic.
How to serve it: Break it into rough chunks instead of slicing. The craggy texture is part of the experience.
4. Washed rind cheeses
These are the famous "stinky" cheeses, and they hide a secret: they taste much gentler than they smell. During aging, the rind is washed in brine, which develops bold, savory, almost brothy flavors and a supple, sometimes spoonable texture. Seasonal washed rind wheels, including spruce-wrapped styles where the paste turns custardy enough to scoop, are some of the most sought-after cheeses in America.
How to serve it: With the rind on, a spoon nearby for the soft ones, and an open mind.
5. Blue cheese
Blue is the boldest entry on this list and, for many devoted cheese eaters, the best tasting of all. The blue veins carry sharp, salty, peppery intensity balanced by a creamy paste. The trick for newcomers is pairing it with something sweet. A drizzle of honey changes everything, which is why blue cheese with truffle honey has become a modern classic.
How to serve it: Small portions, always with a sweet partner like honey, jam, or fruit.
6. Fresh goat cheese (chèvre)
On the opposite end from blue sits fresh chèvre: bright, tangy, lemony, and clean. It tastes like the freshest version of milk itself. Because it is so light, it shines in spring and summer and works in both sweet and savory directions, from a salad to a dessert plate.
How to serve it: Cool but not fridge-cold, with fresh fruit or a baguette.
7. Raclette
Raclette is the cheese that proves "best tasting" sometimes means "best melted." Semi-soft with a washed rind, it has a savory, slightly funky flavor that transforms when heated, turning silky and intensely aromatic. Farmstead raclette made in Vermont and other American dairy regions has become a winter tradition for good reason.
How to serve it: Melted over potatoes and pickles if you can, or at room temperature on a board if you cannot.
8. Crystalline aged cheeses
Cheeses aged long enough develop tiny crunchy crystals in the paste. These crystals are flavor compounds, and they signal a cheese at the peak of savory intensity. Aged goudas and long-aged alpine wheels in this category deliver butterscotch, brown butter, and umami in one bite. They are the cheeses people describe as "addictive."
How to serve it: Broken into shards. Let pieces sit on the tongue a moment before chewing.
How to Find Your Own Best Tasting Cheese
Reading about cheese only goes so far. Taste is personal, and the only way to find your favorite is to try several styles side by side. A few practical ways to do that:
Taste in flights. Pick three or four styles from the list above and taste them mild to strong in one sitting. The contrast teaches your palate faster than eating one cheese a week ever will.
Let an expert guide you. A guided session speeds everything up because someone explains what you are tasting while you taste it. Cheese Grotto's virtual cheese tastings do exactly this: a live host walks your group through each cheese, its story, and what to notice, with artisan cheese kits shipped to your door or a bring-your-own option.
Taste through the seasons. Because milk changes with the seasons, cheese does too. A monthly cheese subscription is the simplest way to taste a rotating selection of American farmstead cheeses at their seasonal peak, without having to research what is good right now.
Buy small amounts of several cheeses rather than a lot of one. The full cheese and pairings collection makes this easy to do in one order, including the honeys, jams, and crackers that bring out the best in each style.
One Thing That Quietly Ruins Great Cheese
A quick warning before you go shopping: the best tasting cheese in the world will taste flat if it is stored badly. Plastic wrap suffocates cheese, traps ammonia, and dulls flavor within days. Artisan cheese is alive, and it needs to breathe.
Store wedges in cheese paper or a breathable container, keep them away from strong-smelling foods, and always bring them to room temperature before serving. Our guide to storing cheese the right way covers exactly how to keep every style on this list tasting the way the cheesemaker intended.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best tasting cheese in the world?
There is no single winner, but bloomy rind cheeses, alpine styles, clothbound cheddar, and aged crystalline cheeses are the styles most often named by experts and cheese lovers alike.
What is the best tasting cheese for beginners?
A bloomy rind cheese like camembert or brie. It is creamy, mild, and approachable, with enough character to show what artisan cheese is about.
Why does artisan cheese taste better than supermarket cheese?
Artisan cheese is made from higher quality, often pasture-based milk, aged with care, and sold closer to its peak. Industrial cheese is optimized for shelf life and consistency, which flattens flavor.
How should I taste cheese to get the most flavor?
Bring it to room temperature, taste from mildest to strongest, and let each piece sit on your tongue before chewing. Smell it first, since aroma carries much of the flavor.
Does cheese taste different depending on the season?
Yes. Milk changes with the animals' diet, so spring and summer cheeses taste brighter and grassier, while fall and winter cheeses are often richer and deeper.
