Kathryn Lewis roadtests the Weekend Cheese Box from Paxton & Whitfield in Gloucestershire
What is it?
The cheesemongers’ pick of the week’s ripest, most nose-tingling cheeses – delivered to your door in time for weekend grazing.
Why?
It’s impossible to turn down a good bargain (especially when it comes to consumables) and the Weekend Box unites fromage fiends with cheeses that are close to their official best-before date (BBD) – and rewards them with a tidy discount as a result.
The Paxton & Whitfield pros swear that some of their favourite cheeses are best eaten when past their BBD, plus every inclusion in the box is taste tested before being posted.
If your flavour preferences are as easy going as your views on lockdown meeting attire (a fresh pair of trackies counts as ‘smart casual’, right?) you’ll enjoy the sense of discovery that comes from giving full control to the cheesemongers. As a creature of habit I’d usually stick with trusted favourites for fear of picking a dud, but the intoxicatingly pungent Langres (something I’d never usually choose) was actually the only cheese that didn’t get to make a return trip to the fridge.
The low-down
You’ll be hard pressed to find a bunch that know more about cheese than Paxton & Whitfield: the cheesemonger has been trading since 1797 and earnt its first Royal Warrant to Queen Victoria in 1850. Today it has shops in London, Stratford-on-Avon and Bath, while cheese HQ is in Bourton-on-the-Water.
Cost
£30, plus postage.
Value for money
The Weekend Cheese Box is a great way to discover top-notch cheeses without a bonkers price tag. £30 was an absolute steal for four very generous portions which were all stellar examples of their kind. The whole lot lasted three rounds of the cheeseboard.
Packaging
Eco kudos for the modest-sized cardboard box and recyclable wool packaging which kept the cheeses nicely chilled.
Recommend to a friend?
Definitely, although some may find the odd super pongy (but utterly delicious) inclusion challenging.
