Experience Cheddar Like Never Before!

Calef’s Snappy Old Cheddar is our award winning cheddar cheese that has amassed a huge following near and far.

It all started back in the 1800’s when Calef’s started buying and selling local New England cheese. Sourcing cheese from farms in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York and always finding new cheddar to introduce to the store and fellow cheese lovers. We pride ourselves on curating one of New Hampshire’s best cheese selection. And, it shows. Calef’s has won many awards for it cheese and ships cheese across the US to fellow cheese lovers.

As much as we love cheese, we have never ventured into making cheese. We are close to the process. For generations, we have been aging our cheddars in the store. Making our selection unique to the Calef’s store and our staff local cheese experts. All Calef’s cheese are one of a kind!

Since we play a major part in the aging process, we know quite a bit about our many varieties of “Snappy Old Cheddar” which vary in the degrees of sharpness. As a cheddar ages it loses moisture, becomes crumblier, begins to crystalize (tyrosine) and gets sharper in flavor. We also feature a wide range of flavored cheddars, Maple Bacon, Steakhouse Onion, Roasted Garlic, and Buffalo to list a few. All are sold by the pound and ship year-round.

The best way to enjoy Calef’s cheddar

Our cheddar is top quality cheese that can be enjoyed straight from the cheese block. It is a cheese that can go from casual snacking to more formal entertaining.

The Rat Trap Cheddar Cheese is our most popular cheese and can be a real crowd pleaser. Our cheese can also be a star ingredient to many delicious recipes, available on our website. Learn how to make a deliciously rich basic cheddar cheese sauce made with only 4 ingredients. Once you master this sauce you can whip up mac and cheese, white sauce pizzas, and so many more dishes. Great for fall try a cheese soup like Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Cheddar Ale Soup, Smoky Cheese Chowder Recipe, and Mary Calef Cheese Soup. All these recipes and more are available online!

The best way to share our famous cheese

Cheese is one of our favorite products to gift. Consider gifting one of our cheese boxes to your favorite cheese lover! Or grab a chunk of cheese before heading over to a friends or event. We love to have some cheese on hand to break out for informal gatherings and elevated grazing!

Calef’s Cheese has been a favorite for generations and we hope to continue to finding some of the best cheese and aging our stock to perfection.

Snappy Old Cheddar Varieties:

We scale our cheddar in its ability for you to stand up and take notice, other’s may call this sharpness.

Sharp – In spite of its name our least sharp cheese, mellow creamy flavor
Extra Sharp – A hint of that sharp bite with a deep creamy texture
Rat Trap – Old Country Store hand packed 40lb wheels; creamy, rich flavor our most popular cheese
Super Sharp – Starting to get sharp now, still a creamy texture with robust flavor
Rugged – Strong sharp flavor, some crystalizing and crumbly 15 Months
Wicked Sharp – Getting serious now, witha sharp bite and a bit of crumble, not for the faint of heart 2 years plus
3 Year Aged – Crumbly texture with crystals starting to form 3 Year +
6 Year Aged – Very Strong sharp flavor, crystalized and very crumbly 7-8 Years