File under: it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.

Last night I went to a tasting of new cheeses and butters from Wisconsin creameries, a trade and media event put on by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. I worked in a cheese store in Saint Louis years ago (yes, there was plenty of cutting the cheese, and no, the jokes about it really never got old), but haven’t really kept up with what’s come onto the market since then.

Several cheese makers and one butter maker talked about the products they’d brought, starting with Al Bekkum of Nordic Creamery, who began with a warning: “This is not the best summer butter I’ve ever made.” The drought has dried up the grass on his farm, which affects the quality of the milk his cows produce, he said. “It’s a challenge for someone who’s built a reputation on making a grass-based product.”