Mature Teifi Cheese

Mature Teifi is an unpasteurised, organic, vegetarian cheese from Wales and produced by the Caws Teifi Cheese Company. This delicious and mature semi-hard cheese was created by John and Patrice Savage-Ontswedder in 1981.

John and Patrice Savage-Onstwedder and Paula van Werkhoven left Holland to pursue their shared dream of organic farming in Wales. They soon set about making artisanal cheese using raw milk and local ingredients, and Caws Teifi or Teifi Cheese is now the longest-established artisan cheesemaker in Wales.

The cheese is similar to Gouda with a deep sunshine-yellow interior. There are several varieties of Teifi, depending on the period of maturation. When young, the cheese has a mellow, slightly sweet flavour and a smooth, creamy texture. As it matures, Teifi develops deep, rich flavours with a hard and almost flaky texture, similar to Parmesan. The affinage or maturing usually takes two to nine months. Sometimes nettles, seaweed, garlic, onion, sweet pepper and cumin are added for a distinct flavour. This mature Teifi is 12 months old and therefore has that maximum rich and nutty taste
Caws Teifi is the most highly awarded artisan cheesemaker in Britain, winning numerous first prizes and gold medals at The Royal Welsh Show, The Nantwich Show, The British Cheese Awards and The World Cheese Awards.

Caws Teifi has truly put Welsh cheesemaking on the world map – and John credits the lush Welsh pastures with creating cheeses of such distinction. Today the cheese business and its new sister company, Da Mhile distillery, are run by the Savage-Onstwedder sons, John-James and Robert.