Coastal Bite Ingot Truckle (Tesco Finest)
I cannot deny I bought this simply because it was termed “a cheese ingot”. I am never one to turn down cheese marketed in the same terms as gold bullion; once again, I was not disappointed.
This cheese appeared in the “Christmas Cheese” section of the local Tesco. There is a distinct subgenre of supermarket Christmas cheeses: wrapped in wax, small in size, excessive in price. Commonly these cheeses are crushingly disappointing. You are paying for the pleasing wax-enrobed festive experience rather than the flavour. In most cases you would be better served shelling out a little more for an actual high-end cheese like a Black Bomber Cheddar (whose wax casing is merely incidental to its epic taste) rather than accepting these often-insipid pretenders. However, I couldn’t turn down a cheese that would stack so satisfyingly into serried ranks in the vaults of a central bank, reliably backstopping national fiscal stability with its dairy heft.
For a wax-wrapped ingot cheese, this performs well. It is always exciting to observe a cheese defy convention and adopt shapes other than the classic “rectangular block”, “wedge” or “round”. The luscious blue wax gives this high-end allure and really does improve the interest of cutting and eating. The cheese inside is… well, a decent cheddar. Little more can be said, though I intend to say it at great length.
Coastal Bite is a generic Tesco Finest Cheddar line. Tesco appear to own the copyright on “Coastal”, which could prove challenging to the nation’s geographers. You can purchase it in other formats like the classic “rectangular block”; obviously it would be insanity to do this over the Christmas period and miss out on this satisfying waxy ingot. The Cheddar is a little bit soft, quite smooth but occasionally crunchy, and moderately full-bodied in flavour. The depth of flavour didn’t leave my tongue weeping and shuddering on the floor, which was disappointing, but there is a relatively complex and interesting taste there. I found myself going back for quite a lot more even if the taste was on the medium side.
While about to prepare for bed after initially writing this review, I took an absent-minded detour via the fridge and accidentally ate the entire remaining block of this cheese in one sitting. I enjoyed this a lot despite its low temperature. This experience is a testament to the easy eating to be had with this cheese – nothing remarkable, but a trusty strongish Cheddar. This cheese would perform well at any cheese night, especially among those without the stomach for really feisty Cheddars. It is excellent for eating alone (especially late at night) and would also pair well with most crackers, or perhaps some crunchy apple.
For its unassuming but moreish flavour and pleasing ingot shape, I rate this cheese 8 out of 10.
I love cheese. Most of all I love the strongest Cheddars available; ewe’s or goat’s cheese are also often hits.
I too, am a mature cheddar man, and I too, rate among the highest of highs the Black Bomber.
But. Having become informed that they make cheeses in PLEASING INGOT shapes, it seems strange, if not outrageous, that this is not the default cheese shape, particular for the wax-coated variants. It cuts easily, and into exactly the shape of cheese that you most commonly want, and (for those of us who don’t gorge entire leftover cheeses accidentally on the same night) leaves little cheese exposed to be cling-filmed, only to go hard and spoil anyway.
I shall be procuring this cheese at the first moment possible, and shall report back. My rating (which was mandatory to include) is currently provisional, until I have consumed one.
It was difficult for me to give this a rating, as I’m sorry but I haven’t had this particular version. My cheese of choice at the moment is the ‘non finest’ version of this from Tesco (obviously). It is simply called Coastal Bite and comes in a green wax. I like to have it for lunch with a slice of 5 counties (which has seemed rubbery of late) and a slice of Wensleydale & cranberry, along with a few slices of a dark green Granny Smith (the darker the green the better the flavour) and a handful of seedless green grapes.
I like both the flavour and texture of the CB and had hoped to buy it in a larger quantity than the 250gms it currently comes in.
However, and I’m sorry if this makes me some kind of cheese heathen, but I do not like the wax coating. I find it tiresome to get into on the first cutting and it leaves traces of green wax throughout the cheese which I do not wish to eat.
Cheese aficionados should probably look away at this point in case it gives them nightmares, but, I remove all the wax and then store the cheese in a zip top plastic bag. Sorry.
I found this site whilst searching for larger portions of CB and found that Tesco also have a non seasonal finest version but which appears to come sealed in plastic and no wax. So, this will be added to my next order, stock permitting, and I will keep my eye out over xmas for ingot shaped versions.
(I bought cheese from the Co-op one xmas, in a red wax shaped like a star. Tasted okay but even more of a struggle to get in to)
A very thorough post! I have not tried it myself (Phil was the reviewer in this instance) but I think Phil was taken more by the packing than the cheese itself! Wax can be divisive and I can see the issues with tainting the cheese with small bits of wax. Your lunch does sound superb though! Whilst we enjoy a good cheese on it’s own, we are also big fans of finding pairings on our annual cheese nights.
@Valerie interesting to hear your comments about the wax! I agree with the wax getting into the cheese. Taking the wax off might cause it to go dry a bit quicker, but in a bag it ‘s probably fine .
Yep you can get the Coastal Bite in the main cheese aisle, probably up at the top with all the other fancy Tesco Finest cheeses. Think it’s still only a small bit, though, and I seem to recall it’s pretty much the same price. I think it’s the same cheese, just in different sorts of packaging.
If you like the Coastal Bite, you might also want to try the normal Tesco Finest Cheddars. They don’t have the same satisfying crunchy texture, but are IMO a bit more flavourful.
Wonderful. Hope Tesco will do this all year.