Review: Tyne Chease

Tyne Chease vegan cheese

You've heard of Kite Hill and Treeline nut cheeses? Tyne Chease is the UK's version. Having never tried the American cheeses we're not going to compare, but the arrival of Tyne Chease has generated a lot of excitement, so let's see if it's any good. We sampled the Classic and the Garlic & Herb hard cheeses, along with the Soft Macadamia:

EDIT: THIS REVIEW IS OUT OF DATE. PLEASE SEE OUR 2016 REVIEW OF THE REFORMULATED AND IMPROVED TYNE CHEESES:




The hard cheeses are generally based on cashew nuts, while the soft cheese, as its name suggests, is made from macadamias. What's noticeable, and a contrast from Treeline and Kite Hill, is that the hard cheeses also use soya beans.


The cheeses are beautifully packaged and presented, with each arriving in a round wooden box, within which the cheese is wrapped in wax paper. We love the idea of artisan vegan cheese, and you'd certainly be able to make an attractive cheese board from Tyne Chease.


Classic - hard cashew cheese


First up had to be the Classic hard cashew cheese, with no flavourings to hide behind.


Texture

The texture is like a firm paste, not dissimilar to nuttolene (blanched peanut block). It's quite dry, a bit cloying, and a little hard to swallow if eaten alone (like swallowing peanut butter off a spoon). If you're eating it like that, you'll want to cut it into thin slices and enjoy it with a glass of something.

Flavour

These cheeses certainly don't pull any punches on the flavour front. They're cultured with acidophilus and that gives them a tart fermented flavour, like natural yoghurt or rejuvelac. There's cider vinegar in the mix too, which also adds to the tangy taste. The flavour of cashews is lost, but the soya isn't, with a hint of tofu coming through too. It's not entirely successful as a 'cheese' flavour, and will divide opinions, but it's not unpleasant.


Garlic & Herb


Not perhaps a common flavour for a hard cheese, but a classic combination


Garlic and herb works well in a soft cheese, but it's less successful here. The garlic is a little lost within the overwhelming herbyness, and the powerful savoury flavour means this is more of a pâté than a cheese. Again, not unpleasant, but we weren't looking for a pâté.


Soft Macadamia


A soft white cheese made from the 'queen of nuts'



The Soft Macadamia cheese is the most dairy-like in appearance of the Tyne Cheases. The macadamias don't blend as well as cashews do though, so the texture isn't smooth but a little mealy. The flavour is the same as the hard cheeses, except even more tart and acidic. It's a little too punchy for a soft cheese, but is ok on a salty biscuit.

Round Up


We wanted to love Tyne Chease. There are rave reviews of this stuff all over the internet, and it's come at the right time, with the demand for artisan vegan foods at an all time high. The presentation is right, and the idea of cultured nut (or nut milk) cheeses is sound too. We think that Tyne Chease need to work on the products a little further though. Nothing is fundamentally wrong and we wish the company well with their future development.


The Good: Artisan produced, beautifully presented.
The Not-so-Good: Taste and texture need more work


Veganoo Score: ★★★
Tyne Chease - Cashew/Macadamia Cheeses



Footnote: Ingredients
Here are the ingredients from the packs we reviewed.

Classic: organic cashew nuts, organic soya beans, organic cider vinegar, acidophilus, water, himalayan pink salt. 

 Garlic & Herb: organic cashew nuts, organic soya beans, organic cider vinegar, organic mixed herbs, acidophilus, organic garlic, himalayan pink salt. 

 Macadamia: macadamia nuts, water, acidophilus, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, himalayan pink salt



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4 comments:

  1. Following good reviews from Veganoo and other sources (which I forget) I ordered one 'Classic' and one 'Ale & Mustard' Tyne Chease at £24 including P&P. The good points are that they are vegan and organic and, as you say, well-packaged. The bad points are that they both taste disgusting, the texture and taste are truly awful (hardly cheeses but pastes, and I could not eat either but at that price am reluctant to throw away) and, of course, .the price is extortionate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We seem to be in a minority Jeremy, as everyone else seems to love it, or are too polite to say otherwise. That's fine though, we started this blog so we can give some honest opinions.

      Delete
  2. Unfortunately I doubt we are in the minority, and it may be the case that as you point out - quite a few reviewers are being polite. I experienced exactly the same disappointment/frustration after trying Tyne Chease, and can only hope the company will deliver better in the future. We all have different tastes and opinions of course, and some may actually enjoy the taste of these, but I did find your review to be spot on. Veganoo always appear to me to give honest, yet fair reviews.

    ReplyDelete

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