This is a cheese we call Preamble:
This is also Preamble:
Here, too, is Preamble:
And this as well is Preamble:
Okay, that last one is musician and producer Pharrell Williams, who is not a cheese. But you see the thread: none of these things look like the others. So how can all of them be Preambles (except, again, for Pharrell, who, so far as we are aware, is not made of coagulated milk)? The answer is that Preamble is not a cheese. It is an idea.
Have a seat. If you need, take a moment to put the contents of your mind back together. We promise it all makes sense. Let us explain.
Our flagship store is on Bleecker Street in the West Village of Manhattan, but our offices are across the East River in Long Island City. This is also where we have our cheese caves, a network of custom-built, highly-controlled aging rooms, each one designed for the a certain type of cheese. We have a room for alpine cheese. We have a room for bloomy cheese. We have a natural rind room. We have one for washed rinds. And we have a drying room as well. That’s a decent amount of real estate and a whole host of unique climates, which allows our Caves team, lead by Cavemaster Peter Jenkelunas, to play around with different types of aging. When we are doing R&D on a new cheese, we need a way to classify it. So, how do you categorize a cheese that is not yet a cheese? We use the word Preamble.
That first photo? That’s Preamble 1.0. The others are Preamble 2.0, Preamble 3.0, and Preamble Pharrell.0. When PJ and team hit on a creation they like, we make it available as a limited-release test batch. Perhaps you’ve gotten a few emails in the past month for these releases. When you do, it’s always worth striking while the iron is hot, because Preamble cheeses have a way of proverbially flying off the shelf.
You may have noticed that the non-Pharrell cheeses are all of similar shape and size. That’s because those three all began as the same cheese: Little Hosmer from Jasper Hill Farm. They sent us down a batch and said, “Go wild.” And so PJ & Co. did. Version 1.0 is dressed in flowers and hops. 2.0 is washed in mead. 3.0 is soaked in mead and then wrapped in grape leaves. While they naturally share similar properties, each of these Preambles is distinct and unique.
Will every Preamble begin as a Little Hosmer? Hardly. We’re just getting started with this program—you can expect to see Preambles of all different shapes, sizes, textures, oversized felt hats, and so on. So be sure to keep an eye out. In fact, we have a release lined up for Monday that you can get your hands on if you act with conviction and swiftness.
We’ll be bringing you more notes from the caves here each month, so stay tuned.
Til then, keep calm and remain
