Imagine spending 20-25 hours a week standing in a pungent temperature controlled room of cheese (a scent that probably doesn’t dissipate after a hot shower), handling every single wheel to ensure each is coated with the right kind of bacteria and aged to perfection. Talk about passion, right? That’s how some of the artisan cheese makers at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy spend their days, one of only 200 farmstead artisan cheese makers nationwide.

With just the right blend of goat milk from their 120+ happy goats that live on the farm and a lot of love and dedication, Haystack Dairy has built a reputation of producing exceptional goat cheeses. They’ve won countless awards from the American Cheese Society and have had several write-ups in Food and Wine Magazine. If you’re local to Boulder you can buy their cheeses at the farm or at the Boulder County Farmers Market. For the long distance cheese-lover, a few of their offerings are available at Whole Foods nationwide.

With a great recommendation from some fellow chowhounds, we took a tour of their farm (which they offer every Tues and Sat from 12-2) and had a chance to meet the cheese makers themselves. We couldn’t get over how good the cheese was but we were also quite smitten with all the cute little goats! We loved the Queso de Mano, a nutty, sharp cheese made there on the farm.

The dairy is a little gem nestled right in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and definitely worth a visit if you are in the Boulder area. Check out some of the highlights from our visit!

Haystack Goat Dairy - Longmont, CO from Foodzie on Vimeo.