July 2026 Monthly Cheese Club - Island Breezes, Cheese Please!

A breezy monthly cheese-club tour of sun, salt air, and seriously snackable wheels. 

Pack your imaginary linen shirt, locate your most festive little cheese knife, and prepare to sail straight into dairy vacation mode. This month’s theme began as “Great Cheeses with Island Breezes,” which is already charming, but I’ve nudged it into full beach-blanket personality: Island Breezes, Cheese Please! Our itinerary features three cheeses with serious coastal charisma: Alisios from wind-brushed Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, Mahón-Menorca from Spain’s Balearic island of Menorca, and Meredith Dairy’s marinated feta-style cheese from Australia, which arrives in a jar like it knows it is the life of the picnic. 

Alisios: The Trade-Wind Showoff 

Alisios is named for the trade winds that sweep through the Canary Islands, which is exactly the kind of dramatic backstory a cheese deserves. Made on Fuerteventura from a blend of cow’s milk and goat’s milk, it wears a bright red-orange coat of sweet pimentón like a tiny edible sunset. After about 90 days of aging, the paste is smooth, dense, and creamy, with toasted, brothy, gently sweet notes from the paprika and a cheerful little tang from the goat’s milk. It is approachable enough for casual nibbling but distinctive enough to make everyone at the board say, “Wait, what is this one?” 

Serve Alisios with Marcona almonds, dried apricots, figs, or a Spanish rosado if you want to keep the island vacation fantasy fully staffed. And yes, take a bite that includes the paprika-rubbed edge: that rind is where the cheese puts on its sunglasses and starts telling stories. 

Mahón-Menorca: The Square Cheese with a Salty Sea Wink 

Mahón-Menorca is the grand old island character of the lineup: a cow’s-milk cheese from Menorca, one of Spain’s Balearic Islands, with a Protected Designation of Origin and a shape that looks as though it was pressed by someone who believed circles were too predictable. Traditionally formed in cloth and aged in squared-off blocks with rounded edges, Mahón often shows off an orange-gold rind and a flavor shaped by butter, salt, tang, and the kind of savory confidence that only comes from centuries of local tradition. 

Younger Mahón can be supple, milky, and friendly, while more aged versions become firmer, sharper, and nuttier, with a salty snap that practically asks for olives, crusty bread, quince paste, or a drizzle of olive oil. If Alisios is the breezy beach guest, Mahón-Menorca is the local guide who knows which cove has the best sunset and also insists you try “just one more slice.” 

Meredith Dairy Marinated Feta: The Jar That Came to Party 

Meredith Dairy’s marinated feta-style cheese comes from Victoria, Australia, and it has the energy of a cheese that packed its own snacks. Made from sheep’s and goat’s milk, the soft cubes are tucked into olive oil with herbs, garlic, and peppercorns until they become creamy, tangy, glossy little flavor sponges. It is fresh and lactic, with a yogurty brightness from the milk and a savory herbal finish from the marinade. Technically, because “feta” is protected in many markets, it is often described as feta-style or marinated sheep and goat cheese—but in the club-household economy, “the addictive jar cheese” will probably do. 

Spoon it over roasted vegetables, smash it onto warm toast, fold it through pasta, or let it lounge next to olives and tomatoes like it owns the appetizer table. Do not ignore the oil after the cheese is gone; it is liquid treasure for salad dressings, bread dipping, or drizzling over anything that looks under-vacationed. 

And because every island-hopping cheese board needs a trusty little raft, we have an added treat: summery Flouwer Co. Artisanal Crackers. These small-batch, plant-based crackers are made with edible flowers and fresh garden herbs, including rosemary, dill, and chive, giving them a crisp, colorful, lightly salted personality that looks almost too pretty to crunch—almost. Their delicate wheat-cracker snap makes them a perfect landing pad for Alisios shavings, Mahón-Menorca wedges, or a swoop of Meredith Dairy’s marinated feta-style cheese. Think of them as the flip-flops of the tasting table: casual, dependable, a little floral, and somehow exactly what you want when the sunshine snacks start calling. 

So this month, let the cheese board become a tiny archipelago: one paprika-kissed Canary Island wedge, one salty Balearic square, and one Australian jar of creamy chaos. No passport required—just crackers, curiosity, and perhaps a fan set to “gentle island breeze.”