My Zingerman's Creamery Tour Experience

Yesterday I got the privilege of touring the Zingerman's Creamery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The tour is a great deal and a lot of fun. The tour costs $5 per person, but you get a coupon for $5 off a purchase of anything in the store. The tours are every Sunday at 2pm. But if you arrive early you get to do some sampling. We got to try some gelato and a selection of premier cheese, including a Great Lakes Cheshire cheese that they make from raw cow's milk (it's delicious, but pricey at $26.99 per pound). When the tour began, we headed into the back room, where someone was working on a batch of goat cheese. Our tour guide gave us a little background on the creamery. And then proceeded to make a batch of fresh mozzarella for us. The cheese was already in curd form, so all he had to do, is melt the cheese with hot water, stretch it out, form it into a ball, and place it into a brine. While the cheese was taking it's salt water bath, he went over to the gelato/sorbet machine to make a batch of cherry chocolate chip sorbet. The cherry was made from tart cherries from Traverse City, Michigan. As he made the batch, he explained the difference between gelato and ice cream as well as telling us an interesting story where he buys his vanilla extract and how one year it skyrocketed to over $200 for a gallon! When the sorbet finished we got to sample as much as we liked (no double dipping though!)

The tour last about an hour and I enjoyed every second of it. I would highly recommend this to anyone that is interested in either cheese or gelato and finds themselves in the Ann Arbor area. It is an experience for the taste buds and as well as a treat for your brain with all the new knowledge you will pick up. For more information on the tour and the creamery visit: http://www.zingermanscreamery.com/