As anyone who has tried the cheese from different kinds of animal milk will know, there’s a big difference between eating cheddar from a cow and fresh chèvre. There is a flavor in goat cheese that most people can only describe as “goaty.” Why is that? What do the cheeses of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk taste like and why do they taste differently in the first place?
The answer is, it depends. The differences have to do with diet; age of the cheese; breed of cow, goat, or sheep; and the production process of the cheese. In the interest of saving time, we’ll do a quick and general breakdown of the differences in milk between cows, goats, and sheep and how it contributes to these differences.