Step inside an old red-shuttered Amsterdam canal house and experience cheese in a way most visitors never do. In a small group setting, you will participate in a guided tasting, focusing on quality produce, craftsmanship, and genuine passion. This is not like the regular cheese tastings you get in a shop. It is a relaxed and carefully designed experience where you taste, learn, and understand what makes each cheese truly exceptional.
Enjoy the Best Cheeses in Amsterdam with a Cheese Expert
Most visitors have heard of Gouda and Edam, but Dutch cheese goes far beyond these familiar names. During this experience, you will explore a wider range of flavours and styles, including cheeses that you won’t find in typical tourist tasting sessions.
You will taste a selection of delicious cheeses such as:
Each cheese is carefully selected from different producers. There are no brands, and the focus is on the individual rather than commercial manufacturers, with a commitment to finding the best cheeses from the Netherlands and beyond.
Your tasting is led by our Kaesanova, also known as Michael the Cheese Lover, or one of our trained team of expert guides. Over 90 minutes, you will not only get to taste, but also learn how to recognise quality, understand ageing, and confidently select cheeses yourself. The session is structured as a masterclass, yet remains relaxed and engaging. The cheeses will be paired with drinks that complement the flavours.
You will learn:
Our simple cheese framework makes it easy to remember:
Something Old. Something New. Something Stinky. Something Blue.
You also learn how to pair cheeses with drinks and how to cut and present each cheese properly.
Optional add-ons are available to buy if you would like to continue your cheese experience at home.
Dutch cheese has been part of daily life in the Netherlands for over a thousand years. Long before Gouda became a global brand, Dutch farmers were perfecting the art of producing hard, aged cheeses on the fertile clay soils of Holland. By the 17th century, cheese was one of the most traded commodities in the world, and Amsterdam was at the centre of it all. Wheels of Dutch cheese left these very canals on VOC ships bound for Asia, Africa and the Americas.
That same golden age gave birth to the building where your tasting takes place. This 17th-century canal house once served as a warehouse for Bols, the world’s oldest distillery brand and the birthplace of Dutch Jenever. For centuries, barrels of the famous Dutch gin rested in these walls before making their way across the globe. Today, the heady scent of spirits has been replaced by the rich, complex aromas of aged cheese, but the spirit of craftsmanship that defined this city remains very much alive.
Cheese in the Netherlands has always been more than food. Every Dutch household keeps a kaasschaaf, the traditional cheese slicer, and uses it daily. Cheese is eaten at breakfast, at lunch, and as a snack. Farmers’ markets in cities like Gouda, Edam, and Alkmaar have traded wheels of cheese by the same rules and traditions for centuries. While Gouda accounts for around 80% of all Dutch cheese produced, the real variety lies in the ageing process. A young Gouda is mild and creamy. Age it for a year, and it becomes nutty and firm. Age it for four years, and it turns crumbly, crystalline, and intensely savoury, almost unrecognisable from the younger cheese.
During your tasting, you will explore this full range of flavour and character. You will learn how to read a cheese by its texture, aroma, and rind, and understand why the best Dutch cheeses bear no resemblance to what you find vacuum-packed in a supermarket. This is where that knowledge begins.
Price Includes
The workshop takes place at a canal house in central Amsterdam
The session will take approximately 90 minutes, allowing for relaxed and in-depth tasting of the cheese.
No. Most tastings are linked to shops or specific brands, aimed at persuading you to buy the cheese they offer. This experience is independent and focuses on quality, knowledge, and an overall experience rather than sales.
Tastings are led by our Kaesanova, also known as Michael, or by our trained team of expert guides who follow the same approach and standards.
You may taste cheeses in these styles, but the experience is designed to go beyond them and explore a wider range of cheese.
No. The cheeses come from different producers across the Netherlands and beyond. The focus is on finding the best quality cheeses, not promoting a specific brand.
Yes. Each tasting is paired with two included drinks. Please inform us in advance if you have dietary restrictions. We will do our best to accommodate dietary needs where possible.
Yes. The experience is accessible and engaging, while still offering depth for those with a strong interest in food.
This is a small group experience with a maximum of 12 guests. The setting remains intimate and personal, with enough space for interaction and questions.
Bigger groups in other venues or private or corporate groups are all possible; contact us for your tailored cheese tasting.
Optional add-ons and some quality souvenirs are available if you would like to continue your cheese experience at home. We can also give advice as to where you can buy the cheese for yourself at a later date. There is no obligation to purchase anything.
The tasting is held in an old traditional Amsterdam warehouse in the city centre, within 5 minutes walking from Anne Frank House and the Westerkerk.
Yes! Surprisingly, the majority of older and hard cheeses are lactose free, so you will be able to enjoy some delicious cheese.
Probably not, and that is rather the point. Names like Old Amsterdam, Beemster, Leerdammer and Frico are pleasant enough, but they are mass-produced brands built for consistency and a long shelf life rather than character. Old Amsterdam, for example, is a factory-made aged Gouda designed around a single, reliable flavour. We focus instead on cheeses from small, independent producers, so you can taste what a properly aged Gouda is really meant to be: nutty, layered and full of those little crunchy crystals that only real ageing creates. We will happily show you how to spot the good stuff yourself, so the next time you see an Old Amsterdam on the shelf, you will know exactly what to look for instead.
Gouda is really one cheese at many different ages, and the age changes everything. Young Gouda (jong) is mild, smooth and creamy. Matured Gouda (belegen) is firmer, drier and nuttier. Old Gouda (oud) turns deep, savoury and slightly crumbly, while extra-aged Gouda (overjarig), left for a year or more, becomes hard and crystalline with an almost butterscotch sweetness and a satisfying crunch. During the tasting we take you up this ageing ladder step by step, so you can taste exactly how time transforms the same cheese and work out which stage you love most.
Far more than most visitors expect. Alongside Gouda and Edam you will meet Maasdam, the holey and nutty one; Leyden (Leidse kaas), studded with cumin seeds; creamy goat and sheep cheeses; smoked and washed-rind styles; and seasonal treats such as graskaas, made from the first spring milk. Then there is the lovely world of farmhouse cheese, or boerenkaas, made on the farm with raw milk to recipes that go back generations. We bring a selection of these styles to the table so you can explore the real breadth of Dutch cheese, not just the two famous names.
