Joy of Cheese

Do you love artisan cheese, but sometimes feel daunted by all the choices in a cheese shop? Have some favorite cheeses, but want to find more that you'll like? Want to feel more confident serving cheese to friends?

This short, fun course provides a foundational knowledge of cheese through a series of interactive video-based lessons. By the end you will

• have a good sense of the flavor and texture of any cheese⸺ before you even taste it⸺ by knowing its family, milk, and age.
• talk knowledgably with cheesemakers and cheesemongers.
• find new cheeses to taste.
• know how to serve cheese along with appropriate food and drink pairings.
• match cheeses with recipes that make them shine.
• buy, plate, and store cheese like an expert.
• be ready to explore the thousands of cheeses from around the world, with suggestions on how to keep learning.

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This is an interactive multimedia course with 30 pre-produced video lessons. The course is comprehensive, yet easy to understand and fun to take. You can access lessons whenever you'd like and decide how deeply they want to learn about each topic.

How long is the course?

That's largely up to you. If you just watch the video lessons, it would take a little over an hour to go through the course. (And you can get through even faster by jumping to only the lessons that are of greatest interest.) However, to get the most out of the course, students are encouraged to also dig into the extra information, complete the hands-on activities, share some photos with other students, memorize terminology with flashcards, test your knowledge, and write in questions and comments for the instructor and fellow students. Most students do one to two lessons per day and take a few weeks to go through the whole course.

Does the course include cheese tastings? Is cheese provided?

The course includes many guided tastings, including the lessons on cheese families, milks, aging, and pairing all include tastings. While it's not necessary to do all of them, a course about cheese without cheese isn't much fun.

The course does not come with cheese, but does come with a shopping list for each tasting. Any cheesemonger will be able to help you find the cheese on the shopping list. Shopping lists specify types of cheese (e.g. Gouda aged approximately 18 to 24 months) which will be available in most cheese shops. (Cheeses from specific cheese makers are not required.) For students in remote areas, suggestions are made for mail ordering. Suggestions are made for when good quality cheeses can be found in grocery stores.

One reason that we don't ship cheese for the course is the logistical issues (the large number of cheeses discussed in the course, the timing of when students taste each cheese, etc.). Another is that visiting your local cheese shop is part of the experience of enjoying cheese. By the end of the course you'll have a good relationship with your cheesemonger.

Who should take the course?

The course is designed for beginners who love good cheese and know they want to learn more so they can explore new cheeses and share them with friends. No prior knowledge is assumed.

If you're familiar with all ten families of cheese and feel comfortable composing cheese boards, this course may be too basic for you.

When will the course be available?

The course will launch in 2024. Sign up for the mailing list for updates.

How much does the course cost?

The price of the course will be announced closer to the launch date. Sign up for the mailing list to be the first to know.

How long do I get access to the course? Is this a subscription service with recurring charges?

Any purchase on joydemy is a one-time charge. There are no subscriptions. You make a one-time payment for access to the course, and it’s yours to access as much as you want.

How does Joy of Cheese compare with other cheese courses?

This course breaks down what can be a complex topic (after all, there are thousands of cheese in the world), and provides a good foundation for understanding it in a way that's easy to follow. Because of this, it's a great course to start with.

The course covers all of the topics needed to understand the world of cheese.

Through a number of guided comparative tastings, and other hands-on activities, the course provides a fun experience to do with your friends.

You can choose how deep you'd like to go into each topic. You can take all of the lessons or just the ones that are most interesting to you. When you want to learn more, explore with the extra information and other activities provided with the lesson.

The video content is professionally-produced videos, images, and graphics that communicate the information in each lesson. The website is custom-built in order to use the joydemy multimedia teaching style.

Can I get the same information from free websites?

There is a lot of great information about cheese online. Each lesson includes curated links to the best content on the web for that topic. In fact, if you are interested in just one topic, you can probably find what you need through Google.

If you want to get a good foundation for exploring the world of cheese, then this course is for you. The instructor has collected information from websites, books, interviews, visits to cheesemakers, and conferences, and then synthesized and organized the information in concise lessons.

Can I give the course as a gift?

Yes, you'll be able to send an access code as a gift. The access code comes with a PDF that you can print or attach to an email that gives information about the course and how to sign up.

Do any physical materials come with the course?

For now, the course is online only. Each lesson comes with a PDF summary that you can download and print.

Sign up for the mailing list for news about a print package that will complement the online course.

Is this a cheesemaking class?

No, this is a course to understand and enjoy the world of artisan cheese. As an analogy, if you're interested in art you can take a painting class or an art history class. This cheese course is more like the art history class.

That said, one of the best ways to learn about cheese is to try making it yourself. Two of the lessons are how to make your first cheese (Paneer, using ingredients you have in your kitchen) and your second cheese (Mozzarella, with instructions on how to buy the materials that you'll need).

What is the refund policy?

You can get a refund for any reason within one week of when you first access the course (regardless of when you buy the course).

Are the lessons live?

No, the lessons are produced ahead of time and available at any time.

The instructor is Jeremy Snyder. He has been exploring the world of artisan cheese for over a decade, visiting cheesemakers in the US and France, attending conferences and classes, and reading numerous books. He was a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Cheese, for which he was the lead author of the "Families of Cheese" article.

Prior to founding joydemy, Jeremy worked as an engineer in clean energy research and development. He also professionally produced award-winning multimedia to communicate complex topics clearly and concisely. You can read more about Jeremy's background on LinkedIn.

Jeremy lives in the Albany, NY area with his wife and two children.