Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with butter. I cook with it. I slather it on virtually anything (bread, broccoli, baked potatoes — you name it). I’ve even thought about incorporating it into my skincare routine. Plus in recent years, the decades-long demonization of butter has come to an end, with mounting research showing that fat isn’t the root of all evil (hurray!). So when my in-laws gifted me Food52’s quarterly grass-fed cultured cream butter subscription, they pretty much hit the Christmas present bull’s-eye.
Handcrafted with care by Atlanta-based Banner Butter, the product is made from grass-fed, hormone-free cows and boasts a higher content of butterfat than most butters (um, yum). The company was founded by husband-and-wife duo Drew and Elizabeth McBath, who use a sophisticated churning process that lets the cream ripen, yielding good bacteria and complex flavor profiles. With the subscription, four blocks of handcrafted butter in varying flavors (think sea salt, lavender, dark chocolate and roasted garlic) arrive right to your doorstep every three months.
Naturally, I was excited at the idea, but secretly I worried that this butter might not live up to my expectations. After all, a connoisseur prefers the finest of things. Earlier this spring when I received my first package (express shipped on dry ice, of course), I tore it open to find four hockey pucks (yes, I realize how Minnesotan this description is) of butter in delightfully artisan packaging.
And let me tell you: They were four hockey pucks of glorious indulgence. This is butter unlike any I’ve tasted before: über creamy, hyper flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth quality. And despite my best efforts to ration this precious delicacy, we used it all well within the suggested six weeks (if frozen, within 12 months), leaving us anxiously awaiting our next delivery. If you, like me, consider yourself a butter connoisseur, this is a must-try.