I Accidentally Bought a $25 Wedge of Cheese

A few weeks ago, I was at the grocery store in search of cheese. As one does.

I don’t know much about cheese other than my preferred style of cheddar (white and medium-sharp). So while perusing the cheese section, I asked a grocery store employee what she recommended. Without hesitation, she picked up a wedge of cheese, handed it to me, and said it was her favorite cheese.

I can’t seem to get photos to work today on the blog, so I’ll have to describe the packaging instead. The brand is Harbison, and it reads, “A special edition cheese from The Cellars, washed with presto prosecco.”

Other than that information, I didn’t look at the price. I figured it was a little more expensive than regular cheese, probably $8 or $9 at most.

It wasn’t until a few days later that I went to open the cheese that I happened to see the price. As I’ve spoiled in the title, it was $25! I tossed it over to Megan to confirm. Sure enough, my eyes were not deceiving me.

I could have returned the cheese, but at this point I was curious what a $25 cheese tastes like. So we cut into it that night, and aside from being very smelly, it was a delicious, goopy, salty cheese. I wouldn’t buy it again–that’s way above my cheese budget–but I’m grateful for the experience.

Have you ever accidentally bought a food that was significantly more expensive than you could comprehend for that category of food? Did you end up eating it anyway?

7 thoughts on “I Accidentally Bought a $25 Wedge of Cheese”

  1. Jamey,

    About 15 years ago, my in-laws had taken the entire family NY, via limo and we saw the Rockettes, went to FAO Schwartz, and ended the day at the 21 Club, a place that’ll maybe visit one more time in my life. Suffice it to say, it was ritzy. We decided on a bottle of wine and we splurged at around $90. The wine proved exceptionally good, well maybe too good. When it was time for the Sommelier to return he profusely apologized for giving us the wrong wine…the wine we enjoyed was actually $265. To his credit, the restaurant ate the amount as it was their fault, but suffice it to say, our second bottle was $90.

    Cheers,
    Joe

    Reply
  2. Hahaha. This reminded me of a purchase I forgot. I was having my folks and my in-laws over for dinner with my wife and kids so I looked up a new recipe and it looked delicious. It called for a ribeye roast.
    I went to the local butcher and ordered the size I needed. I should have known there would be “something” when he raised his eyebrows and said it would be delicious.
    He confirmed the size, cut it fresh and wrapped it in brown paper.
    It rang up at $90!!!!
    And although I stressed and sweated, never having spent that much on “a piece of store bought meat,” it was quite possibly one of the best roasts I have ever had.
    And everyone agreed, it was a hit!
    Needless to say, it was a one time experience, until I make a Scythe or Gloomhaven 😉

    Reply
  3. I cringed just reading the headline. I cannot begin to describe the pain this would have caused me at home. The verbal take down I would have endured. “How did you not realize that your bill was significantly higher than expected? How did you not notice the price tag printed on the wrapper? When they wrung it up, why didn’t you tell them no thank you?” I have sweats just reading this.

    On the other hand, way to make the best of the situation. I don’t know how I feel about the cheese as you described it – particularly ‘goopy’ – but ‘delicious’ sort of makes up for.

    Reply
    • Dusty: Sorry to cause you such agony! 🙂 I should have noticed the price in my cart, but I was buying other things too, so I didn’t catch on.

      Reply
  4. Expensive cheese is interesting. Sometimes it can be worth it. Sometimes not. I live in Wisconsin, so cheese is kinda our thing. We’ve got a local cheesemaker that is known worldwide for their aged cheddar. They have cheddar ranging from 1 year up to 15, and occasionally, they release a limited 20 year cheddar. The older ones can reach upwards of $200 per pound. In my experience, the price to flavor ratio is maximized around 7 to 10 years. The 10 year is around $40 per pound, so a small block might be $10 to $20. I eat it in small pieces and it’s absolutely worth it. The flavor is so strong that you don’t want more than a couple of small cubes at a sitting. But you get flavor from the aged version that you would never get in a younger cheese, so in my opinion, it’s worth the splurge.

    Reply

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