I'm Crazy About Vegusto No Muh Chas Vegan Cheese

Clockwise from top: Piquant, Herbs, Classic, Mildly-Aromatic, Walnut

I'm normally not very passionate about vegan cheese. There, I said it. Most of them tend to be flavorless space-age putties that often might do better filling cracks in drywall then being featured on top of my pizza or pasta. I normally don't get embarrassed by my vegan food choices but when an omnivorous friend stops by and I'm noshing on vegan cheese, I've sometimes gotten that embarrassed been-caught-making-out-with-a-mannaquin feeling. I hate it when that happens.

Recently my friend Dawne discovered a new vegan cheese that she couldn't stop raving about. I trust Dawne's opinions on food so going with her enthusiasm and embracing my desire to be an open minded eater I was naturally intrigued. She quickly procured a little cheese and wine party get together with a few other open minded, passionate eaters so we could see what this newly discovered vegan cheese was about. What I found drastically changed the way I feel about vegan cheese.

Vegusto No Muh Chas Vegan Cheese

Dawne had found No Muh Chas vegan cheese which hails from a company in Switzerland called Vegusto that specializes in vegan food products. Vegusto is a subsidiary of a broader company called Vegi-Service AG that also specializes in plant-based foods. Back in ye olden dark days when I used to eat cheese I was into sharp, flavorful cheddars and complex monterey jacks. It turns out that the folks at Vegusto are also into flavorful cheeses; the five flavors I tried were extremely rich, complex and left me with no "real-cheese envy".

No Muh Chas Classic

The Taste Test
The classic variety is their basic cheese. It was very smooth and had a slight mayonaise finish. This flavor was still welcome though and I would still put this on my pizza.

The Ratings (0 to 5 with 5 being the best)
Texture: 4
Flavor: 2
Overall: 3

Description on Package Mild, slightly sour
Ingredients Water, vegetable oil and fats, potato starch, rice flour, nut butter, cereal flour, rock salt, carrageenan, spices, yeast and yeast extract, flavor (vegetable), lactic acid (vegetable), colour (beta-carotene)
Nutrition 100 g contain: Energy: 1240kJ / 297 kcal, Protein: 4.5 g, Carbohydrates: 27 g, Fats: 19 g

No Muh Chas Herbs

The Taste Test
I really enjoyed how this cheese had the creaminess of the Classic and just the right amount of herbs to complement the cheese perfectly, giving it a complex flavor.

The Ratings (0 to 5 with 5 being the best)
Texture: 4
Flavor: 3
Overall: 4

Description on Package Selected mild herbs
Ingredients Water, vegetable oil and fats, potato starch, rice flour, nut butter, cereal flour, rock salt, herbs and herbal extracts (2.2%), carrageenan, spices, yeast and yeast extract, flavor (vegetable), lactic acid (vegetable), colour (beta-carotene)
Nutrition 100 g contain: Energy: 1194 kJ / 287 kcal, Protein: 4.8 g, Carbohydrates: 22.8 g, Fats 19.6 g

No Muh Chas Walnuts

The Taste Test
This cheese also had a similar flavor profile of the Classic but with the addition of walnuts that gave the cheese added complexity via walnut flavor overtones. The walnuts also added nice textures to the cheese overall which was welcome.

The Ratings (0 to 5 with 5 being the best)
Texture: 4
Flavor: 2
Overall: 3

Description on Package Walnuts, mild-aromatic
Ingredients Water, vegetable oil and fats, potato starch, rice flour, nut butter, cereal flour, rock salt, walnuts (6.4%), carrageenan, spices, yeast and yeast extract, flavor (vegetable), lactic acid (vegetable), colour (beta-carotene)
Nutrition 100 g contain: Energy 1371 kJ / 330 kcal, Protein: 4.2 g, Carbs: 21.6 g, Fats: 25.2 g

No Muh Chas Piquant

The Taste Test
This was my second favorite. It featured a very complex almost mustard flavor that was spectacular with the amazing beer we happened to have on hand (of which I could write a separate article about). It had a slightly grainy mouthfeel which was slightly distracting but well masked by the strong flavor.

The Ratings (0 to 5 with 5 being the best)
Texture: 3
Flavor: 5
Overall: 4

Description on Package Picquant, strongly aromatic (I believe this means 'sharp', as in a sharp cheddar)
Ingredients Water, vegetable oil and fats, potato starch, rice flour, nut butter, rock salt, carrageenan, spices, yeast and yeast extract, flavor (vegetable), lactic acid (vegetable)
Nutrition 100 g contain: Energy: 1286 kJ / 309 kcal, Protein: 7.1 g, Carbs: 24.4 g, Fats: 20.3 g

No Muh Chas Mildly-Aromatic

The Taste Test
This was my favorite of the bunch and brought me back to when I used to obsess over sharp cheddar when I was a child. It was the most complex vegan cheese I had ever tasted, even outdoing Cheezly's Aged White Cheddar in sharpness and flavor complexity. Like the Piquant it also had a slightly distracting grainy mouthfeel but the flavor more than made up for it. I just couldn't stop eating it and savoring its complexity. That's what cheese is all about!

The Ratings (0 to 5 with 5 being the best)
Texture: 3
Flavor: 5
Overall: 4

Description on Package Mildly aromatic
Ingredients Water, vegetable oil and fats, fruit juce, potato starch, rice flour, yeast powder, nut butter, rock salt, flavour (vegetable), carrageenan, spices, antioxidant (ascorbic acid), color (turmeric)
Nutrition 100 g contain: Energy: 1338 kJ / 322 kcal, Protein: 4.9 g, Carbs: 24.4 g, Fats: 22.3 g

In Cheesy Conclusion

I regret that I wasn't able to do melt tests with this cheese. Melted or not, I'm still extremely impressed with the deep complex flavors it had that will no doubt appeal to vegans that are looking for the next frontier in flavorful vegan cheeses. Unfortunately, Vegusto No Muh Chas is not available in the United States at the moment but I hope Vegusto changes that soon. The demand for vegan cheeses of ths caliber is huge here in the US. Vegusto No Muh Chas pushes the flavor envelope in what is possible with a vegan cheese.