With so many varieties available, choosing the best types of cheese can quickly become overwhelming.
Do you choose something mild or strong? Soft or firm? Young or matured? A familiar favourite or something completely new?
The answer is that there isn’t one “best” cheese.
The best choice depends on what you enjoy and how you plan to serve it.
Whether you’re preparing a cheeseboard, planning a raclette night, looking for something special to cook with or simply want a quality cheese to enjoy at home, understanding the differences between popular varieties can make choosing much easier.
Here are some of the best types of cheese to explore, particularly if you’re interested in traditional Swiss and Alpine varieties.
1. Gruyère – The Versatile Classic
Gruyère is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in Swiss cheese.
It’s versatile enough to suit a wide range of occasions while offering the depth of flavour people expect from a quality Alpine cheese.
Depending on its maturation, Gruyère can offer different levels of intensity and complexity.
It can be:
- served on a cheeseboard
- sliced and enjoyed by itself
- incorporated into cooking
- melted into dishes
- used as part of a fondue.
That versatility makes Gruyère an excellent cheese to keep on hand.
Alpine Express offers different Gruyère options, allowing cheese lovers to explore how maturation and selection can influence the final flavour.
2. Emmentaler – The Iconic Swiss Cheese
If there is one cheese almost everyone recognises visually, it is Emmentaler.
Its characteristic holes have become synonymous with Swiss cheese around the world.
But authentic Emmentaler is much more than its appearance.
It offers a distinctive Alpine eating experience and works well for people looking for a versatile cheese that can be enjoyed in multiple ways.
It can work beautifully in sandwiches, cooking and cheeseboards, or simply cut into pieces and enjoyed on its own.
For people who are new to artisan Swiss varieties, Emmentaler can provide a familiar entry point before exploring more unusual cheeses.
3. Appenzeller – For More Distinctive Flavour
If you’re ready to move beyond milder cheese, Appenzeller deserves a place on your list.
It brings greater aromatic character and can provide excellent contrast on a cheeseboard.
This makes it particularly useful when you’re building a selection.
Rather than choosing three cheeses that taste relatively similar, you can combine an approachable variety with Appenzeller to create more flavour variation.
It’s also an excellent example of why exploring genuine Swiss cheese can be so rewarding. Familiar-looking cheeses can deliver surprisingly different flavours once you move between styles and producers.
4. Raclette – One of the Best Cheeses for Melting
Some cheeses are versatile.
Raclette has a purpose.
It’s famous for being heated until beautifully melted and then scraped onto food, creating one of Switzerland’s most enjoyable shared dining experiences.
While Raclette can also be eaten without melting, it really comes into its own when heated.
A raclette meal is particularly good for:
- dinner parties
- family meals
- cooler evenings
- relaxed entertaining
- anyone who loves melted cheese.
Rather than preparing a complicated meal before your guests arrive, raclette allows everyone to gather around the table and enjoy the experience together.
Alpine Express carries a dedicated Swiss Raclette cheese range, including classic and flavoured varieties.
5. Tête de Moine – The Showstopper
Tête de Moine is ideal when you want your cheese selection to look as interesting as it tastes.
Traditionally, it isn’t simply cut into ordinary wedges or slices.
Instead, a special cutter such as a Girolle is used to create thin cheese rosettes.
The result is immediately recognisable and makes Tête de Moine an excellent choice for entertaining, celebrations and impressive cheeseboards.
It’s also a reminder that cheese can be an experience rather than simply something to eat.
The way a cheese is cut, served and shared can become part of what makes it memorable.
6. Sbrinz – For Fans of Matured Hard Cheese
People who love firm, matured cheeses should explore Sbrinz.
Hard Alpine cheeses are particularly appealing when you want concentrated flavour and a firmer texture.
They can be served in smaller pieces on a cheeseboard, incorporated into meals or enjoyed slowly on their own.
Sbrinz also provides a useful contrast when you’re creating a mixed cheese selection.
Pairing a mature hard cheese with softer or more approachable varieties creates much more interest than simply choosing cheeses with similar textures.
7. Vacherin Fribourgeois – A Different Alpine Experience
Vacherin Fribourgeois gives cheese lovers another way to explore Swiss cheesemaking beyond the best-known varieties.
It’s particularly relevant to people interested in traditional Alpine cheese dishes and looking to expand beyond Gruyère, Emmentaler and Raclette.
This is where shopping through a specialist cheese range becomes particularly useful.
You can start with the recognised classics and gradually discover cheeses you may not normally encounter in a standard grocery shop.
What Is the Best Cheese for a Cheeseboard?
Instead of choosing one “best” cheese, aim for contrast.
For example, you could select:
- one familiar Swiss classic
- one more aromatic cheese
- one matured hard cheese
- one visually interesting or unusual variety.
Gruyère could provide the familiar foundation, Appenzeller the stronger personality, Sbrinz the matured element and Tête de Moine the visual centrepiece.
You don’t need an enormous number of varieties.
A smaller selection of genuinely different cheeses can create a much more interesting cheeseboard.
What Is the Best Cheese for Melting?
If melting is your priority, Raclette should be high on your list.
It has a long association with the traditional raclette meal and creates the rich, satisfying melted texture that makes the experience so popular.
Fondue is another option when you want to build the entire meal around melted cheese.
Alpine Express also offers ready-made fondue options for customers looking to bring this traditional shared meal to the table more easily.
What Is the Best Cheese for Beginners?
Start with something approachable rather than immediately reaching for the strongest cheese you can find.
Gruyère and Emmentaler can both provide excellent introductions to Swiss cheese.
Once you’ve discovered what you like, branch into other styles.
If you find yourself wanting something more aromatic, explore Appenzeller. If you love mature flavours, investigate aged Gruyère or Sbrinz. If melted cheese is your favourite part of any meal, head towards Raclette.
There is no requirement to appreciate every cheese.
Finding the styles you genuinely enjoy is the whole point.
How to Compare Different Types of Cheese
When trying several cheeses, think about four characteristics.
Flavour
Does it taste mild, medium or strong to you?
Texture
Is it creamy, elastic, firm or hard?
Aroma
Some cheeses are subtle, while others make their presence known before you’ve even tasted them.
Finish
Pay attention to the flavour after you’ve eaten the cheese. Some disappear quickly, while others leave a long and distinctive finish.
Over time, these simple observations make choosing cheese much easier.
Explore Beyond the Cheese You Already Know
It’s easy to repeatedly buy the same cheese because you know you’ll enjoy it.
But specialist cheese becomes particularly interesting when you use familiar varieties as the starting point rather than the finish line.
If you already enjoy Gruyère, try a different maturation.
If you love melted cheese, compare different Raclette varieties.
If your cheeseboard always contains familiar options, add an Alpine cheese you’ve never tried before.
Our complete guide to choosing and enjoying cheese provides a broader introduction to cheese styles, serving ideas and how to build a selection around your preferences.
Find Your Next Favourite Cheese
The best types of cheese aren’t necessarily the most famous or the strongest.
They’re the ones you look forward to eating again.
Alpine Express brings together a wide selection of artisan Swiss cheese, from recognizable classics such as Gruyère and Emmentaler through to Raclette, Appenzeller, Tête de Moine, Sbrinz and lesser-known Alpine varieties.
Explore the Alpine Express cheese selection and start discovering which varieties deserve a permanent place in your fridge.