Week 10 “Lab” Data: Presentation Day

For our final week in class, we excitedly shared everything we had been working on over the past term with the broader campus community and others, including a local reporter who filmed the presentations. As this wasn’t quite a lab, per se, I instead recorded different data on how the wonderful folks who passed through our exhibition felt about the presentations we were offering, mainly focusing on the cheese and blacksmithing presentations.

With regards to cheesemaking, I was mostly interested in recorded qualitative data on how participants reacted to the flavoring of our well-aged cheeses, and throughout my time I recorded some useful data and more importantly, fun quotes (attached at the end of this report). One of the questions I asked our cheese-tasters was a simple 1-10 flavor rating, as I was curious as to how they thought of the cheeses which we ourselves had crafted just 9 weeks ago. Overall, we received very positive feedback, with no one outright disliking the cheeses. Out of the thirteen data points I collected, the average taste tester rated our cheeses at around a 7.1/10, which is a pretty good score for apprentice cheesemongers, I’d argue. A few participants, upon asked whether they would buy our cheese in a grocery store, responded positively and even gave monetary amounts. For those interested, one participant said they would be willing to spend up to $15 to get their hands on our cheese! Nancy Braker, however, was a bit more stingy and said she’d be willing to spend $5-7 at most for a pound of it. One common bit of constructive criticism that popped up was respondents saying that the cheese was a bit too salty for their tastes, so perhaps future cheesemaking (and aging) processes can dial that back a bit.

As far as blacksmithing goes, the common sentiment that I was able to capture was that people were impressed with the quality of our work as first-time smiths. Jake Morton, who stopped by the exhibition at one point, said that he felt impressed with our work, adding that “The nails look good for first timers who only had four hours to work with!” Other than that, one respondent said that while the nails looked impressive, he would be worried about their use in shipbuilding. This particular respondent (Scott Hudson) said that our nails were “Maybe not ship-worthy, but certainly door or furniture worthy at the very least.” I can’t honestly disagree with that sentiment, especially given that my own nail I forged would likely cause another Titanic-level catastrophe if used in shipbuilding.

All jokes aside, I enjoyed this day of presentations and appreciated being given the opportunity to share our work with the wider world. I think that the campus enjoyed it too, and it was a great way to send off our lovely seniors into the world. Cheers, and thanks for a good spring term!

Assorted Quotes I Recorded:

• Evan: “It’s definitely cheese.”
• Teddy: “It’s pretty good, I had thought it was going to be a 2/10 but it’s a solid 6.”
• Mariah: “Pretty tasty, I’d give it a 9/10. Reminds me of Gouda.”
• Nancy Braker: “Saltier than many cheeses. I like the rind, it’s good. Very mild flavor, I would buy it in a store if it was less salty for $5-7. Might be nice in a salad.”
• Ellis: “Sweet, but good. On its own, 5/10. Paired with something else, 7/10.”
• Maeve: “I enjoy the flavor. I’d buy it in the store for about $15.”
• Nico: “Best cheese I’ve had in a while, 8/10. I like the smoky flavor.”
• Scott: “Better on the inside, the rind isn’t amazing. Somewhat smoky flavor as well.”
• Ostab: “Not too sour, but a milky taste is very present. I would buy it in the store.”
• Chris: “You can taste the milk. 5/10, could be worse.”