Product Review: Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter

I wondered why this butter was in the special cheese island at the grocery store instead of with all the other butters in the dairy section. As far as I could determine there weren't any unusual additives and there wasn't a special culture of microorganisms added. My best guess is that it's simply intended to be viewed as an artisanal butter rather than a brand-name butter (despite the Kerrygold brand emblazoned on the package). The package didn't indicate such, but the Kerrygold website touts this butter as coming from grass-fed cows.[1]

My verdict: The butter was very yellow, indicating a high carotene content.[2] Proponents claim that this is because the cows are grass-fed rather than hay-fed or grain-fed.[3] This butter was a lot richer than the Kroger butter we usually buy at the store. It was a delight to eat on a slice of French bread. However, Leann tells me that it's no different in taste or texture from Land O'Lakes butter, which is less expensive than the Kerrygold butter. (I couldn't tell, but I trust her judgement.) So the verdict is: for spreading butter, there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good.

---

Notes:

[1] See http://www.kerrygoldusa.com/products/butter/.

[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotene.

[3] e.g. see here; for a reasonable rebuttal, see here.

Image attributions:

Green Irish Grass is by bass_nroll, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bass_nroll/481489841/.