The cheese counter

The counter is the shop. Twenty-four cheeses at a time, chosen by Ffion from about forty makers and kept in the cellar at twelve degrees until the morning they come up. A third are Welsh, because Wales makes some of the best cheese in Britain and most people have only tried one; the rest come from small makers in Britain, France, Spain and Italy who milk their own animals.

Every cheese is cut from the wheel or the truckle to the weight you ask, a hundred grams upwards, and you taste it first. The label on the counter, and the line on the cheese page, gives the milk (cow, goat or sheep), a strength from one, mild and milky, to five, the kind that clears a room, the country, the maker and the price per hundred grams. Ask for a board for a dinner and we build it: three or five cheeses across the milks and the strengths, with the right crackers and a chutney, priced before we wrap it.

The counter changes with the season and the maturity: the spring goat's cheeses in April, the Christmas Stilton from November, a raw-milk Caerphilly when it is at its best at about four months. We take cheese off the counter when it is past its best rather than sell it cheap, and we will tell you which on the counter is at its peak this week. Wrapped in waxed paper, which lets it breathe; keep it in the salad drawer and take it out an hour before you eat it.

What you get

• Twenty-four cheeses, a third Welsh, from about forty makers
• Cut to the weight you ask, from 100g; tasted first
• Milk, strength 1 to 5, country and £/100g on every label
• A board built for a dinner, priced before it is wrapped
• Kept in the cellar at 12°C; wrapped in waxed paper
• The cheese page filters the counter by milk and strength

What it costs

From £2.40 per 100g for a young Caerphilly to £6.80 for a cave-aged Comté. A hundred grams minimum; whole truckles to order. The full counter with prices is on the cheese page. The cheese page filters the counter by milk and strength; the hampers page builds a hamper with a running total.