I first discovered this place last month when I showed up at my local grocery store during the milk…read morestrike only to see empty shelves where the dairy products should be.
There was a lonely sign to the side with the name and address and phone number of the Milchhof Reitbrook. No explanation was given for the sign; it just served as a suggestion that if you really need to get your milk fix, you might want to visit the local dairy farm.
So I figured, since I now live in the Vier- und Marshland countryside area of Hamburg AND I have a beautiful bicycle AND the summer days have been sunny and warm of late, why not take a ride down the Vorderdeich, past the windmills and rapeseed fields to check them out?
What I found was delightful! A cobblestone driveway leading down to traditional-built farmer houses where Gertrude, the hen, struts around uncaged, and Kimee, the tamed stray tabby cat, bathes in the sun. During the day, the cows are out roaming the fields and grazing the grass and in the early evening, they wander home to be milked. (The official website describes them as happy cows.)
Here, at the Reitbrook Dairy Farm, you can buy organic milk, straight from the cow, just milked and cooled and guaranteed to be creamy with at least 3.9% fat! I had never before tasted real, unprocessed, pure milk. It's fantastically full of flavor!
There are two varieties to choose from: Vorzugsmilch and Landmilch. Vorzugsmilch is pure, unpasteurized milk, full of vitamins and minerals. It's taken from the cow and simply refrigerated and must be drunken within 96 hours. This is the one I've been drinking for six weeks now without any problems with my stomach.
They also offer Landmilch, which is the pasteurized form of the same creamy milk. They heat it for about 24 seconds at 73.5°C (164.3° F) which kills most of the bacteria present in the milk without destroying all of the milk's natural nutrients.
After a few weeks of making biweekly trips, I discovered they have an extensive line of organic yoghurt and BOY are they yummy! So far, I've tried the vanilla, blueberry, tiramisu and pure and have been pleasantly pleased. They also offer these flavors: apple-raison-cinnamon, apple-kiwi, hazelnut-chocolate, peach-muesli, fruits of the forest, banana-pear, strawberry, cherry, chocolate-cherry, lemon, apricot-plum, orange, coconut pineapple, and peach-orange.
Milk: It Does a Body Good!
