A Cincinnati cheesemonger is making it easy to be cheesy with a new kind of vending machine — the first of its kind in Cincinnati.
Share Cheesebar, which now operates inside The Coffee Exchange of Pleasant Ridge, last month debuted a cheese vending machine that allows you to buy everything you need to build your own cheese and charcuterie boards, whether at home or to enjoy in the coffee shop. Owner Emily Frank says it’s been a really fun way to get cheese in the hands of people who used to come into her retail store, which closed in 2022.
“We’ve been in [The Coffee Exchange] for three years now, and while we’ve been catering and doing a ton of fun new stuff, people were missing getting cheese like they used to,” Frank told CityBeat.
The machine is filled with various kinds of cheeses, from a rich Iowa cheddar, creamy goat brie and Share’s house-made pimento to Rattlesnake — a spicy and sweet cheddar infused with tequila and habanero pepper. But while cheese is the main attraction, the machine also features other items to fill out your boards, like salami, olives, pickled vegetables, jam, chocolate-covered dates and even a tasty eggplant and goat cheese pâté. You can also buy crackers, located in a stand next to the machine.
The machine is accessible anytime The Coffee Exchange is open. Frank says while Share does sell its own cheese and charcuterie boards, you need to order them at least 24 hours in advance, making the machine an ideal place to shop last-minute for a party. You can also enjoy your self-made charcuterie at The Coffee Exchange; just visit the counter for the utensils you need.
“We also have these fun new wine vending machines here at The Coffee Exchange, and Sarah [Peters, a co-owner of The Coffee Exchange] has got a wine club that she started. So it’s also a really fun way to kind of have people hang out a little more because they have something to eat. They don’t have to leave to get a snack,” Frank said.
Frank says the addition of the wine vending machines also prompted her to add the cheese vending machine. She had seen a similar idea in another city years ago and it stuck with her.
“Sarah knew she was getting these wine machines, and she wanted to expand the food and I just threw it out there,” Frank said. “And I was like, ‘Well, there’s this one thing that I’ve been thinking about,’ and she said, ‘Oh my God, get it in here.’”
You can try out those wine vending machines in tandem with the cheese vending machine during The Coffee Exchange’s Friday happy hour from 6-9 p.m.
Currently, the machine is stocked with cult-favorites, and you can find a menu on Share’s website. While Frank says she already knows some of her bestsellers that she will keep stocked in the machine all the time, she has plans to try some other items over time.
“We’ll see what works and what seems to be popular and what can be changed. I definitely have a laundry list of fun things that will eventually get in there,” she told CityBeat.
The Coffee Exchange of Pleasant Ridge/Share Cheesebar, 6041 Montgomery Road. More info: sharecheesebar.com.
