A creamy, salty pasteurized cow's milk cheese with a rich fruitiness, Shropshire Blue was invented by a Cheshire cheesemaker named Dennis Biggins in the 1930s.

Shropshire Blue starts life as Stilton, with annatto added to give it an orange colour. Annatto has a very mildly spicy flavour and is thought to soften the texture slightly, but its effects on flavour are not very strong.

Colston Bassett Shropshire Blue, made exclusively for Neal's Yard Dairy, uses traditional rennet and is only punched a few times, resulting in a more nuanced, fruitier flavour and less pronounced blue streaking than other dairies' Shropshire Blue.