A soft-ripened French cheese best when made from unpasteurised cow's milk. It is usually in the shape of a disc with a white, bloomy, edible Penicillium candidum rind. When produced as an artisanal or farmhouse cheese from unpasteurised milk, it has some reddish blush in parts of the rind. The period of ripening when made of pasteurised whole milk is about 4 to 6 weeks.

Coulommiers is a lesser-known cousin of Brie, although it has been produced for longer. It is smaller and thicker than Brie and with a nuttier flavour, but otherwise has similar characteristics, with a similar buttery colour and supple creamy texture. The cheese may be either farmer-made or industrially produced, although the industrial version lacks the depth of an unpasteurised cheese. But, because it is not an AOC cheese, producers can make it with pasteurised milk and export it to the US.