Bitter cheese is normally caused by two things;
- The cheese was not drained enough
- Or the cheese was not salted enough
Add a little extra salt, mix up, and try to get some more whey out.
If you happen to have a cheese press, use it at this time. Wrap your cheese (even if it's soft) in a cheesecloth and press at 5 = 5 kg (11 lb) of pressure for 15 minutes. Then taste again.
A couple of other reasons could be:
- Cheese can also become too bitter with age. If you made ricotta three weeks ago and it tastes bitter, it's probably better to discard it.
- One other reason could be if you added more rennet to save a batch that wasn't setting well, too much rennet can add a bitter taste as well.