Dr. Mr. Bill Just had a conversation with our farmer friends in Pennsylvania regarding the method their parents used to make buttermilk. Now you have enlightened us! Today buttermilk is "cultured", that is, slightly soured artificially with added bacteria to get that thick and almost sweet but sour flavor. In the old days, from what you say, the cream was allowed to ripen to the slightly sour stage naturally. Thus, when the buttermilk was made back in Massac County, little pieces of butter would remain in the leftover milk that was drained after removing the butterfat. That was true buttermilk and I can remember the taste from long ago in my childhood back in the forties and fifties just before it expired. Thanks, Regina in Troy Michigan