How to Taste Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Olives

Olfactory analysis

Take a small cup of oil, cover it, and warm it up in the palm of your hand until the oil reaches about 96°F (or body temperature). Then, removes the cover or cork and bring the cup to the base of your nose. Inhale 3 separate times, making sure that your taste buds to not get tired. Describe the sensations that you experience.

Flavor analysis

Put a small amount of oil (8 to 10 drops) in your mouth and let them warm up for a minute or two, so that the volatile compounds evaporate. At the same time, begin inhaling air in order to oxygenize the oil and roll it around in your mouth several times, covering your taste buds. This is the most critical part of the tasting.

Thanks to the simultaneous heating, oxygenation and rotating, the good and bad qualities of the oil are exposed. The oil should be distributed throughout your oral cavity and in particular across your tongue, from the tip, to the sides, to the back. It is important to remember the flavors you experience and in which order. Be sure to consider the “tactile” characteristics that describe the fluidity, the consistency and the greasiness, and the “flavor” elements, which can be described as sensations of sweet, bitter, and spicy. After you have done this, you can spit out the oil.

Visual analysis

The visual aspect of the oil is not as important in determining the quality, and should not influence your final judgment. Oil is often tasted in blue cups to avoid this.

Our video: how to taste extra virgin olive oil

Positive aspects or descriptions of the oil

Fruity: flavor of the oil that recalls the aroma and flavor of fresh, perfectly ripe fruit. Upon tasting the oil, you can begin to make the distinction between intense and delicate fruitiness. This former is direct, where as the latter is finer and less biting, both directly in the mouth and with regards to the retro-nasal aromas.
Bitter: a characteristic flavor of oil made from green olives. The bitterness should not be too strong; otherwise it would be considered a defect.
Spicy: biting sensation that is characteristic of olive grown at the beginning of the countryside, and that are primarily still green. It is a pleasing aspect typical of Tuscan, Puglian and Sicilian oils. In order for spiciness to be considered a positive aspect of the oil, the sensation should be fleeting.
Sweet: oil is considered sweet if it has a light flavor and delicate aroma.
Mature: characteristic flavor of mature olives often found in bright yellow-colored oils with round, sweet flavors.
Olio verde, or green oil: the classic characteristic of Tuscan oils; great, fruit aromas and bright green color.
Artichoke: oil that tastes like tender part of an artichoke.
Apple: apple-flavored oil.
Full-bodied: oil that is full and well rounded.
Green herbs: flavor reminiscent of the aroma of freshly cut grass.
Almond: flavor typical of fresh or dried almond. This is retro-nasal aroma, normally associated with sweet oils.
Spices and vegetables: flavor associated with vegetal or spiced aromas.
Floral: delicate flavor of white or yellow flowers.

Negative aspects or descriptions of the oil

Reheated: defect caused by poor conservation of the olives, which causes them to ferment and gives the oil a warm, unpleasant flavor.
Mold-humidity: flavor that comes from olives that are grown in humid soil, contaminated by natural microorganisms like fungi and yeasts. The flavor can also come from storing the olives in humid environments.
Sediment: oil that has not been well filtered and remains in contact with sediment can develop an unpleasant odor.
Winey or vinegary: flavor similar to wine or vinegar, normally caused by the fermentation of the olives that produces acetic acid, ethyl acetate and ethanol; can also be cause by tanks containing the oil, if the tanks were washed with vinegar, a fairly common practice.
Metallic: metal-like flavor caused by the olives coming in contact with metal machinery. The olives take on the flavor of iron.
Rancid: often found in old oils that have been exposed to the air or heat.
Hay-like or woody: characteristic aroma of oils made from dry olives.
Cooked or overcooked: flavor of oils that were exposed to high temperatures during processing.
Muddy: oil that leave a dirty taste in your mouth after swallowing.
Vegetable water: flavor cause by prolonged exposure to vegetable water, a natural by-product of making olive oil.
Wormy: oil made from olives with parasitic infections.
Earthy: oil made from olives taken from the ground and not washed properly before use.