How to Taste Extra Virgin Olive Oil Like a Pro

Most of us pour olive oil without a second thought. Yet a few minutes of attention can completely change how you choose, store and cook with it. Professional tasters — the people who grade oils for competitions — rely on three simple qualities. With a little practice, so can you.

The three words that matter

A well-made extra virgin olive oil is judged on three positive attributes:

• Fruity — the aroma of fresh, healthy olives, sometimes green and grassy, sometimes ripe and almost sweet.
• Bitter — a clean bitterness on the tongue, a sign of the natural compounds in early-harvest oil.
• Pungent — that peppery catch at the back of the throat, often strongest in young, fresh oils.

Bitterness and pungency are not flaws. They are markers of a fresh, carefully made oil, and they soften gracefully as the oil ages.

A simple tasting at home

You do not need the blue tasting glasses the professionals use. A small glass and a quiet kitchen are enough.

1. Warm it. Pour a tablespoon into a glass, cup your hand over the top and cradle it for a moment to bring it close to body temperature. Warmth releases the aroma.

2. Smell. Uncover and breathe in. Look for freshness — cut grass, green tomato, artichoke, almond. A musty or greasy smell is a sign the oil is past its best.

3. Sip and slurp. Take a small sip and draw air across it, as if sucking through a straw. It feels odd at first, but it spreads the oil across your palate.

4. Notice the finish. Swallow, and pay attention to the bitterness and the peppery kick. A lively finish is the hallmark of a good extra virgin oil.

What to avoid

If an oil tastes flat, waxy, or smells of cardboard or old walnuts, it has likely oxidised — usually from age, heat or light. This is exactly why we tin our larger formats: a light-proof tin protects the oil far better than clear glass.

Trust your own palate

Tasting is a skill that rewards repetition. Try two oils side by side and the differences become obvious. Before long you will reach instinctively for the one that tastes alive — and your cooking will be the better for it.