OLIVE OIL  TIPS

Good Characteristics

Fruity
Let’s not forget that olives are fruit so a good olive oil needs to have some degree of fruitiness. This can come from ripe olives or unripe (green) olives. Olive oil should taste fresh, not heavy and “oily”.

Bitter
Yes, bitter is good. Bitterness is a characteristic of fresh olive oil. Olives are bitter. The degree of bitterness depends on how ripe the olive is. So a bitter olive oil is a positive thing. However, depending on your taste you may want to find an olive oil that has a balance of fruity and bitter that you can tolerate.

Pungent
This is a peppery characteristic that you will feel at the back of your throat when you swallow the oil. You may even cough. Many people think this is bad (like my friend) but it is not, it is actually of olive oil from unripe olives and of fresh olive oil. It also signifies the presence of certain antioxidants. And remember this peppery sensation should go away fairly quickly, it should not linger.

Bad Characteristics

Olive Oil should not have the following characteristics:

Fusty
This is common defect that appears when the olives are gathered in piles and may cause advanced fermentation. According to Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne, an olive oil cosultant, fusty smells like or tastes like sweaty socks or swampy vegetation.

Musty
Basically a moldy flavor that appears when the olives were stored for several days in a humid environment and developed yeast and fungi.

Winey-Vinegary
Exactly as it is described, no your olive oil should not taste or smell like wine. Again this is due to fermentation of the olives.

Metallic
A taste that reminds of metal. Usually it is a result of prolonged contact with metallic surface during production but also storage.

Rancid
This is the most common defect, it is basically olive oil gone bad and you may have come across this taste when you eat old nuts or stale crackers that are made with fat.