Unfortunately there is no easy way to find out whether a certain olive oil is good or bad, but there are subtle cues here and there that can help you to find the high qualityolive oil you are looking for.
Bottle Material & Color
A dark glass bottle is a must to prevent light from coming through. Glass also protects the flavor since it has no smell or taste of its own. Tin cans not only heat up too much during shipping, they also impact the flavor and not great in terms of providing a perfect lid seal.
Harvest Date
Most harvest periods begin in early fall. If you see a harvest date for March, you already know that the oil has been pressed with very mature olives, which yields lower quality olive oil. If there is no harvest date, you know they’re hiding something.
Product Origin
Beware of products that are “Imported from X Country” as this may mean nothing. A factory in Italy could process olives from 5 different countries but still claim to be Imported from Italy. The best olive oil is from a single country and from a single farm.
Monovarietal (Single Source)
9 out of 10 times, a product that sources olives from various farms yet alone various countries calls for poor quality olives. Most of the time, olive oil coming from a single estate ensures you are getting the freshest olives from a single source.
Overall Transparency
Sadly, the olive oil industry is filled with fraudulent practices. The more information a company provides regarding their olives, their farms and their production process, the more you’ll know that this company has nothing to hide.
Store in a dark glass bottle
Keep away from heat
Keep away from light
Keep it air-tight
Consume quickly atfer opening
Bread Dipping
Salads & Dressing
Drizzle on Foods
Dips & Spreads
Cooking / Sautéing
Baking
Frying
Marinades
On Skin & Hair
BEST! Consume Directly