Olive oil tasting at home

Olive oil tasting refers to an organoleptic evaluation of olive oil through tasting and assessing the oil’s flavour, aroma and appearance. It is similar to wine tasting, where the aroma and flavour of the wine are evaluated. During olive oil tasting, different varieties of olive oil from various regions are tasted and evaluated to identify differences in flavour, quality and texture.

With our olive oil tasting set and our tasting guide, you are sure to find the right olive oil to suit your taste. Each of our olive oil tasting sets consists of three small bottles. Each bottle contains one of our family-owned olive oils from the Mirretta-Barone family. You’re bound to ask: “Why three different oils?”

Olive oil can have a wide variety of flavours, ranging from fruity and grassy to peppery and bitter. Here are some of the most common flavours of olive oil:

• Fruity: A fruity olive oil has aromas of ripe or green olives, and sometimes of citrus fruits, grass or tomatoes.

• Spicy: A spicy olive oil often has a sharp peppery taste or a hint of herbs such as rosemary or thyme.

• Bitter: A bitter olive oil may have a slightly bitter aftertaste, which is due to the use of green olives or a high polyphenol content.

• Mild: A mild olive oil has a gentle, almost buttery note and no dominant flavour.

• Sweet: A sweet olive oil has aromas of ripe fruit or nuts and is often very mild in flavour.

The flavours can also vary depending on the origin and variety of the olive oil. All our olive oils come from our own groves in the Italian Abruzzo region, harvested in a bird-friendly manner and gently extracted.

The answer is simple: we offer our family-owned extra virgin olive oil in three different production methods. The interesting thing is that the same olive varieties from the same olive trees are used to produce these three olive oils. The different flavours arise solely from the different production methods: cold-pressed, cold-extracted, special cold-extracted (low-oxygen).

You decide for yourself which one you like best. There is no right or wrong. Only your taste determines which oil suits your palate.

To best compare and evaluate our three flavours and find your very own favourite olive oil, we recommend holding an olive oil tasting. To this end, we offer an Olive oil tasting set, which consists of the three different family-owned olive oils.

Do you already have the tasting set? Wonderful, then let’s get started. Before you begin tasting, we have a few tips on how to prepare for the olive oil tasting. If you don’t yet have a tasting set, you can easily order one to be delivered to your home here in the shop.

• Three small shot glasses per person; if you have nosing glasses
• Three coasters or lids for the glasses
• Apple slices
• Ciabatta, baguette or another type of fresh white bread
• Plates for the bread
• Sea salt

You can also conduct the olive oil tasting as a blind tasting. In this case, you do not need to follow any particular order. You can turn the labels round and arrange the bottles in a random order for your blind tasting. Place the three small bottles upside down, with a shot glass in front of each one.
For those of you who would like to conduct a guided olive oil tasting, we recommend tasting the oils in the following order:

1. “Come prima” (traditionally cold-pressed)
2. „Frentania„ (cold-extracted)
3. „Ciommi“ (special cold-extracted)

The oil should be at room temperature during the tasting so that its full flavour can develop.  Pour about a finger’s width of olive oil from each bottle into a shot glass and place a lid on the glass. You are now well prepared for the olive oil tasting.

With the following tasting guide, you’re guaranteed to find your favourite olive oil in just 10 steps. Tip: Make a note of your impressions during the first tasting; this will help you compare the oils and highlight the differences for you. Of course, tasting is even more fun with a group of people!

1. Take the filled shot glass, including the lid, and cup it in your hand for about three minutes to bring the oil up to temperature. The ideal temperature for tasting olive oil is 28°C.
2. Now remove the lid from the glass and smell the contents. Take a deep breath and repeat this process a few times. What does it smell like? Green, grassy, fruity, sweet, nutty, earthy or woody?
3. Now it’s time to taste: to do this, sip a little oil from the glass with your mouth slightly open. The slurping sounds produced are called “strippagio” in Italian. This is done so that you can perceive the full flavour of the oil in your mouth as well as through your nose. You may be familiar with this procedure from wine tasting. Do not swallow the oil yet; keep it in your mouth. Can you taste any bitterness? The more bitter it is, the higher the proportion of health-promoting polyphenols. How does this compare to the smell? Is anything surprising you?
4. Now spread the oil around your mouth with your tongue and keep taking in air. It is only through oxidation with the air that the oil reveals its full flavour. Can you taste herbs or vegetables? Can you taste rocket or other familiar flavours? Now you can.
5. Now spread the oil around your mouth with your tongue and take in a few deep breaths. It is only through oxidation with the air that the oil reveals its full flavour. Can you taste herbs or vegetables? Can you taste rocket or other familiar flavours? Now you can let the oil slowly slide down your throat. Breathe in and out through your nose a few times. Can you feel the sharpness? The slight tickle in the throat is one of the hallmarks of good, fresh olive oil.

5. Now eat a piece of apple. The apple helps to neutralise the taste and prepares your senses for the second oil.
6. Now repeat steps 2–5 with the next two oils in the series. You will immediately smell and taste the difference.
7. After this first round, you can now smell and taste the oils in the glass again in a direct comparison. Don’t forget the apple.
8. Have you identified your favourite yet? You should not make your decision before tasting it with a piece of white bread. To do this, drizzle the olive oil over a slice of white bread, with or without salt, as you prefer.
9. Then eat another slice of apple…
10. Have you discovered your favourite olive oil? Or have you perhaps even chosen two personal favourites? We look forward to your personal review and experience with our oil, whether in the form of a photo or text: on Facebook, Instagram, here in the comments, or by email.

1. “Come prima” (traditionally cold-pressed)
2. „Frentania„ (cold-extracted)
3. “Ciommi” (special cold-extracted)

Did you know that there are professional olive oil tastings conducted by olive oil sommeliers all over the world? These olive oil sommeliers use blue glasses for the tasting so that they are not influenced by the colour of the oil. Only the smell and taste are assessed.

By the way: the tasting set is, of course, also a great gift idea!