Olive Oil Tasting

Buongiorno tutti! This week’s post is about an olive oil tasting field trip my class went on.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of whole olives, but I do love olive oil. I did, however, taste the different olives we were given as part of the experience. There is a noticeable difference in taste and smell between the two olive types we tasted.

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We filled three little cups with different quality olive oils to prepare for the tasting. This was a very similar experience to wine tasting. To start of the tasting, we rubbed the top and bottom of the cup between our two clasped hands and swirled the cup. This released the aroma and warmed the oil. Much like wine tasting, we stuck our nose in the cup and smelt the oil. Next, we took a tiny slurp of the oil and tried to decipher which flavor was present. Between the tasting of each of the three olive oils, we cleansed our palates with apple slices.

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The olive oil on the left (shown in the picture above) was the most expensive and was a higher quality olive oil. The taste was bitter and a little fruity. You could feel the bitterness of the olive oil in the back of your throat and taste the fruitiness of tomato and grass. The next olive oil was a middle of the line oil in regards to price and quality; there was an almond flavor. Lastly, the olive oil on the right was the least expensive and the lowest quality. This olive oil was pungent along with the negative tastes of fusty, musty, and sour. This is the olive oil my roommates and I chose to cook with in our apartment and we were told many Italians go for a cheaper olive oil for cooking as well.

Here is a link if you would like to learn more about the flavors and tastes to look for when tasting olive oil.

We were also able to enjoy delicious foods at the end of our tasting. Including vegetables, bread with olive oil and tomato, focaccia bread, and bread with olives.

Ciao – Thanks for reading!