The Best Olive Oil
Taste is subjective, and no one can tell another what they should or shouldn't like. But how do you know if an olive oil is also the best olive oil? After all, there is a huge range of different types and a lot of variation in quality. Just like with wine, there is the best olive oil, very bad olive oil, and a lot in between. And of course, you want the best olive oil and nothing less!
To cut to the chase: if you're looking for the best olive oil, leave anything that doesn't say "Extra Virgin" on the shelf. Also, leave all transparent, often plastic, bottles. These are refined oils. Real, healthy extra virgin olive oil is packaged in a dark bottle.
All olive oil from The Olive Label is not just good olive oil; it is the best extra virgin olive oil of superior quality. We went to the olive farmers, met them, tasted and tested their olive oil, and purchased the best ones for you to put on our website. So, you don't need to look any further. The best olive oil is available from us and will be delivered to your home the next working day! You only need to decide which of the very best you also like. Green, robust, bitter, or a bit softer and sweeter? It's all possible. Taste and enjoy real food!
Recognizing the best olive oil
You can recognize the best olive oil by smelling and tasting it. But that's not always possible in a store, and certainly not online.
Can you recognize the best olive oil without tasting it? Just like buying wine, it's tricky. If you can't taste it, you have three sources of information: The bottle, the label, and the price.
As mentioned, real extra virgin olive oil comes in a dark bottle. This is to keep out (UV) light, which olive oil cannot tolerate. So, we leave transparent bottles on the shelf. Like most people, you'll probably first look at the label but ultimately be guided by the price. Unfortunately, a low price, in the case of extra virgin olive oil, is almost never a good deal.
The Label
Can you recognize the best olive oil, also known as superior quality extra virgin olive oil, without tasting it?
The first thing to look for is the label. It must at least state "Extra Virgin Olive Oil". The term "Extra Vierge" is the French designation, and in the Netherlands, the English "Extra Virgin" or the Italian "Extra Vergine" is also used, but they all refer to the same thing.
If something other than Extra Virgin is on the bottle? For example, if it only says "Virgin" (or Vierge) without "Extra", then leave that oil on the shelf. That is low-quality olive oil.
Also, leave the bottle if it says "mixed," "blended," "light," or "gemengd" (mixed) anywhere. These are all nonsensical terms invented by marketing. That is almost certainly not extra virgin olive oil.
Often, the label states "packaged in Italy" or, combined with "olives from the European Union." That is not what you want to see! You assume that a bottle with an Italian-sounding brand and a label full of Italian-sounding terms must also be olive oil from Italy. Unfortunately. Italian olive oil is considered the best in the world, so criminals exploit this. With clever linguistic and marketing tricks, it appears to be olive oil from Italy, but in fact, it is olive oil from another country that has been shipped to Italy and packaged there in a nice bottle with an Italian label.
This fake olive oil, which is suggested to be produced in Italy, is sold to supermarkets in countries where most consumers are not truly familiar with good olive oil, such as the Netherlands and Germany.
Fraud, deception, and trickery
Counterfeit oil! Olive oil fraud is an age-old, international problem, and a lot of money is involved. This also applies to major olive oil brands sold in supermarkets. The Italian police have been extremely busy for years busting international olive oil gangs. In 2023 and 2024, it has been in the news everywhere again: gangs adulterating olive oil. In 2019, the police also busted a German-Italian gang that generated at least 8 million per year with such fraudulent counterfeit oil.
These gangs mix cheap, low-quality oil, such as sunflower oil, with chlorophyll, beta-carotene (for color), and soybean oil. It is also common for poor quality oil to be chemically treated and mixed with a little good olive oil to make it suitable for consumption. They create a beautiful label, put "Olio Extra Virgine di Oliva, made or packed in Italy" and a nice Italian-sounding name on the label, and the trap is set for the unsuspecting consumer.
That consumer in the supermarket is usually in a hurry, quickly glances at the label, sees some Italian-sounding terms and "extra Virgine di Oliva," decides it looks good, then sees the low price and is tempted. That's a jackpot for the olive oil mafia. Oil that was readily available in major supermarkets.
Olive oil from the supermarket
Can you even buy good olive oil at the supermarket? No. With the rare exception that proves the rule, there's a very high chance that the olive oil you bought at the supermarket isn't good. Or simply bad and harmful to your health. It could also be counterfeit oil. The reason is actually very simple. It's in the DNA of supermarkets to sell a lot for the lowest price. The main reason why good olive oil doesn't exist in supermarkets is therefore the supermarket's business model and market forces that lead to bulk oil for cheap. Years of research by the founder of the leading Italian wine and olive oil magazine Merum have shown that 95% (!) of the olive oil sold does not deserve the Extra Virgin designation. So, good olive oil is hard to find. That's why we buy the best olive oil for you, directly from the farmer, without intermediaries. You can read more about olive oil from the supermarket here in our blog.
Extra Virgin
The term “Extra Virgin” is not just a random phrase. Extra virgin is legally protected by European regulations. The labeling of olive oil must comply with the general food labeling regulations, as laid down in EU Regulation 1169/2011. These European labeling regulations should protect consumers from misleading information about the oil's characteristics such as composition, quality, origin, category, and production method.
Acidity of olive oil
According to the EU and the IOC (International Olive Oil Council), olive oil may only be called "extra virgin" if it meets 4 chemical conditions. The most important of these is a low acidity. This may not exceed 0.8%. This means that the amount of bad, acidic oil (the fatty acid content) in the olive oil may not exceed 0.8%. The acidity of premium, fresh, extra virgin olive oil is, by the way, much lower. The best olive oil sold by The Olive Label.shop often does not exceed 0.2%.
And then there are three more technical values that we would like to provide for completeness. The most important is the peroxide value. The peroxide value indicates the degree of spoilage of the oil. Everything a farmer does wrong during harvesting and processing of the oil increases the peroxide value. If you process olives too late after picking, press them too hot, store them incorrectly, etc., the peroxide values quickly rise, and you don't want that. Peroxides are harmful to our body. A fresh, good olive oil therefore has very low peroxide values.
To qualify for the title of extra virgin olive oil, the peroxide value must not be higher than 20 mq/kg, but for truly fresh olive oil, that is already too high. At values of 30 and above, the oil will already start to taste rancid.
The third requirement is that the UV measurement (degree of resistance to spoilage) of K270nm must be lower than 0.22, the K232nm must be lower than 2.5, and Delta K lower than 0.01. And fourth, the amount of wax/peel residues in the oil, the so-called ceras residue content, must not exceed 250mg/kilo. These values primarily indicate the basic conditions for the legally protected designation "extra virgin," and that the oil has not been tampered with. It increases the likelihood that it is good olive oil, and the better these values, the slower the oil oxidizes and the better you can use it for frying and roasting. For everything about frying and roasting with olive oil, see this blog.
The price
After checking the label, look at the price. This is your second source of information.
Everyone knows that half a liter of olive oil costing €5 at the supermarket is not the best olive oil. That's simply impossible. The production costs of half a liter of real Mediterranean extra virgin olive oil, produced with love and respect for nature, amount to at least €6 to €10 in the country of origin. The same half-liter of olive oil should fetch at least €10 - €20 in stores in the Netherlands, otherwise, it's sold at a loss.
So, you might wonder what kind of olive oil you're getting if you buy half a liter at the supermarket for €5 or less. From that price, VAT is deducted, as well as the cost of the bottle, cap, and label, the supermarket's margin, the wholesaler's margin, transportation, marketing, etc. Very little is left for the oil itself, and at excessively low prices, farmers cannot survive either.
A higher price doesn't guarantee you have the best olive oil, but a cheap oil is almost certainly a bad oil. In short, if you can't taste the oil, it's wise to avoid cheap oil.
How to recognize the best olive oil when you can taste it
Once you've evaluated an oil based on its label and price, and you've bought it, the real work can begin. Tasting! But how do you do that? Essentially, the same way you taste wine. First, we'll smell it, and if it smells fresh and fruity, then we'll slurp.
Smelling olive oil
Before tasting olive oil, you first smell it. Pour a splash of olive oil onto a tablespoon or into a small glass. Warm the glass or spoon with the oil in the palm of your hand to release the aromas and smell it. Does the oil smell fresh and fruity? Do you smell the scent of green grass, tomato leaves, perhaps some hints of apple, or maybe herbaceous or even floral? Or do you smell the slightly sweeter scent of black, ripe olives? That's all good.
Perhaps you're not sure what you should be smelling? Then trust your intuition and know that an olive oil should never smell musty, sour, rancid, or moldy. Olive oil is naturally fatty but should not smell rancid-fatty. Just as fresh fish should not smell fishy. If the oil smells musty or rancid, if you smell old nuts or old butter? Then do not taste the oil and return it to the store. Most supermarket oil smells (and tastes) bland, dull, and greasy. At best, that is low-quality or old olive oil. So that's not what we're looking for! The best olive oil should smell fruity, fresh, and new.
Tasting olive oil!
It's best to taste olive oil pure, without a piece of bread!
Take a tablespoon or a small glass. Pour some oil onto the spoon or into the glass and then warm the spoon or glass with the oil in your palm. This will help release the aromas sooner.
First, smell the olive oil. Good oil should not smell flat, rancid, or greasy! Discard this oil. Do not taste it! Good olive oil smells fruity, fresh, and new, and then you can taste it! Slurp the olive oil from your spoon and do not swallow immediately! Roll the oil in your mouth and slurp in some air through the corners of your mouth (with the tip of your tongue against your palate) to release the aromas, just like in wine tasting.
What do you smell and taste? Cut grass, tomatoes, soft, sweet, bitter, apple? Try to describe what you taste. Then swallow the oil and wait a moment. If it's good, your throat will tingle. You might even cough a little. That's good! That peppery sensation in your throat comes from the polyphenols that are abundant in fresh, good olive oil. They are natural antioxidants, and you feel them best when you taste the oil pure.
Properties of the best olive oil
The best extra virgin olive oil certainly has the following 6 properties;
- The label is correct
- The price is correct
- It is an extra virgin olive oil (acidity of no more than 0.8% (but preferably much lower)
- Smells fruity, ranging from lightly fruity to intensely green grass
- Always tastes somewhat bitter, some more than others. Bitterness is good! Fresh olive oil from early-harvested olives has a high content of oleuropein, which gives olive oil its bitter taste. The more, the better! Oleuropein is an effective antioxidant that is very good for you. Italian olive oil, in particular, is often bitter.
- Different olive oils have different flavor notes ranging from green grass, green tomatoes and/or apples, to herbaceous like artichokes and fig leaf, and/or sweet, ripe, black olives
- Has a spicy kick in your throat. These are the polyphenols, and that's good!
Finally
The best olive oil is a wonderful product. The best olive oil is pure nature and very healthy. It contains unsaturated fats and antioxidants like polyphenols and vitamin E, has anti-inflammatory properties, and it would be good for us to use it daily. And you can use it for more dishes than just on your salad. Drizzle it over your boiled potatoes or your boring green beans. Instant happiness! Almost all dishes are improved by a good extra virgin olive oil! Truly good olive oil is, above all, an honest and delicious product. It has been consumed for over 6000 years and combines the power of the sun with the best the earth has to offer.
Enjoy! Health is Wealth! O’Lives Great!