You’re Probably Using Olive Oil All Wrong

Here’s everything you need to know and why it matters for travelers.

I have a rule when I travel: don’t bring home junk. This comes mostly from being a frequent traveler, as there is only so much room in my house for tchotchkes, and I dislike clutter. I make an exception for consumables because they don’t occupy permanent space. The scent of the soap I brought home from an artisan shop in Florida or the flavor of the olive oil I got in Greece atop my Wednesday night pasta helps those travel memories to keep on giving.

I did an olive oil tasting on my recent trip to Greece, where deliciously briny, purple-hued Greek olives were a part of every meal I had. While I did bring back olive oil, which gives me happy flashbacks each time I drizzle it on bread or veggies, I brought back more than just the bottle–I brought back the knowledge that I’ve been buying and using olive oil the wrong way.

An Olive Oil Tasting

Wine tasting? Yes! Whiskey and tequila tastings? They’re everywhere, too. People like alcohol tastings because they’re a fun way to sample the flavors of a region and help them decide what they like. And, well…because booze.

When people think of Greece, Athens or the dreamy Greek Isles is what usually comes to mind, but I went to the lesser-explored Messenia area and did an olive oil tasting during my stay at The Romanos, and sat down with olive oil sommelier Cristina Stribacu of Lia Olive Oil, although she joked that she’s more of an olive oil activist. She had set up four different olive oils for me to try and took me through the proper way to taste olive oil. I was skeptical because although I love the flavor of olive oil in food, drinking it straight didn’t sound appealing.

The first question Cristina asked me was whether I thought I’d be able to tell the difference between cheap and quality olive oils, which I felt was a little bit of a trick question. Before I could answer, she said that the three favorable attributes to look for in olive oil are fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency. I was totally okay with moving on because all I kept thinking about was the economy-size store-brand olive oil I had in my pantry at home that I bought because it was cheap.

Just Like Wine Tasting Because Olives Are Fruit, Too

Olive oil tasting follows the same concept as wine tasting–taking small sips of several varieties to help you discover what you like. After all, olives are fruits, the same as grapes. I tasted olive oil in round, shallow glasses, perfect for cupping with your hands. Warming the olive oil and swirling it around helps release the aromas, just like wine. After this step, I was instructed to take a small sip while sucking in air to release the flavors, then to swallow and note the sensations in my mouth and throat.

I expected the olive oil to taste like just oil, but one had a heavier, fruity taste, and another had a spicy finish. And yes, I could pick out the cheaper oil from the more quality olive oil without being prompted. That one did taste like plain oil without flavor. If you ever decide to do an olive oil tasting at home, use slices of Granny Smith apples in between oils to cleanse your palate. The fruit neutralizes the taste of the oil, giving you a fresh palate for the next sample.

While you can argue that sipping olive oil isn’t as much fun as sipping wine, I found the experience tremendously useful because it gave me a deeper knowledge of olive oil culture and what makes the olive industry so important to Greece’s Messenia region. And, if you didn’t know olives were fruits, here’s another fun fact to blow your mind: olive trees aren’t really trees. An olive tree is actually an olive bush, but how it’s cultivated and pruned makes it grow into what resembles a tree.

I’m Doing These Things Wrong. Maybe You Are, Too

As someone who cooks with olive oil regularly, here’s what I was doing wrong.

Buying Cheap Olive Oil

Bargain-priced olive oil doesn’t taste amazing because it’s usually a blend. I never thought of olive oil as something that could or should taste good until I sat down with Cristina in Greece. I saw it as a healthy cooking oil, and while that’s true–olive oil is a heart-healthy oil that contains antioxidants and Vitamin E–I never looked beyond the fact that it was better for me than other oils on the market.

Not Understanding What to Look for on the Label

If you spring for the better quality olive oil, don’t hoard it for a special occasion. It’s meant to be used. The label should have a best-by date, but you really want to look for the harvest date. Olive oil is usually good two years from harvest. The absence of that date on the bottle indicates a blend, and blended olive oils–a mix of several different harvests or different growing locations–don’t taste as good as oil from a single estate.

Also, don’t be wowed by phrases like “cold press” or “first press” because, according to Cristina Stribacu, those are marketing terms. If it isn’t cold pressed or in the first press, it’s something other than EVOO and won’t be bottled as EVOO. The cold press redundancy can be compared to “frozen ice” or “wet water.”

For a deeper dive into olive oil labels, I consulted Nader Akhnoukh, olive oil sommelier and owner of Wildly Virgin. He broke down the difference between extra virgin, virgin, pure, and light olive oils. In a nutshell, extra virgin is the highest quality because it has no defects and tastes fruity. The level of virginity comes down to the quality of the olives and the skill of the producer at milling time. To be certified as extra virgin, the oil has to be free of defects and taste good, and yes, it must go through a taste test before it can be certified as EVOO. Virgin olive oil will have some defects, and anything labeled pure or light will be low-quality, which is confusing because our brains have been trained to interpret the word “pure” on a label as a good thing.

Storing My Olive Oil Wrong

Olive oil should be stored in a dark glass or metal container that shields the oil from light. Many cheaper EVOOs are packaged in the U.S. in dark green plastic, harming the oil because the plastic can alter the flavor. While storing olive oil next to the stove to keep it handy for cooking seems logical, that’s also wrong. Heat can diminish olive oil’s antioxidant properties.

Before my tasting with Christina, I bought my olive oil in a large plastic container and stored it in a smaller clear glass bottle next to my stove to keep it handy for cooking. In short, I was doing everything I could to ensure my oil didn’t taste as good as it could and wouldn’t be as good for me.

Why Does This Matter for Travelers?

Today’s travelers are placing a higher priority on active, immersive cultural experiences. We’re seeking more meaningful experiences that give us knowledge or a new skill, so we look for hands-on pursuits like classes and seminars when we travel instead of souvenirs.

Traceability is also important. As more people want to know where their food comes from, we’re drawn to small producers versus mass markets. A bottle labeled “Italian Olive Oil” might not be enough. We want to know where in Italy, what varietal of olives were involved, and the farm’s name.

Even though we may purchase fewer souvenirs and limit gifts for people who didn’t go on a trip with us, we’re still buying consumables to take home to help extend those vacation memories or share them with others by bringing them a bottle of olive oil from Greece or Portugal or setting up your own olive oil tasting at home to share with friends.

Although bringing Greek olive oil home from Greece is cool, you probably don’t have to cross the ocean to find an olive oil experience or buy quality olive oil when traveling. Olive oil boutiques are everywhere; you usually don’t have to look far to find them. Get lemon basil or blood orange infused oil at Lowcountry Olive Oil in Charleston, or browse savory infusions like leek or ginger with black garlic at Bella Gusto in Avon Park, Florida, tucked in with all the other cute boutiques downtown and probably in every other state and country on your travel radar.

Many U.S.-based olive oil merchants import their inventory from Greece, but there are olive groves in the United States, too. According to Laurie Benjamin, who owns Lowcountry Olive Oil with her husband, Georgia has a small olive oil farming scene. California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii also produce olive oil, so you may not have to go far from home to include olive oil tastings or farm visits in your travel plans.