Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is much more than an ingredient in the kitchen: it is culture, health, landscape and tradition. But to really understand everything there is inside a bottle of good EVOO, you have to stop, observe, smell, taste… experience it with all your senses. The best way to do this? By taking part in a guided tasting.
At MARE OLEUM, each tasting is an experience that connects visitors with the origin of the oil and its extraordinary diversity. In this article we tell you what an oil tasting consists of, how it is carried out, what you can learn and why it is an essential activity for any gastronomy lover or curious traveller.
What is an EVOO tasting?
An extra virgin olive oil tasting is a sensory analysis that allows us to evaluate the organoleptic characteristics of the oil: its aroma, flavour, texture and the sensation it leaves in the mouth. It is not just a question of whether you like an oil or not; it is about learning to identify a good oil, recognising its positive attributes and detecting possible defects.
Professional tastings follow a standardised protocol, but at MARE OLEUM we make them accessible and accessible. We want everyone to be able to learn how to taste, without having to be an expert. The important thing is to arouse curiosity, open the senses and enjoy.
How to do an oil tasting
EVOO tasting is a complete sensory experience, involving more senses than you might imagine. Although smell and taste are the main protagonists, sight, the retronasal route and touch are also involved. Only hearing is left out of this sensory equation.
1. Sight: colour matters… but should not influence it
Curiously, although sight is a powerful sense, in professional tasting, its influence is avoided. Why? Because the colour of the oil does not determine its quality. A greener or more golden oil is not necessarily better. To avoid visual judgements, a blue or red glass tasting glass is used, which prevents the shade of the liquid from being seen. In this way, the other senses can act without prejudice.
2. Olfactory phase: the first encounter
Warm the glass slightly with your hands and cover it to concentrate the aromas. When we uncover it, we inhale deeply to capture the first nuances. A quality EVOO should have fruity, green or ripe aromas: freshly cut grass, olive leaf, almond, apple, tomato, banana… If you detect smells of damp, vinegar or something rancid, there are defects present.
3. Taste and retronasal phase: flavour and sensations beyond taste.
A small sip is taken, spread over the tongue and air is sucked in to encourage the oil to enter through the retronasal passage. This part is key, as it allows the aromas to reach from the mouth to the nose from the inside, broadening the experience. This is where flavours such as bitter, spicy, sweet and their intensity are valued. Far from being negative, bitterness and spiciness indicate freshness, youth and richness in antioxidants.
4. Tactile phase: texture and body
We also perceive the texture: how the oil behaves in the mouth. It can be more or less fluid, dense, silky or astringent. A good EVOO has body, balance and a harmonious sensation that lingers.
In short, a well-conducted tasting allows us to discover the most hidden nuances of an oil and to assess its quality with objective criteria. A small sip can tell the whole story of an olive grove and its transformation in the mill, where each step of the process influences the final character of the oil.
What influences the flavour of an EVOO
Each oil is unique. Its organoleptic profile depends on multiple factors from the olive tree to the bottle:
- The olive variety: each type of olive has a different sensory profile. For example, Arbequina tends to produce smoother, sweeter and fruitier oils, while Picual produces more intense oils, with bitter and spicy notes. Hojiblanca gives herbaceous touches and Cornicabra, nutty aromas and balanced bitterness.
- The time of harvest: if the olives are harvested at veraison (when they start to change colour), the oil will be greener, with more aromas and a higher polyphenol content, which gives it healthier properties and greater stability. Late harvests give sweeter, but less complex oils.
- The production process: cold extraction using exclusively mechanical processes, without the use of solvents or heat, preserves the volatile compounds responsible for the aroma and flavour, as well as its natural antioxidants, to the maximum. The time from harvesting to milling is also key: the shorter the time, the better the quality of the oil.
- Conservation: a good EVOO must be stored in optimal conditions, away from light, heat and oxygen. The ideal is to use stainless steel tanks with a controlled atmosphere. At home, it should be stored in dark bottles, tightly closed and away from heat sources to avoid oxidation and loss of properties.
An experience to savour the culture of olive oil
At MARE OLEUM we don’t just make oil, we also tell people about it. We want those who visit us to understand everything that lies behind a drop of EVOO: the olive tree, the land, the climate, the effort, the respect for the product and its careful transformation in the oil mill.
For this reason, our tastings are part of a broader experience: during our guided tours, we explain everything from the cultivation of the olive tree to the oil production process. We show the machinery of the oil mill, explain each stage of the process, from harvesting to extraction, answer questions and finish with a guided and commented tasting. An activity designed for everyone, whether you are a food lover or just curious.
You will learn to read a label, to differentiate qualities, to choose the best oil according to its use in cooking. And, above all, you will discover that EVOO is much more than ‘olive oil’: it is health, it is landscape, it is identity.
