How to Judge an Olive Oil

The sensory characteristics of food are essential to its acceptance.

Even if no one ever invites a friend home to have a drink of olive oil, the quality of the small amount used to season a salad or to prepare a pesto sauce is fundamental to the enjoyment of such foods. 

That is why the oil selected must have the best possible sensory characteristics and acidity, best if below 0.3%. 

It is foolish and uneconomical to buy the finest and most expensive ingredients and then season them with rancid or otherwise poor-tasting oil!

Olive oil is judged by its bouquet and taste alone. For example, an oil is termed fruity when its flavour and aroma are similar to that of a mature olive. 

Colours range from gold to deep green, depending on the location of the estate and the particular olives with which the oil is made. One colour is not preferred over another, and although some people might be under the impression that good olive oil is always green, the colour of the olive oil is never a tasting factor. Professional tasters even use blue glass containers so that their judgment will not be affected by the colour.

Good flavour is the result of picking healthy fresh fruit at the optimum stage of maturity. All oils after pressing seem fruity, but in most cases, this characteristic disappears after a few months. Authentically fruity oil maintains this characteristic aroma through time. Overall however, clouded, unfiltered oils are prized by many for their fuller flavour.

Olive oils in Tuscany can generally be divided between the naturally piccanti (spicy) oils and dolce (sweet) oils.

For seasoning extra virgin olive oil is unbeatable for its exquisite taste and capacity to amalgamate. When cooked extra virgin olive oil gives foods its natural taste and fragrance and no other type of oil gives the same quality of flavour 

But the choice of which olive oil to acquire is purely a matter of personal taste. Just as there is no such thing as the best wine or the best cheese, neither is there an olive oil that is "the best". As with all other produce, price is a good indicator of quality however.

There is only one sure way to test the quality of an olive oil, taste it! 
Either from a glass or by pouring it onto a piece of white bread. 

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