A Buyers Guide to Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Shopping for high-quality, authentic olive oil can be daunting with so many choices available. Wherever you purchase your EVOO, we've put together a quick guide to help you! 

1. Harvest/Crush Date-As olive oil ages, it loses its health benefits and flavor. It should be treated like fresh fruit juice as it is highly perishable and has a limited shelf life. Honest producers will always indicate the harvest date on their products. 

There are only two harvests a year globally: 

Northern Hemisphere-October/November 

Southern Hemisphere-April/May 

2. Dark Bottles-UV light will cause your olive oil to degrade faster. 

3. Glass Bottles-Plastic bottles do not protect olive oil from light, which will also cause your olive oil to degrade faster. And let's be honest, plastic is not good for our earth. Plus, studies have shown that some plastic products may seep into the goods over time. 

4. Single country of origin. It is logistically impossible to get early harvest, quality olives from multiple countries to one olive mill in one single day. Buyer beware when multiple countries are listed on the bottles. Again, honest producers will always indicate the one single country of origin and the varietal name. 

5. Other good chemistry like FFA or Oleic Acid. Honest producers test their products and will absolutely share this information with you and place it on their products. 

6. If you can, absolutely taste the EVOO! All fresh EVOO should smell green, grassy, and taste like a fresh cut herb, vegetable, or fruit, and will have some lingering pepper finish from the antioxidants.