How to Taste Olive Oil
Olive Oil tastings
Located in the heart of Paso Robles wine country, Templeton Olive Oil is an amazing stop on your wine tasting tour of the area. We have a fully stocked tasting room & all tastings are free! All you need to do is make an appointment.
While tasting olive oil is very similar to wine tasting in many ways, it also comes with a unique set of skills that are needed to ensure a positive tasting experience. It is important to be educating yourself on all of the steps and practices that go into the process of tasting to truly appreciate high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The process is fun and enjoyable and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
The steps to tasting olive oil like a pro:
The first thing you want to do is swirl the oil gently in your tasting cup. This releases the aromas of the oil into the air around it, thus enhancing the flavor when you try it!
Next you want to place your nose directly by the oil and inhale deeply. As soon as you begin to smell the oil’s aromas, make mental notes of the different kind of flavor notes that you are picking up on.
Take your first sip of the oil and while you do so, slurp some air in with the oil. This practice is also done in wine tasting and it allows you to emulsify the oil in your mouth. This works to spread it to all areas of the tongue for an optimal tasting experience. Since different areas of the tongue pick up different flavor notes, this is a vital step in getting the entire flavor profile of the olive oil. Make mental notes of the flavors you are experiencing during this step as well.
Finally, swallow the oil and while doing so take a pause and note any final flavors that appear at the end of the tasting experience. In this step, if you feel a peppery sensation in the back of your throat this is good indicator that the oil you are tasting is fresh and high in Polyphenols.
Here is a very short list of flavors & aromas that can be noted in different oils to get you started:
Artichoke, cinnamon, green almond, green tea, nutty, pine, buttery, stone fruits, eucalyptus, cherry, woody, peppery, & floral
Why you should learn to taste olive oil
When an olive oil is fresh and extra virgin, you should be able to identify a variety of different flavors in a single oil. Unfortunately, this level of quality is not always the case of all of the olive oils that can be purchased at the store. In fact, it has been shown that almost 70% of the olive oil that is being marketed as extra virgin in stores does not in fact meet those standards. This is another reason that it is important that you are educated on the proper way to taste and identify true Extra Virgin Olive Oil so that you know what you are buying is all that it promises to be.
At Templeton Olive Oil, we test our oil every year before the oil is ever available for sale to ensure that our oil is the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil that it can be. Due to the care we place into every aspect of our farming process, our oil always passes every year with flying colors but paying to get it tested is our way to ensure our customers that we will always practice what we preach.
Come visit us at our ranch, learn more about our farming practices, & come taste some olive oil with us!
Reach out to us on our website or email [email protected] to make your appointment today!