3 Techniques for Tasting Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Did you know there is a special glass for tasting olive oil? 

As with wine, an olive oil tasting glass has a specific shape that helps concentrate the flavor in the mouth. This type of glass is used in professional competitions, where a person can taste thousands of samples of high-quality extra virgin olive oil from top producers. The sensation itself is incredible, but to truly experience it, you need to know how to taste properly. 

Today we will reveal to you these 3 techniques for tasting extra virgin olive oil:

1. Warm and swirl the tasting glass. Swirling the olive oil allows its aroma to be released from the molecules in the oil. Unlike with wine, it is important to cover the glass with your hand in order to keep its molecules in.

2. Smell the oil. From the smell alone you can identify the variety of extra virgin olive oil, sense its many beneficial qualities, and find defects, if there are any. 

3. Taste it: after taking a small amount of the olive oil, it is very important to draw it back in through your teeth with short breaths, which will let it coat your entire palate and allow its aroma to fill your nose. This enables a full analysis, which can take up to 45 seconds, until the extra virgin oil reaches all of your taste receptors.