How to Buy Olive Oil: Tips From MasterClass Instructors

Olive oil is liquid fat made by pressing fresh olives. The product of crushed olives, olive oil is technically a fruit juice. It has a dark green or golden hue and a buttery taste with peppery undertones. Italy, Greece, and Spain produce most of the world’s olive oil supply, which is fitting since olive oil is a staple of Mediterranean cuisine. (California is home to the largest concentration of olive oil producers in the United States.)

Olive oil contains many antioxidants, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids. There’s almost nothing a good olive oil can’t do: It’s the main ingredient in many salad dressings, and some people even like to drizzle it over ice cream.

Extra-virgin olive oil is the highest quality and most expensive olive oil, extracted by grinding and pressing olives without chemicals or heat. Extra-virgin olive oil is darker than lower-quality oils, between a golden yellow and dark green. EVOO has a distinct olive flavor, and you can taste spiciness in the highest-quality oils.

“Don’t cook with the really expensive olive oil, with the flavorful olive oil, because olive oil, when it’s really cold-pressed and the first press, it has little particles in it, and they burn when you heat them up. So, use the good olive oil for salad, for your fish dish, or wherever you drizzle a little olive oil on it.” — Chef Wolfgang Puck

The short answer is yes, the color of the bottle matters. Dark bottles help prevent oxidization by sunlight. If you can, purchase extra-virgin olive oil packaged in a dark glass bottle or tin. The best olive oils tend to come in glass bottles, but tins are the next best option—remember that aluminum can impact the flavor profile of the oil.

Paradoxically, some of the freshest olive oils come in clear glass bottles; these you should use as quickly as possible. Cheaper olive oils used for cooking should come in dark glass or tin packaging.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to decoding the labels on olive oil bottles:

• Extra-virgin: You’re on the right track if the bottle claims to be extra-virgin. However, quality still varies within the extra-virgin category.
• Harvest date: The harvest date indicates when the grower harvested the olives. Compare this date to the “best by” date. Ideally, the harvest date is within the same year as the “best by” date (and the year of purchase).
• Country of origin: If buying olive oil in the United States, choosing a bottle from California is best. Look for a California Olive Oil Council seal, which guarantees that the oil meets taste and quality standards. Olive oil doesn’t travel well—a fact represented in the quality and flavor of imported bottles. Buy local if you can, and save the Italian olive oil for your next trip to Italy.
• Process: Many bottles of olive oil will include “cold-pressed” on the label; however, this is redundant when applied to extra virgin oils. Extra-virgin olive oil must come from the first pressing with no added heat.
• Flavor profile: Harvest time impacts flavor: Some oils made from still-green (unripe) olives can taste spicy and peppery. “It very often has a little kick in the back of your throat,” says Alice Waters. “And people think, ‘Oh, that’s not pleasant.’ But, in fact, for me, it fits, you know, on a piece of warm toast. It’s just like it sort of calms itself down. And you get a real flavor of just the olives.” Check the label for tasting notes if you can’t taste the oil yourself.

“There are so many olive oils out there. And how do you choose the right one? Well, you have to taste them. And that’s what we do every year at Chez Panisse. . . . The olives are harvested in November normally. And there’s new oil that happens right after the harvest. But when the olive oil settles down, that’s in about January. And we have a tasting at that time.” — Chef Alice Waters

Here are some tips for discovering the best bottle of olive oil:

• Shop at specialty stores rather than big-box grocery stores. Shop for olive oil at stores where the stock does not linger on the shelves for too long. “It’s hard to store olive oil in a cool place in a big market,” Alice Waters says. “I’m looking for a store that has a big turnover of olive oil in it—maybe more like a delicatessen where olive oil is something really valuable,” Alice says.
• Shop small. “I encourage you to buy whatever you’re buying in terms of extra-virgin olive oil in as small a container as possible,” Chef Thomas Keller says. “This will help maintain the quality of the oil.”
• Taste-test olive oils to find your favorite. The world is filled with tons of remarkable olive oils. Some have more peppery notes, and others are more fruity. With so many different types of olive oil to choose from, the best strategy for finding one you like is to taste them. Chef Waters recommends hosting an annual olive oil tasting party. “It will cut down on the cost when you taste in a group,” she says, “and it will help you learn together how to articulate what you’re tasting.” The bottom line is the best olive oil is the one you enjoy the most.
• Buy organic olive oil. Chef Waters recommends looking for organic labeling (“biologico” in Italian) or confirming the farming practices with the grower or salesperson.
• Select for freshness. Check for the calendar year printed on the bottle and use within one year of bottling.
• Pick up two bottles. Lighter olive oils have a slightly high smoke point, making them ideal for cooking over high heat. In contrast, rich olive oils are more flavorful and have a better mouthfeel making them ideal for finishing a dish. “Sautéing in extra-virgin olive oil doesn’t really work,” Chef Thomas Keller says. “Heat is one of the big enemies of the quality of the oil and the flavor of the oil. So the more you heat the oil, the less flavor it has. . . . Our extra-virgin olive oils or our finishing oils are only for that purpose, to finish, to add flavor afterward.”
• Store your oil correctly. “Oxidation will occur once you open the oil, and we wanna try to prevent any diminishing effects on the oil through oxidation through heat and through light,” Chef Thomas Keller says. “So keep it in a cool, dark place. And use it as quickly as possible. I can’t say that enough.”

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