Olive Oil Tasting

Common Descriptors

Good

• Apple/Green Apple: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Almond: nutty (fresh not oxi­dized)
• Artichoke: green fla­vor
• Astringent: puck­er­ing sen­sa­tion in mouth cre­ated by tan­nins; often asso­ci­ated with bit­ter, robust oils
• Banana: ripe and unripe banana fruit
• Bitter: con­sid­ered a pos­i­tive attribute because it is indica­tive of fresh olive fruit
• Buttery: creamy, smooth sen­sa­tion on palate
• Eucalyptus: aroma of spe­cific olive vari­etals
• Floral: perfume/aroma of flow­ers
• Forest: fresh aroma rem­i­nis­cent of for­est floor, NOT dirty
• Fresh: good aroma, fruity, not oxi­dixed
• Fruity: refers to the aroma of fresh olive fruit, which is per­ceived through the nos­trils and retro-nasally when the oil is in one’s mouth.
• Grass: the aroma of fresh-cut (mowed) grass
• Green /Greenly: aroma/flavor of unripe olives
• Green Tea: char­ac­ter­is­tic of some unripe olive vari­eties
• Harmonious: bal­ance among the oil’s char­ac­ter­is­tics with none over­pow­er­ing the oth­ers
• Hay/Straw: dried grass fla­vor
• Herbaceous: unripe olive fruit rem­i­nis­cent of fresh green herbs
• Melon: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Mint: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Pear: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Peach: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Peppery: sting­ing sen­sa­tion in the throat which can force a cough (see pun­gent)
• Pungent: sting­ing sen­sa­tion in the throat which can force a cough (see pep­pery)
• Ripely: aroma/flavor of ripe olive fruit
• Round/Rotund: a bal­anced, mouth-fill­ing sen­sa­tion of har­mo­nious fla­vors
• Spice: aroma/flavor of sea­son­ings such as cin­na­mon, all­spice (but not herbs or pep­per)
• Sweet: char­ac­ter­is­tic of mild oils
• Tomato/Tomato Leaf: indica­tive of cer­tain olive vari­etals
• Tropical: indica­tive of ripe olive fruit with nuances of melon, mango, and coconut
• Walnut/Walnut Shell: nutty (fresh not oxi­dized)
• Wheatgrass: strong fla­vor of some green olive fruit
• Woody: indica­tive of olive vari­etals with large pits

Not Good

• Acetone: aroma of nail pol­ish remover, asso­ci­ated with winey defect
• Blue Cheese: aroma asso­ci­ated with muddy sed­i­ment defect
• Brine: salty taste indi­cat­ing that oil was made from brined olives
• Bacon: smoky essence that may indi­cate oxi­da­tion
• Burnt/Heated: caused by pro­cess­ing at too high a tem­per­a­ture
• Cucumber: off fla­vor from pro­longed stor­age, par­tic­u­larly in tin
• Dirty: oils which have absorbed unpleas­ant odors and fla­vors of dirty waste water dur­ing milling
• Dreggish: odor of warm lubri­cat­ing oil caused by the poor exe­cu­tion of the decant­ing process
• Esparto: refers to straw-like mate­r­ial in mats occa­sion­ally used in older mills that may cre­ate a hemp-like fla­vor in oil
• Fiscolo: refers to coconut fibers in mats occa­sion­ally used in older mills that may cre­ate a hemp-like fla­vor in oil
• Flat/Bland: oils which have no pos­i­tive or neg­a­tive aroma or fla­vor char­ac­ter­is­tic of olive oil; may indi­cate pres­ence of refined olive oil
• Frozen/Wet Wood: sweet, dry, and untyp­i­cal aroma/flavor derived from olives which have been exposed to freez­ing tem­per­a­tures
• Fusty: anaer­o­bic fer­men­ta­tion that occurs when olives are stored in piles too long before milling
• Greasy: fla­vor of diesel or gaso­line caused by equip­ment prob­lems
• Grubby: fla­vor imparted to oil by olive fly dam­age to olives
• Hay-wood: fla­vor of dried olives
• Muddy Sediment: barn­yard-like aroma caused by olives’ pro­longed con­tact with dirt before or after milling
• Musty: moldy, humid fla­vor cre­ated by wet olives that have been stored too long before press­ing
• Metallic: oils that have had pro­longed con­tact with reac­tive metal sur­faces either dur­ing pro­cess­ing or stor­age
• Rancid: the fla­vor of oxi­da­tion that occurs as the oil ages, often described as ​“stale nuts”
• Rough: pasty, thick, greasy mouth feel
• Sour Milk: aroma asso­ci­ated with muddy sed­i­ment defect
• Stale Nuts: fla­vor of oxi­dized oils, ran­cid­ity
• Unbalanced: oils with over­whelm­ing fla­vors of bit­ter­ness and pun­gency
• Vegetable Water: oils that have been stored in con­tact with the water con­tent of the olive after pro­cess­ing
• Winey: sour/vinegary fla­vor caused by aer­o­bic fer­men­ta­tion of olives dur­ing pro­cess­ing (see vine­gary)
• Vinegary: sour/vinegary fla­vor caused by aer­o­bic fer­men­ta­tion of olives dur­ing pro­cess­ing. (see winey)
• Yeasty: aroma of bread dough; asso­ci­ated with winey defect