Pour about a tablespoon of oil in a round bottomed glass.
Look:
Different types of Olive Oil will have different colours.
Green means the olives were picked young. Light yellow means that the olives were a bit older/riper when they were harvested.
You can normally assume what the taste will be like from the colour of the olive oil. A green olive oil is usually aromatic and bitter. Whereas a light yellow will have a milder taste.
Side Note – the colour of oil has nothing to do with the quality of oil
Smell:
With your one hand, cover the top of your glass and with your second hand, heat the oil by holding the round bottomed glass. When you lift your hand from the top of the glass you should be able to smell things like a newly-cut lawn, fresh and green, dry hay, raw nuts, vegetables.
Legs:
Yes! Olive Oil has legs too. Swirl the oil around the glass and watch how it runs back down.
Taste:
Next, take a sip of the oil. Like when tasting a good wine, swirl the oil inside your mouth. Make sure you get it under the tongue and around your mouth. You should taste the freshly cut grass and a peppery/pungency after taste.
If the olive oil has an unpleasant sweetness or tastes like wine, then it is off/rancid.
Dip:
All good tastings involve some sort of food.
Cut up an apple and eat a piece. Take some freshly baked, plain bread and dip it into the olive oil next. Eat your dipped bread and then eat another slice of apple. Repeat the process and then think about the flavours you are tasting.
In this scenario, the apple neutralizes the taste in your mouth and helps to break down the oil barrier.
Keen on doing an Oil Tasting? Click here to download our Tasting Score Card.
Olive Crusted Sole
Ingredients 2 x lemon sole, about 700g each, de-scaled 90ml Wilson’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus oil for brushing Salt and Ground Pepper Finely grated
Donut
Ingredients Doughnuts: 1 cup baking flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 whole large eggs 3 tablespoons Wilson’s
Onion Jam
Onion Jam Ingredients: 7 large onions 1/4 cup Wilson’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1/4 cup Wilson’s Balsamic Vinegar 1/2 cup vinegar 3/4 cup sugar
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients: • 2 eggs• 1 banana (ripe with spots on the skin)• 1/4 cup maple syrup• 2 tablespoons Wilson’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil• 1 teaspoon
Biltong & Feta Cheese Muffins
Ingredients 120g wholewheat flour 120g plain flour 200g biltong, finely chopped 50g Feta cheese, crumbled 30ml baking powder 1/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground finely 3
Summer Solstice Salad
Summer Solstice Salad Ingredients 1 cup wholewheat pasta Wilson’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 cup corn kernels 1 head romaine trimmed and thinly sliced ½ bulb of fennel thinly sliced ½ Lts tomatoes halved