TASTING EVOO
Learn to recognize quality in a few simple steps.
“any property of a product that can be perceived with our senses”
The quality of olive oil is not only measured by physical, chemical and microbiological analyses, but also organoleptically. The International Olive Oil Council (IOC) has drawn up rules for olive oil and only qualified laboratories are allowed to perform the organoleptic analyzes to check whether an olive oil meets the standard to be, for example, “extra virgin” (EVOO) qualified.
Flavors and smells of olive oil are determined by many factors such as the variety, ripeness, climate, harvesting method, transportation, pressing and storage. For example, the oil of a non-ripe green olive tastes more grassy or spicy and that of a more mature olive tastes more buttery, floral or even tropical. In addition to these positive tastes and smells, there are also negative attributes, called defects.
An EVOO may not contain any defects. Our nose is very important during the analysis, because the taste buds in the mouth only perceive sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. In order not to be influenced by the visual aspects such as the packaging and the color of the oil, the olive oil is tasted blind in special blue test glasses.
