Which Olive Oil is Best?
We received quite a few requests to conduct an olive oil taste test, as there is a drastic difference in cost between brands of this pantry staple. As with some other foods we’ve tested, the ingredients are the same or very similar among brands. For example, butter has two ingredients, cheese typically has three or four ingredients, and even potato chips just have three ingredients. But olive oil is literally only one ingredient. Oil, that has been pressed out of olives. That’s it. How can the different brands of olive oil be so drastically different?
Apparently, rather different… And for multiple reasons.
Olive oil is pressed out of the olives in various manners. For instance, to get Extra Virgin olive oil (all the oils used in our olive oil taste test) it has to be pressed cold; while other olive oils can be pressed at different temperatures. Manufacturers use various techniques to press olives. Also, there are a few… OK, over 2,000 different varieties of olives. Different brands may choose to use different strains. (source) This results in the huge selection of brands you see in stores. Before we get swept up in all the minutiae of the 2,000+ strains of olives, you are here to learn which brand of olive oil is the best. Our olive oil taste test revealed some drastic differences in cost and flavor too.
To start, the cost varies widely from $5.47 per bottle all the way to $24.99 for a similar sized bottle. (At least for the olive oils in our taste test.) Price per ounce ranged from $0.22 to $1.48. That’s a huge difference!
Flavor also had an obvious difference. Out of 12 panelists, one of the oils never ranked above 3rd place. We usually have at least one panelist who lists the brand that ends up in last place as their preferred. Panelists had no problem discerning and ranking the oils. (Some taste tests are harder as the brands are so similar.) So yes, one ingredient apparently can be drastically different; and olive oil was here to prove it.
Organizing the Olive Oil Taste Test
First, here’s a look at the different olive oils, as presented to our panelists.
All of the oils are Extra Virgin, first cold press. A lot of the difference you’re seeing in color is due to the difference in serving bowl, and the amount of oil in the bowl. None of our panelists really remarked on color, texture, or viscosity. The olive oil taste test was solely about taste.
Fun fact: All colors of olives are essentially the same fruit, but the different colors (green, black, etc.) come from being picked at different stages of ripening. Source
As you can see from the bowls above, we had 5 olive oils to choose from, with hunks of bread to dip and taste the oil. While a professional olive oil taster uses a special blue cup to taste, no one actually eats olive oil that way. So we choose to eat it with bread, as we wanted to simulate as if you would actually be sitting down to enjoy this delicious oil.
(We try to limit the contenders to 5 to 6 as we found it becomes overwhelming. To see how we keep our taste tests blind and unbiased, click here. It also lists all of our other tests!)
Contenders:
In order of cost; Number is cost per ounce:
Great Value
Will the cheapest version win out, as it does more often than we expect? Or is olive oil an example of a food where you get what you pay for? Surprisingly, we had our first, 1st place tie! But there was a big jump in score total between the 1st place tie, then 2nd and 3rd, but then a huge jump to last place. So before we reveal the winners, here is a look at the standings:
Look at that jump in points! We really had 3 tiers of olive oils… and I wish we could say that the tiers reflected a jump in price, but *Spoiler Alert* the most expensive came in LAST PLACE! And no one voted it above their 3rd place.
Results:
- Napa Valley Naturals (A) and Pompeian (B) (2nd and 3rd cheapest, respectively.)
- California Olive Ranch (E)
- Great Value (D)
- Lucini Italia (C) (most expensive)
When the most expensive came in last, I was worried someone could argue, “Well maybe all your panelists just have cheap taste.” However, the cheapest brand came in second to last place, disproving that idea.
Takeaway:
While the absolute cheapest didn’t win this time, it looks like your middle of the line cost is the way to go in order to please the most people. And once again, high price doesn’t always mean best… in fact, this time it means the worst.
It would be interesting to conduct another taste test to compare these olive oils when sauteing other foods, for example. Would a different oil rank higher when heated instead of just eaten at room temperature? I assume it would, as Pompeian has a “Robust” olive oil for “salads and marinades” and a “Smooth” olive oil for “sauteing and stir-frying.”
What are your thoughts on the winners? Have you had similar findings? What brands did we miss? Thanks for reading and “press” on!
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