We’ve always known our olive oil is special but it is so lovely when an independent panel agrees. We won our gold medal at the 2022 WA Olive Awards- our first time entering so it was even more exciting.
The judges concluded our oil is “a well balanced, harmonious oil that combines fresh grasses, pea shoots, olive leaf aromas. Aromas transfer to the palate and show additional tropical flavours. The firm level of bitterness and pungency enhance those characters of the oil and provide a complex oil with a lingering persistent finish.”
You can do your own testing. It’s really fun and a little like wine tasting. There are so many olive oils out there so taste the difference is a culinary learning curve. Be prepared for a little burn if the oil is good.
Here’s the short cut:
pour a little ( a tablespoon is enough) into a glass,
cup glass in your hand and swirl it around to release the aromas,
take a deep long sniff and try to identify what you are smelling.
Take a sip and swish the oil around every part of your mouth. (So we say take a slurp of the oil while inhaling noisily- drawing in air heightens the flavour).
Then breathe out through your nose. Try to identify what you are tasting.
Swallow concentrating on the flavour. And if it burns, that’s beautiful.
Cleanse your palate between oil tastes with a slice of a green Granny Smith apple or a piece of bread.
Some look at the colour of the oil but really that’s not important. What you need to do is taste.