|
Olive Oil Tasting Notes |
 |
 |
When buying or tasting olive oil you quickly understand you have entered a world equivalent to the very best wines. These tips on tasting olive oil may help.
Information provided by GWYDIR GROVE
Tasting Olive Oil requires all the expertise of the best wine tasters. The following notes may help you for future reference
POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES
- Fruity: a set of olfactory sensations characteristic of the oil, which depends on variety, climatic conditions and time of harvest. These aromas come from sound fresh olives, either ripe or unripe and are perceived through smell. Some examples are apples, almond, grass, berry, tropical fruit, aromatic herbs, green tomatoes or olives.
- Fresh mown grass: is the smell given from olives that have recently been processed.
- Almond: a nutty smell typical of fresh almonds and particular to some varieties of olives.
- Herbaceous: a fresh aromatic smell of herbs and vegetables that comes from certain varieties in warm climates.
- Tropical fruit: the smell of ripe bananas, melons or guava, associated with some varieties of olives.
- Bitterness: This is the only taste sensation from olives. It comes from certain varieties or from unripe olives. It is a pleasant taste depending on intensity. Processing green leaves and twigs will give a bitter flavour that can be detrimental to the oil.
NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES
- Winey/vinegar: characteristic of wine or vinegar, caused by the formation of acetic acid and ethanol. An aerobic fermentation.
- Rancid: a stale smell of oils that have oxidised, or are undergoing an oxidation process. Exposure to light, air and temperature fluctuations will cause oils to turn rancid. Eventually all oils become rancid.
- Fusty: a smell and taste from olives that have been stored in piles and have undergone advanced stages of fermentation without oxygen.
- Musty: a taste which is a fault caused by large numbers of fungi and yeasts that have developed as a result of olives being stored in humid conditions, in piles for a few days. This is an aerobic fermentation.
- Burnt or heated: smells caused by exposure to too much heat during crushing and processing. If the temperature of the paste is set too high, a caramel smell will occur. Some processors today have a maximum temperature preset, to eliminate this.
- Muddy sediment: is the smell and flavour of oil that has been in contact with the vegetable water for too long, or due to lack of filtration or poor storage after processing. The oil becomes contaminated by the particles of olive waste.
- Woody: is a smell and taste from fruit that has been frosted.
|
|
