FAQ

• What does it mean when your olive oil is bitter?
• Why do some olive oils taste spicy with a slight throat burn at the end?
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Olive oil polyphenols
• Real extra virgin olive oil

Bitterness and pungency are positive attributes related to the quality of extra virgin olive oil. These attributes are directly linked to the amount of polyphenols present in the olive oil.

Bitterness in my olive oil?

According to its definition, bitter is the elemental flavor characteristic of oil obtained from green olives. The chemicals responsible for this taste are the phenolic compounds, their presence or not in the olive oil will cause this attribute to be found to a greater or lesser degree. 

The polyphenols give to the olive oil that bitter taste due to the oleuropein, a polyphenol exclusive to olive oil.

Spicy taste with slight throat burn.

When we speak of pungency, we refer to the sensation of a burn in your throat, a characteristic of oils obtained at the beginning of the harvest, especially of green olives.

Pungency is due to the presence of oleocanthal, another olive oil polyphenol, with anti-inflammatory effects similar to ibuprofen.

High quality extra virgin olive oil must be bitter and spicy to be real extra virgin olive oil. Its intensity will depend mainly on the type of olive and the harvesting period, as well as other factors.

Olive Oils from green olives have a high content of phenolic compounds (polyphenols).

Cold pressed olive oil

- processed exclusively by mechanical means.

- without industrial refining processes.

First of all, we would like to clarify: when we talk about first cold pressed olive oil we mean that a press has been used to obtain it, but to be exact we should call it first extraction olive oil. Because currently all commercial olive oils are obtained by more sophisticated industrial machinery, and therefore we should not call them pressed olive oils. Most olive oils that are labeled “cold press” are mislabeled.

Aside from the efficiency, it is also a question of hygiene and food safety.  Presses in general are not sanitary.

High quality extra virgin olive oil is obtained by first cold extraction to alter as little as possible the flavor and the original properties of the fruit, producing a natural olive fruit juice. However, not all extra virgin olive oils are obtained in this manner leading to lesser quality.

Cold extraction is a technique that generates the best possible quality olive oil, rich in aromas and flavors, and very pleasant to the palate.

Olive oil polyphenols

The fact that an olive oil is bitter and spicy is the result of the presence of polyphenolic substances. The greater the presence of polyphenols, the greater the intensity of that bitter and pungent taste.

Extra virgin olive oil has gained in the last years a prominent place in the panorama of the healthy foods, thanks to the high concentration of polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidants with many benefits for our health.

For this reason, bitterness and pungency are considered positive characteristics: they are, in fact, the litmus test for the presence of polyphenols in the oil.

Unfortunately, most of the time, the presence of polyphenols is poorly understood by consumers. Being bitter and spicy are not defects but great virtues of a high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

These extra virgin olive oils with complex and decisive features present:

- intense and persistent fruity and vegetables aromas

- flavor is full of pungent and bitter harmonic tones.

Real extra virgin olive oil

It is important to understand that an extra virgin olive oil with bitter and pungent characteristics, contains a wide range of compounds, called minors, that provide huge health benefits unlike any other fat in our diet.

The highly positive health benefits make extra virgin olive oil an extraordinarily unique product.
The amount of these compounds is determined, firstly, by the olive variety from which olive oil is extracted; And, subsequently, by various agronomic and technological factors.

On the other hand, if we learn to appreciate them, these characteristics also produce pleasant sensations. So be thankful that bitterness and pungency are present in your olive oil!

As part of the positive attributes, there are also several olfactory aromas capable of characterizing and typifying the different types of extra virgin olive oils. For example, aromatic vegetable and floral notes (herb, herbs, flowers, tomato, artichoke, apple, banana, berries, almond, pepper ...).

Polyphenols have a high antioxidant effect, unique among vegetable fats, retarding the aging and oxidation of the cells in our body.

If your Olive Oil has no bitterness and no end bite, it is not high-quality oil, it is not Extra Virgin and it provides little health benefits!