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How to choose good olive oil

Almost everything on the front of an olive oil bottle is marketing. The useful information is on the back, in small print. Here is what to actually look for — including how our own oil measures against it.

Nifolia Kitchen Notes · Written by the family who grows it — five generations on the same Aegean hillside · Updated July 2026

The short answer

Harvest date within the last year. Dark glass or a tin. One named origin, not a list of countries. A price that could plausibly cover growing it properly. Then taste it — if it is not fruity, bitter and a bit peppery, it is old or it is not what it says.

Six checks, in order of usefulness

Harvest date, not best-before

Within the last twelve months is what you want. Ours has the harvest year on the tin and the pick window in our harvest log.

Tin or dark glass

Light degrades oil. Our 1L tin is fully light-proof and the 500ml is dark glass.

One origin, named specifically

Ours is from one family grove in the hills near Izmir and is never blended.

A price that could work

Early harvest and careful handling reduce yield. Ours is $34 per litre in the tin.

Published numbers

Our polyphenol and vitamin E figures are printed on the label, including the ordinary ones.

Taste, against something else

Fruity, bitter and peppery. Taste two oils side by side if you can.

Label words that mean nothing

“Pure” or “light”

Both describe refined oil, not extra virgin.

“Product of the EU”

A blend from multiple unnamed countries.

“First cold press”

A holdover from press-based milling. Modern mills use centrifugal extraction.

“Premium” or “gourmet”

Unregulated marketing terms with no definition behind them.

The taste test, properly done

Warm a tablespoon in a small covered glass, smell for fresh green things, then sip and draw air through it. Look for fruitiness, bitterness and a peppery catch at the back of the throat.