5. How to Taste Olive Oil Like a Professional

The first time I attended a professional olive oil tasting, I expected something rather similar to wine.

Instead, someone handed me a little blue glass.

'Hang on,' I thought.

'How am I supposed to admire the colour?'

The answer, of course, was that I wasn't.

Professional olive oil tasting isn't about looking first.

It's about smelling first.

Over the years I've guided countless visitors through olive oil tastings here in Tuscany.

Almost everyone does exactly the same thing.

They hold the glass up to the light.

They admire the colour.

Then they take a cautious sip.

Professionals do almost the opposite.

They barely glance at the oil.

Instead, they warm the glass, close their eyes, breathe deeply and only then begin tasting.

It might look slightly theatrical.

In reality, every step has a purpose.

Let's taste olive oil the way professionals do.

During a wine tour with Grape Tours: One of these cups contains a very bad olive oil - but you can't see which one it is. You have to sniff & taste!

Why Are the Glasses Blue?

This is usually the very first question.

And with good reason.

Why would professional tasters deliberately hide the colour of the olive oil?

Because colour tells you very little about quality and can even be misleading.

Many people assume greener oil is automatically better.

Others believe golden oils are riper or smoother.

Neither assumption is necessarily true.

Colour depends on many factors, including olive variety, ripeness and chlorophyll content.

It tells you remarkably little about quality.

The blue tasting glass removes visual bias entirely.

If you can't see the colour, you're forced to judge the oil using the two senses that actually matter:

Your nose.

And your palate.

Professional tasters don't judge colour.  They judge aroma and flavour.

Step One: Warm the Glass

Professional tasting glasses are small for a reason.

Pour only a small amount of olive oil into the bottom.

Now place one hand underneath the glass while covering the top with your other hand.

Gently rotate it for about thirty seconds.

You're not trying to heat the oil.

You're simply bringing it close to body temperature.

This helps release the volatile aromatic compounds trapped inside.

Think of it as waking the olive oil up.

Martha of Torre Bianca olive press in Tuscany warming up her cup of olive oil.

Step Two: Smell Before You Taste

Now remove your hand from the top.

Bring the glass close to your nose.

Close your eyes if you like.

Take a long, slow breath.

Don't look for specific aromas immediately.

Instead, simply ask yourself one question.

Does it smell fresh?

If the answer is "no," there's little point in analysing anything else.

Fresh olive oil should smell alive.

Bright.

Clean.

Inviting.

Only afterwards should you begin recognising individual aromas.

Freshly cut grass.

Tomato leaves.

Green almond.

Artichoke.

Wild herbs.

Apple.

There isn't one correct answer.

Great olive oil is wonderfully expressive.

The nose tells you far more than the eyes ever will.

Step Three: Take a Small Sip

Now comes the part everyone remembers.

Take only a small sip.

Don't swallow immediately.

Try to spread it across your entire mouth and let the oil coat your tongue.

Notice where the flavours appear.

Some sensations arrive instantly.

Others take several seconds.

Step Four: The Slurp

Yes...

Professional olive oil tasters slurp.

Quite loudly.

If you've never seen it before, it can sound slightly ridiculous.

Here's why they do it.

By drawing a little air through the oil, tiny droplets spread across your entire mouth.

The aromas travel upwards into your nose through the back of your throat—a process known as retronasal perception.

It's exactly the same reason wine tasters swirl and aerate wine.

Without that little slurp, you'll miss much of the olive oil's aromatic complexity.

So don't be embarrassed.

Everyone in the tasting room sounds exactly the same.

What Should You Be Looking For?

Professional tasters don't ask whether they like an olive oil.

They ask whether it's well made.

That means looking for positive attributes.

And checking that no defects are present.

Let's talk about what you should be getting in your olive oil.

Fruity

This is the single most important positive characteristic.

Confusingly, "fruity" doesn't necessarily mean the oil smells like fruit.

In olive oil tasting, "fruitiness" refers to the aroma of fresh, healthy olives—not peaches, strawberries or tropical fruit.

An oil without fruitiness cannot be classified as Extra Virgin.

Fruitiness can range from delicate to intense.

It can also be described as green or ripe, depending largely on when the olives were harvested.

Green Fruitiness 🌱

Think:

Freshly cut grass

Tomato leaf

Artichoke

Green almond

Fresh herbs

These aromas are typical of earlier-harvest olive oils and are especially common in Tuscany.

They're usually accompanied by greater bitterness and pepperiness.

Ripe Fruitiness 🍎

As olives mature, the aromatic profile changes.

Instead of green notes, you may notice:

Ripe apple.

Banana.

Ripe almond.

Hay.

Gentler floral notes.

These oils often feel softer and rounder.

Neither style is better.

They're simply different expressions of the same fruit.

Bitterness

One of the biggest misconceptions about olive oil is that bitterness is a flaw.

Quite the opposite.

Pleasant bitterness is considered a positive quality.

It reflects the presence of natural polyphenols—compounds that help protect the olive and contribute to the oil's freshness.

The key word, however, is pleasant.

Great olive oil shouldn't be aggressively bitter.

It should be balanced.

Pepperiness

Then comes the famous throat tickle.

That peppery sensation isn't a defect.

It's one of the classic signs of a fresh, healthy olive oil rich in polyphenols.

Some oils produce only a gentle warmth.

Others make you cough.

As we've already seen, that's often something to celebrate rather than apologise for.

Intensity

Not all olive oils speak with the same voice.

Some whisper.

Others practically shout.

Professional tasters describe this as intensity.

An oil may have light, medium or intense aromas.

Intensity isn't automatically better.

A beautifully delicate oil can be just as impressive as a bold, peppery Tuscan one.

The important thing is that the aromas remain clean and expressive.

Balance and Harmony

This is where all the pieces come together.

Imagine an orchestra.

You don't want only the trumpets.

Or only the violins.

You want everything working together.

Great olive oil works exactly the same way.

Fruitiness.

Bitterness.

Pepperiness.

Fresh aromas.

They should support one another.

No single characteristic should dominate.

When professionals describe an olive oil as harmonious, this is what they mean.

Should You Swallow It?

At professional competitions, judges usually spit.

Not because olive oil is unpleasant.

Simply because they're tasting dozens of samples.

For the rest of us?

Swallow it.

That's where you'll notice the peppery finish developing at the back of your throat.

It's also where you'll discover how long the flavours linger after the sip has gone.

Final Thoughts

People often ask me whether becoming a certified olive oil taster changed the way I experience food.

The answer is yes, but probably not in the way you'd expect.

It didn't only make me more critical.

It made me more curious.

Now, whenever I open a bottle of olive oil, I pause for a moment.

Before it ever touches my food, I smell it.

If it doesn't smell fresh, there's little point in pouring it over a beautiful salad or a perfectly grilled steak.

It takes only a few seconds, but those few seconds completely change the way I experience olive oil.

That's what I hope this guide does for you too.

Not to turn you into a professional taster.

Just to help you notice.

Because once you do, every bottle begins telling its own story.

In 2011 (and 6 months pregnant) I went to Imperia to do ONAOO's professional olive oil taster's certification.

6. How to Buy Great Olive Oil