I am seeking olive oil with premium taste

[haha]

Hi. Some mornings I want to used my rower soon after waking up, before I turn on the heat in my unit. It seems not to be ideal for my blood sugar to exercise hard on an empty stomach. I decided to drink a small glass of olive oil before I start. Well, taste problems that I never noticed on a salad or coked vegetables come out clearly with straight olive oil shots. I have been using a medium quality oil from California Olive Ranch. It costs about $10 for 750 ml at Safeway. The label says "for everyday meals". It is actually better than anything I have tried from Trader Joe. Anyway, taken neat it burns the back of my throat. I am ok with paying more, because I would never use more than ~a jigger per day. I do prefer California brands, because I think I am more likely to actually get olive oil than with the product from Greece or Italy or Spain or North Africa. The "for everyday meals" suggests to me that California Olive Ranch has some better quality oils, I just do not know their names or where to buy them.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ha

 

[ls99]

Swap to coconut oil.

 

[audreyh1]

Costco olive oil is often recommended - it stands up to the purity tests, it's less expensive, and you can get organic too if you wish. It's beautiful stuff.

 

[Midpack]

Costco olive oil is often recommended - it stands up to the purity tests, it's less expensive, and you can get organic too if you wish. It's beautiful stuff.

+1. He asked for CA, but since you already mentioned Costco olive oil...we like it a lot too.

 

[harley]

Swap to coconut oil.

I'd try something different. Walnut oil tastes pretty good straight. Also good for you.

If it has to be EVOO, I like Colavita. It's got a nice flavor, and doesn't taste bitter when I lick it off my fingers. Never tried it straight, though. It's Italian, not CA, but pretty widely available.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Not what you requested as it is Spanish but my go-to olive oil is Columela. I buy it at the local big grocer.

 

[timo2]

We like two brands: Temecula Olive oil (California). We have it shipped to Colorado https://www.temeculaoliveoil.com/

The other is Olea Estates Home which import in bulk from Greece, repackages it for online sales, farmers markets, etc. In Colorado we use their Colorado site https://oleacolorado.com/
The Olea Estates stuff is great, and their olives sold separately are awesome.
https://oleacolorado.com/

 

[braumeister]

Swap to coconut oil.

+1
I really like the taste of Costco's coconut oil. I generally have a tablespoon or two per day.

 

[samclem]

Any suggestions?

Have you got an "olive oil bar" somewhere near you? I had no idea such places existed (being a man of simple tastes), but one just opened up near me in Dayton, so they must be all over. Sounds like you could stop in at a place like that and taste several types, infusions, etc. I'd expect the products to be premium priced, but maybe it would be worth it.

 

[timo2]

Have you got an "olive oil bar" somewhere near you? I had no idea such places existed (being a man of simple tastes), but one just opened up near me in Dayton, so they must be all over. Sounds like you could stop in at a place like that and taste several types, infusions, etc. I'd expect the products to be premium priced, but maybe it would be worth it.

+1

we do not have an olive oil store by that name, but we have 2 or 3 independently owned and franchise olive oil stores. Really a nice variety to choose from

 

[Ginny]

Temecula Olive Oil Co. I am a member.

info@temeculaoliveoil.com

 

[2017ish]

Dunno about the price point, but we've gone through 3500 ml of this California company's meyer lemon olive oil this summer for our nightly caprese. Their regular stuff is good too. https://www.ooliveoil.com/

Another step up in price, which we loved at their onsite tasting, but can't justify buying given that we aren't drinking it, is https://shop.roundpond.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&category_id=71

 

[harley]

Have you got an "olive oil bar" somewhere near you? I had no idea such places existed (being a man of simple tastes), but one just opened up near me in Dayton, so they must be all over. Sounds like you could stop in at a place like that and taste several types, infusions, etc. I'd expect the products to be premium priced, but maybe it would be worth it.

There's a place near me that opened up recently too. I bought a creamy butter OO and a killer Walnut OO. They've also got a large selection of vinegars. The Walnut OO and an Anjou Pear Balsamic Vinegar make an incredible caprese. If they've got a store like this in Snow Hill (known as Slow Hill) MD, they've got to be on every corner in Seattle.

 

[audreyh1]

+1. He asked for CA, but since you already mentioned Costco olive oil...we like it a lot too.

He said he preferred CA olive oil because he thought it was less likely to be tampered with as compared to imported. The Costco Kirkland brand has been proven to be 100% olive oil.

 

[haha]

Thanks for the very helpful and experienced responses. It will take me a while to run these down. When I start trying them I'll report back.

Ha


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[FIREd]

I think that California Olive Ranch offers the best value and that's the one I use everyday. They have different blends of EVOO with various taste profiles, so you may find one that suits you better although some are harder to find than others. I have tried other California brands like McEvoy Ranch Olive Oil, very good but over my budget for everyday use. I have also heard of, but have not tried Stonehouse California olive oil.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Vegetable oil and sport, the original bio-diesel.
In the early days of self supported ultradistance cycling, renowned rider John Stamstad hit upon the idea of filling one of his water bottles with canola oil - readily available, easy sipping, calorie dense food delivery. Eureka

 

[splitwdw]

But why olive oil? Sorry, kind of makes me gag thinking of chugging a shot of olive oil. I like it on my salad and cook with it. I microwave a very small portion of regular oatmeal and a slice of precooked bacon before working out. Even yogurt is fast. I haven't tried it in the morning yet but I just bought a Vitamix and smoothies (frozen fruit, yogurt, water, milk, protein powder) take about 5 minutes to make. Is there some benefit to drinking olive oil?

 

[grasshopper]

Costco also has avocado oil, tasty and smooth, and soooooo good for you.

10 Amazing Avocado Oil Benefits For Your Health & Beauty

 

[donheff]

Interesting how many people report olive oil bars in their neighborhoods. We too have one a few blocks away. When it opened I doubted that it could become a viable business but it has been thriving for a couple of years. Ha is in Seattle so there must be some OO bars nearby.

 

[poorcarver]

Under the heading of what it is worth. Generally good quality OO should "burn" at the back of the throat. I am not talking discomfort, but a definite sensation.

 

[AllDone]

I use the California Estate OO from Trader Joe's. The McEvoy stuff is great, but the price alone burns your throat.

I've cut down on the amount that I use for cooking and drizzle cold oil on the finished food instead since the flavor of OO is so volatile with heat. My favorite evening snack is air popped popcorn with olive oil.

I thought that I was obsessed with olive oil until I volunteered to work at a polling place. I was assigned to work with a Greek immigrant and for sixteen hours he talked about finding land for olive trees, planting olive trees, watering olive trees, caring for olive trees, picking olives, crushing olives, storing olive oil, selling olive oil, the stupendous amount of olive oil that the average Greek family uses, and the even more stupendous amount a Greek restaurant uses. I was so traumatized that I went home and signed up for permanent mail voter status so that I never have to set foot in a polling place again.

The problem with coconut oil is that it tastes like coconut and that gets tedious. Plus it reminds me of the coconut oil sun tan lotion the mean girls wore in the summer in high school.

 

[UtahSkier]

I also recommend the boutique Olive Oil shops. I taste test their pure olive oils, but generally buy the ones with the highest polyphenol counts. I use that oil with their 18 year aged balsamic vinegar on salads.


This oil will be a bit bitter (throat burn), but I cannot taste it on the salad.
I use the California Estate oil from TJ for cooking.


Other vegetable fats to consider; Coconut flakes and 100% dark chocolate (Ghiradeli baking is the best). I consume all 3 vegetable fats nearly every day... for variety.


Off Topic - since I have been eating coconut flakes and dark chocolate (along with sardines) as my breakfast, I have been thinking that Mounds and Almond Joy are almost healthy candy bars... if they just removed that sugar.

 

[Lsbcal]

Recently we went on a tour in Italy and the lady who ran it owns an olive grove. She had interesting suggestions that I've totally forgotten but what I do remember is: buy extra virgin olive oil and pay a little more.

We'll probably be looking around for some olive oil too and will most likely purchase ours at Whole Foods as we trust them to do the proper DD.

I love just a little bit of olive oil on a salad with a nice vinegar (maybe balsamic). DW doesn't like too much vinegar.

Here is what one web source says about extra virgin olive oil:

Extra virgin olive oil is made simply by crushing olives and extracting the juice. It is the only cooking oil that is made without the use of chemicals and industrial refining.

Extra virgin olive oil must have no taste “defects.” It needs to have a nice flavor of fresh olives and achieve higher scores in lab tests for its chemical composition than other grades.

Since extra virgin olive oil is simply fruit juice without any additives, its quality and taste are influenced by the varieties of olives, the terroir where they were grown, and the countless decisions and production practices of a dedicated producer.

 

[audreyh1]

Recently we went on a tour in Italy and the lady who ran it owns an olive grove. She had interesting suggestions that I've totally forgotten but what I do remember is: buy extra virgin olive oil and pay a little more.

We'll probably be looking around for some olive oil too and will most likely purchase ours at Whole Foods as we trust them to do the proper DD.

I love just a little bit of olive oil on a salad with a nice vinegar (maybe balsamic). DW doesn't like too much vinegar.

Here is what one web source says about extra virgin olive oil:

But Whole Foods Olive oil failed the purity test. They've probably fixed that now. When this came out (UC Davis Study 2010/2011) many well respected brands were found to be adulterated.