Extra Virgin Olive Oil's Positive Attributes

Today I'm talking about my favourite part of an Olive Juice; the part which makes me smile! Its positive attributes.

As you can see from the Tasting Sheet below (it's the same as the one of the previous post), they are three: “Fruity” (which is perceived through olfactory and retrolfactory sense), Bitter and Pungeant.



Once again, for the precise definition of the Attributes, I quote from the glossary of the IOOC :

Fruity: “Set of olfactory sensations characteristic of the oil which depends on the variety and comes from sound, fresh olives, either ripe or unripe. It is perceived directly and/or through the back of the nose.”

Within the Attribute of Fruity we can define "Green" (if the sensation reminds us of unripe olives) ore "Ripe" (ripe olives). It is not so uncommon that an Olive Juice presents both Green and Ripe flavours. Moreover there is a whole variety of descriptors of fruitiness (artichoke, green grass, ect.) which we will hint to in the following posts.

Pungent “Biting tactile sensation characteristic of oils produced at the start of the crop year, primarily from olives that are still unripe. It can be perceived throughout the whole of the mouth cavity, particularly in the throat.”

To this definition the only thing I need to add is that the type of "Pungeancy" that I personally prefer... that I consider most harmonic, is the one that covers the Whole top of the tongue, rather than the throat.

Bitter “Characteristic primary taste of oil obtained from green olives or olives turning
colour. It is perceived in the circumvallate papillae on the “V” region of the tongue.” ... Regarding Bitterness, I find that this attribute deserves some extra attention.


ALL Extra Virgin Olive Oils present some level of Bitterness measured in at least 1.
All too often I still hear people say things like “I tasted an EVOO that was no good because it was bitter”. These sorts of phrases make the hairs at the back of my neck stand up! A Fresh Extra Virgin Olive Oil has to have some level of Bitterness. Why? Because Extra Vrgin Olive Oil is nothing else than Olive Juice. And if you ever taste a Fresh Olive.... you will immediately notice that fresh Olives ARE a BITTER FRUIT.

I will never repeat this enough. EVOO has to be at least a little bit BITTER.

If the median of the Bitterness is comprised between 1 and 2 we can say that the olive oil is MILD or “SWEET” (but please notice its just away of speech... virgin olive oils are NEVER actually sweet.).
Between 3 and 6 we say that a EVOO is MEDIUM.


From 6 and above we say that it is “INTENSE” or “ROBUST”.

Again, independently from whether you like it or not, Bitterness is a positive attribute. And it is also (often) an indicator of the amount of Polyphenlos contained in the Olive Oil.


 
Moreover, Personal TASTE has to be distininguished from the Positive Attributes, we are talking about.

In fact, an EVOO might have high scores in all its positive attributes and might be completely free of defects, but it still might not be of your taste.

Personal subjective taste is different from the objective description which comes out as a result of a panel test.

 

Once you have identitfied the quality of an Olive Juice, by detecting and by measuring its Positive Attributes and (if any at all) its defects, then you are completely free to like it or not.

I am personally fond of Robust EVOOs. I love the way they enhance certain types of regional Italian recepies and I look forward to posting on possible pairings between Extra Virgin Olive Oils and food!
 
I hope you enjoyed reading and
Happy Tasting!!