Panel Test: What It Is and How It Works.

 

The Tasting Glasses

 

Once again the purpose and the procedures of the Panel Tests are codifed by the International Olive Oil Council.

As stated in the COI/T.20/Doc. No 15/Rev. 10 2018:

“The purpose of this international method is to determine the procedure for assessing the organoleptic characteristics of virgin olive oil and to establish the method for its classification on the basis of those characteristics. (…) The method described is only applicable to virgin olive oils and to the classification of such oils according to the intensity of the defects perceived and of the fruitiness, as determined by a group of tasters selected, trained and monitored as a panel.”.

 

The IOC describes and codes every detail of the way a Panel Test has to be conducted: from the glasses to be used (their shape, colour dimensions ect), to the Test Room Installation, to the temperature of the oils tasted, the temperature of the room and so on.

 

All these details have the scope of standardizing as much as possible the evaluation process.

For example the IOC states that ideally the test should be held in the morning between 10 am and 12 am (although this rule in particular is in my experience rarely respected, due to working issues of the panel members).

Among the detailed codes of conduct for the tasters: “They must remain silent while performing their tasks.” and “They must keep their mobile phone switched off at all times to avoid interfering with the concentration and work of their colleagues.”

The Tasters as well as the panel leader are selected and trained according to a standardized method.

The Tasting room is standardized as well as the number of tasters componing a Panel (“Between 8 and 12 tasters are required for each test, although it is wise to keep some extra tasters in reserve to cover possible absences.”).

The key concept is that the IOC aims at reducing all the chances of human subjectiveness when it comes to judging a virgin olive oil.

So if you were to observe an official tasting session, it would really appear quite "dull". Each taster sits in silence in his/her cubicle. In the cubicle he/she will find the coded glasses containing the olive oil samples, the tasting sheets, a pen, paper napkins, a spittoon, sparkling water and possibly slices of green apple to bite if needed between each tasted sample. The panel leader controls that every thing takes place regularly and gathers the tasting sheets at the end of the session.Only when all tasters have concluded and handed in their tasting sheets will they speak and make comments among each other.

If you are interested in all the details of the Organoleptic analysis, here is the link to the documents of the IOC.