• Knowing how to taste olive oil has recently become popular due to the rise of amateur tastings. 
• Tasting products like wine and olive oil is becoming an increasingly common activity among groups of friends and family.

PRODUCT TASTINGS 

Tasting involves sampling or savoring something to examine its flavor or seasoning. In recent times, organizing product tastings has become a hobby among food lovers. Gathering to try different foods is becoming more common and is now a popular pastime for couples, friends, and families. As a result, the world of tasting has evolved from being a closed practice limited to experts to something accessible to everyone.

Wine is one of the stars of tastings, as the vast variety of grapes and aging processes result in an extensive range of flavors in Spanish wines. Additionally, the festive nature of the drink ensures that guests have a great time. Other foods like cheese or ham are also common in these types of gatherings, and for some time now, olive oil has been emerging as another popular option.

Like wine, olive oil comes in many varieties. In Spain alone, over a hundred types of olives are cultivated, leading to many different oils. This, along with the growing trend of blending different varieties to create unique ‘coupages’ or infusing oils with other foods, expands the range of possibilities.

HOW TO TASTE OLIVE OIL 

The process of tasting olive oil mainly involves three of the five human senses. Hearing, as expected, is irrelevant, and surprisingly, so is sight. We often hear that many foods can be judged at first glance to determine their quality. While this is partially true, and it’s common to find that extra virgin oils are darker than intense or mild ones, one cannot rely solely on sight. For this reason, professional oil tastings are usually conducted using opaque glasses, generally colored, where the visual aspect of the oil is indistinguishable.

The process of tasting begins by holding the tasting glass and carefully bringing it to the nose. It is essential to wait until the glass reaches room temperature so that neither cold nor heat becomes a factor. Intense aromas are associated with higher quality oil, so the further away from the nose the smell is detected vertically, the better the oil presumably is. Smelling the oil can reveal possible flavor notes, which can range widely but commonly include hints of olive branches, apple, or grass.

The tactile phase involves examining the oil’s texture and consistency on the tongue and palate, without focusing on flavor yet. Lastly, the gustatory phase evaluates the taste in the mouth. This stage can confirm previous olfactory deductions and reveal new nuances. For proper execution, the oil should be swished around the entire oral cavity. This is because different parts of the tongue are better suited for detecting different tastes. Attention to the aftertaste and the upper part of the throat, just before swallowing, is also crucial, as this is where the spiciness and bitterness can be appropriately appreciated. This spiciness is also associated with high-quality oil. Once all these evaluations are completed, it’s time to record the results on a tasting sheet.

OLIVE OIL TASTING SHEET 

Tasting sheets are key for noting the results. They allow for recording the various flavors of the product and the nuances found in it. This is also the time to judge the oil’s quality and outcome. An imbalance in the ingredients’ proportions might result in an unbalanced flavor, or the oil might lack the advertised nuances. Practice makes perfect, so it’s common for early tasting experiences to be less sensitive than later ones.

There is no standard tasting sheet for amateur tastings, so each person can create their own beforehand. What is important is that the designed sheet comprehensively reflects the oil’s different possibilities. It’s common to see tasting sheets with polygonal diagrams for a more visual definition, but a traditional scoring system that evaluates parameters such as acidity, bitterness, and sweetness is also used to provide a final verdict. This verdict is usually presented in the form of tasting notes, a short paragraph highlighting the oil’s virtues and defects, as well as its nuances and flavor notes.