How to taste olive oil: the three tastings that have the same name

"Oil tasting" is one of those expressions that means three things at once, and that is where much of the confusion comes from.

TL;DR: Legal tasting assigns the category —extra virgin, virgin, or lampante— and is carried out by an accredited panel of between 8 and 12 tasters led by a panel leader. Hedonistic tasting is what we do the rest of the time: it does not judge whether the oil meets the standard, but whether you like it. They share a method —a standardized dark glass, 28 °C, four phases— but not a purpose. And there is a significant gap in between: the standard requires the panel to classify, but it does not oblige the operator to have that result before selling.

It can refer to the official sensory analysis, which is a standardized procedure with legal value. It can refer to the work of the panel of tasters, who is the one who carries it out. And it can refer to what most people understand: sitting down to taste oils to enjoy them and learn to distinguish them, which in the trade we call hedonistic tasting.

I am Mercedes Uceda, a taster and professor of the Expert in Tasting at the University of Jaén. I have spent years in both: in the one that scores and the one that teaches. This is what you need to know about each one, and how to taste step by step, which in the end is what almost everyone comes looking for.

This article is the gateway to tasting within our guide to understanding olive oil.

Legal tasting: the one that decides what goes on the label

It is the only one of the three with legal consequences.

Olive oil is the only food whose commercial category depends on a sensory analysis. It is not enough for the laboratory to say that the acidity is below the limit: it is necessary for an accredited panel to confirm that there are no defects and that there is fruitiness. The thresholds, in the European Union, are these:

That zero is what separates an extra virgin from a virgin: a single defect, however slight, and the oil drops in category no matter how much the chemistry supports it. I explain it in detail in virgin and extra virgin, and the map of the five categories on the shelf is in types of olive oil.

A nuance that is almost never explained: the International Olive Council and the European Union do not use the same scale. The IOC includes an intermediate category, common virgin, for defect medians between 3.5 and 6.0, and reserves lampante for values above 6.0. The EU does not market that intermediate category: for European regulations, and therefore for the bottle you buy in Spain, everything above 3.5 is lampante.

The panel: how a verdict is formed

The method is standardized in document COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 15, whose current revision is number 11, from June 2024. These are its rules, and they are much stricter than people imagine.

Between 8 and 12 tasters. Not eight fixed: the standard requires a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 per session, and recommends having a few more in reserve to cover absences. All have been selected, trained, and examined.

A panel leader. It is a figure with its own entity: selects and trains the group, directs the session, calculates the medians, and decides if the result is valid. They can have an assistant panel leader to replace them.

Coded and blind samples. Each glass carries a random code applied with a non-invasive system. The taster does not know whose oil it is.

Standardized glass. It is the one from document COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 5: dark-colored glass so that color does not influence, covered with a watch glass, with 14 to 16 ml of oil.

28 °C ± 2 °C during the entire test. At that temperature, the volatile compounds are released in a comparable way between samples.

And the calculation is not an average, it is the median. Each taster scores on their own and then the median of the group is taken, so that one outlier taster does not drag the result. In addition, the robust coefficient of variation is calculated, which measures the dispersion of the panel: if it exceeds 20.0 %, the panel leader is obliged to repeat the evaluation.

That is: the verdict is not the sum of opinions, it is a statistical measure designed so that no particular opinion decides. That is why it has legal value.

In Spain, the panels authorized for official control are published every year by the Ministry of Agriculture. Among them are the one of the Ministry itself —in the Agro-Food Arbitration Laboratory—, the one of the CSIC Institute of Fat in Seville, those of the agro-food laboratories of the Regional Government of Andalusia in Granada and Córdoba, and the official panels of Catalonia, Aragon, and several more communities. They are accredited under the UNE-EN-ISO 17025 standard.

The gap in the standard that almost no one mentions

Here goes what surprises me most when I explain it in class.

The regulations require the panel to classify an oil as extra virgin, virgin, or lampante. But it does not oblige the food operator to have that result before putting the oil up for sale. The wording does not require it.

What does exist is official control ex post facto: Royal Decree 760/2021, which approves the quality standard of olive oils, provides for at least one conformity control for every thousand tons of oil marketed. One for every thousand.

Combine the two things and you will understand why so many "extra virgin" on the shelf are not when someone tastes them: it is not that they skip a mandatory analysis, it is that that prior analysis is not mandatory. And the probability that a specific batch gets the control is what it is.

I do not tell it to alarm, but because it explains something real: the label certifies a category that, in many cases, no one has verified sensorially before it reaches your home. That is why I insist so much on learning to recognize a defect yourself.

Hedonistic tasting: the one you can actually do

And now the good news. Everything above is used to classify. To enjoy you do not need any of that.

Hedonistic tasting uses the same method but changes the question. The legal one asks does it meet the standard?. The hedonistic one asks do I like it?, what does it remind me of?, what dish would I put it with?. There is no correct answer, and that is why it is the one I teach to those who are not dedicated to this.

What you need: two different oils, two glasses or two small glasses, and the hand. Nothing else. The dark glass exists so that the color does not condition the professional taster; you can use an opaque glass or simply know that color means nothing and not let yourself be carried away by it.

And a rule I always give: always taste two, never one. An oil alone says nothing because you have nothing to compare it with. Two, one after the other, say everything.

How to taste step by step

Four phases, in this order.

1. Preparation

Pour about 15 ml —two tablespoons, which is exactly the volume of the standard— in each glass. Cover them with your hand and heat them by rubbing the glass against your palm for half a minute. You are looking to get close to those 28 °C: when cold, the aromas stay inside the oil and do not reach the nose.

2. Olfactory phase

Uncover and smell with short and deep inspirations. Most of the information is here, because defects are above all aromatic.

Look first for the fruitiness: the smell of healthy fruit. Depending on the variety and the point of harvest, it can remind you of green olive, freshly cut grass, leaf, artichoke, tomato plant, green almond, apple, or banana. Then look for what is left: old cellar, vinegar, damp basement, rancid walnut.

3. Gustatory phase

Take a small sip and spread it throughout your mouth. Then do what causes laughter in class on the first day: suck air forcefully between your teeth, with the oil inside. It sounds terrible and it is essential, because it nebulizes the oil and takes it to the back of the throat, which is where bitterness and spiciness are perceived.

4. Tactile and retronasal phase

Pay attention to the body: if it is fluid or dense, if it feels unctuous. And then swallow or spit, and pay attention to what remains. Persistence —how long you continue to notice the oil— is one of the most reliable signs of quality.

What exactly are you looking for

The positive attributes of olive oil are only three: fruitiness, bitterness, and spiciness. All three are good and all three are paid for.

Bitterness and spiciness are the ones that most people confuse with defects. That sting in the throat that sometimes makes you cough is due to oleocantal, a phenolic compound with anti-inflammatory action: I talk about it in polyphenols of olive oil. When someone says "this oil stings, it must be bad" they are describing exactly the opposite of what happens.

Defects are another list. The four most common: atrojado —olive fermented by waiting too long before being milled—, wine-vinegar, mold-dampness, and rancid. Of the four, rancid is the only one that appears after bottling, because it is oxidation and depends on how the oil was stored.

If what you are looking for is how to choose without tasting, with the label in hand, that is in EVOO: what it is, what it is for, and how to choose it.

If you want to continue

The technique is learned in an afternoon. What takes time is building the olfactory memory: recognizing an artichoke or an atrojado is not a matter of method, it is a matter of having smelled them many times with someone who tells you what they are called.

References

• International Olive Council. COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 15/Rev. 11 (June 2024), Method for the organoleptic evaluation of virgin olive oil: composition of the panel, test conditions, calculation of medians and robust coefficient of variation.
• International Olive Council. COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 5, Glass for the tasting of oils.
• Regulation (EEC) n.º 2568/91 and its modifications: classification limits by organoleptic evaluation in the European Union.
• Royal Decree 227/2008, by which the basic standard regarding the panels of tasters of virgin olive oil is established.
• Royal Decree 760/2021, by which the quality standard of olive oils and olive pomace is approved: conformity control regime.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: annual list of panels of tasting authorized for official control in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

How many tasters form an official tasting panel?

Between 8 and 12 per session, according to the COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 15 standard, and it is recommended to have a few more in reserve to cover absences. To them is added the panel leader, who selects and trains them, directs the session, calculates the medians, and decides if the result is valid. All tasters have been selected, trained, and examined previously.

How is it decided if an oil is extra virgin, virgin, or lampante?

With two analyses that must pass both: one physicochemical in the laboratory and another sensory made by an accredited panel. In the European Union, extra virgin needs a median of defects equal to 0 and a median of fruitiness greater than 0; virgin allows up to 3.5 of defects with positive fruitiness; and above 3.5 it is lampante. A single defect, however slight, drops the category of an oil even if its chemistry is impeccable.

Is it mandatory to pass the tasting panel before selling an oil?

No. The regulations require the panel to classify an oil, but its wording does not oblige the food operator to have that result before putting it up for sale. What exists is official control ex post facto: Royal Decree 760/2021 provides for at least one conformity control for every thousand tons of oil marketed. That explains in good part why so many oils labeled as extra virgin are not when someone tastes them.

Why are the tasting glasses dark in color?

So that the taster does not see the color of the oil. The color depends on the variety and the point of ripeness, it has no relation with quality, and yet it conditions a lot what one thinks they smell and taste. The glass is standardized in document COI/T.20/Doc. n.º 5: dark glass, covered with a watch glass, and with 14 to 16 ml of oil.

At what temperature is olive oil tasted?

At 28 °C ± 2 °C during the entire test. It is the temperature at which the volatile compounds are released in a comparable way between samples: colder and the aromas stay inside the oil, hotter and they are distorted. At home it is achieved by covering the glass with the hand and rubbing it against the palm for half a minute.

Are bitterness and spiciness defects in an olive oil?

No, they are two of the three positive attributes, along with fruitiness. The sting in the throat is due to oleocantal, a phenolic compound with anti-inflammatory action, and is a sign of a fresh oil rich in polyphenols. It is probably the most widespread misunderstanding among consumers: many people discard as "bad" exactly the oil of the highest quality.

What are the most common defects in a tasting?

Four. Atrojado, which smells like piled and fermented olive, and appears when the fruit waits too long before being milled. Wine-vinegar, which reminds of spoiled wine. Mold-dampness, with a smell of basement and wet earth. And rancid, which smells like old walnut or paint. The first three come from the campaign; rancid is the only one that appears after bottling, because it is oxidation.

Do I need training to taste olive oil at home?

For hedonistic tasting, no: the technique is learned in an afternoon. You need two different oils, two glasses, and the hand to heat them. The most important rule is to always taste two at a time, because an oil alone says nothing without anything to compare it with. What does take time is building the olfactory memory, which is recognizing and knowing how to name what you smell.