Apple Almond - nutty Artichoke: a flavour which reminds one of artichoke. Astringent: A puckering sensation in the mouth created by tannins Banana Bitter: Many new to olive oil are surprised to find that this is a preferred characteristic of olive oils; usually obtained from green olives or olives turning colour. Buttery Fresh: Good aroma, fruity, not oxidised Fruity: an olive oil is fruity when its flavour and aroma are similar to that of a mature olive. If you have stood over the olive grinder or press, fruity is what you smell. Many olive oils initially seem fruity. This characteristic may disappear in a few months in some olive oils, a truly fruity olive oil maintains this characteristic aroma through time. Grass: the taste of grass - seen often in green olives or those crushed with leaves and twigs Green: A young, fresh, fruity olive oil. Often mixed with bitter. Spicy-bitter cough sensation at the back of the throat. Green leaf: a sensation obtained when in the press a small quantity of fresh olive leaves are added. This is a trick which is done to approximate the genuine green taste of green olives Harmonious: all the qualities of the olive oil blend and work well with each other Hay:Dried grass flavour Melon, perfumy (ethyl acetate) Musky, nutty, woody: trace characteristics which are very pleasing when not overpowering. Peppery A peppery bite in the back of the throat which can force a cough Pungent: A rough, burning or biting sensation in the throat - peppery Soave: mature olives can produce this characteristic. Sweet, palatable aftertaste. Rotund: is said of an olive oil with a pasty body to it which fills and satisfies without aromatic character - always from mature olives. Sweet: The opposite to bitter, stringent or pungent. Found in mellow olive oils.
| Almond Associated with sweet olive oils with a flat scent. Bitter: a good trait in moderation but bad if overpowering. Produced by olives that are unripe and with little meat. Brinesalty taste - olive oil made from brined olives Burnt: prolonged heating during processing Coarse Cucumber: off flavour from prolonged storage, particularly in tin Dirty:olive oils which have absorbed the unpleasant odours and flavours of the vegetable water after pressing which they have remained in contact for too long. Dreggish: odour of warm lubricating oil and is caused by the poor or lacking execution of the decanting process. Earthy This term is used when olive oil has acquired a musty humid odour because it has been pressed from unwashed, muddy olives. Esparto Hemp-like flavour acquired when olive paste has been spread on Esparto mats. Flavours may differ according to whether the mats are green or dried. Fiscolo: caused by the use of filtering panels which are not perfectly cleaned, and brings to mind hemp FlatOlive oils which have lost their characteristic aroma and have no taste. Frozen:due to olives which have been exposed to freezing temperatures. When cooked, this olive oil gives off very unpleasant odours.
Fusty: due to olives fermenting in piles while in storage waiting for pressing Greasy - a diesel, gasoline or bearing grease flavour Grubby: flavour imparted by grubs of the olive fly Hay-wood - dried olive taste Heated: prolonged heating during processing, burnt taste Impersonal: a serious defect for virgin olive oil, because it means it has neither character nor personality. It is a trait common in all manipulated oils. Lampantino: oil, which should be sent to a refinery. When it does not present awful organic characteristics, it can be edible. Muddy Sediment: Musty: mouldy flavour from being stored too long before pressing Metallic Olive oils processed or stored with extended contact to metal surfaces. Mouldy: from unhealthy or fermented olives due to excessive storage in warehouses Olearic Fly: Olive oil from fruit stricken by this insect: the flavour is both rotten and putrid at the same time. Phenic acid: pertaining to poorly kept very old olive oils. Poor conservation: the olive oil absorbs the odours and flavours’ of everything surrounding it even if not in direct contact. A very common defect. Rancid Old olive oils which have started oxidizing due to exposure to light or air. Rough: Pasty, thick greasy mouth feel Vegetable water: Stored in contact with the juice from the olive Warmth: due to the fermentation of olives kept too long in bags. Winey High acidic taste |
