Does Expensive Olive Oil actually taste better?

Peanut oil isn’t an inexpensive olive oil someone would pick up. The example of an everyday olive oil you chose, is the olive oil that I put in a fancy category and was curious about vs something like Burtoli that IS an inexpensive olive oil a consumer may buy. Who puts peanut oil in their dressings? This is almost insulting to watch.

It's important to note that Morocco produces olive trees in the desert under a very harsh climate so the polyphenol content in Moroccan olive oil is much higher than expensive oils from Europe. I buy the most bitter tasting Moroccan oil because of these polyphenols and health benefits, not the taste.

You are completely right on the fact that variety and maturity of the olive affect the taste. I would also add the origin but not in terms of country but of terroir (think of it as the same principle that applies to wine). Moreover, the taste is also affected by how the olives were harvested (manually or with some type of machinery etc), the handling of the olives after they were picked (f.e. whether they were placed in sacks or crates etc). Also the milling process and filtering. And where the oil is stored at the time period between pressing and bottling. And, obviously, the type of container used (plastic, glass, tin etc) and where it is kept in terms of light and temperature. In overall, EVOO is a VERY sensitive product.

I appreciate the content but can't stand all the chewing with your mouth open.

Great experiment! Subscribed

Haven't finished watching the video yet, but not happy with your choice of the premium oil. Did it win any awards? You should have gone for Rincon de la Subbetica - the oil that keeps getting the top medals year after year. Its taste is so distinct and awesome that it genuinely deserves all the praise. Price point alone is not a marker of quality

First of all you don't even know if you get olive oil. It doesn't matter if it cost $15 or $40. There is a documentary about food fraud in Europe. The biggest one is olive oil.

From healthy cooking side, finishing extra virgin olive oil shouldn’t be exposed to high temperature for a long time to prevent the chemical reaction of changing to trans harmful fatty acids. Probably better not to exceed 425 F

The flavour compounds of olive oil are not UV stable. So on the expensive bottle you paid for the bottle, not the contents.
As European, I can tell you. There is a huge difference between cheap and expensive oil.
In the expensive oil you really taste the olives. While the cheap ones are very mellow.

Olive oil has a lower smoking point than vegetable oil, so you shouldn't fry with it. Also heating destroys some of the flavour.

Cooking olive oil is often processed. Meaning it's cooked once to make it more shelf stable and to raise the smoking point.

Since America isn't that strict about food regulations, you can't expect high quality oil just because it's expensive.

Also note that olive oils get stale, so opening several bottles at once isn't necessarily great.

Absolute legend

So many are not pure, just mixed with seed oils.

This is from the personal experience of someone who grew up with a grandmother who had an olive tree in her yard. "Ripe" olives off that tree - or trees actually, thinking about there were two trees - are incredibly bitter. Luring my innocent siblings and cousins into "eating" an olive off the tree led to the same reaction. Exclamations of displeasure and disgust, spitting, and their own propagation of the prank on others. Ripe olives are oily, but they are still extremely bitter. My own opinion is that the less distance an olive, or the oil travels between production and consumption, means less exposure to environmental factors like oxygen and compounds that cause rancidity. Being a Californian, I lean to California simply because of those two things, less distance and time, and theoretically, at least, less exposure.

What about making a Greek salad with JUST olive oil? The test you did is good for nothing.

Love having this series😊

With all due respect. Cooking oil compared to finishing oil???
Graza has a finishing oil. Compare that to the other finishing oil....

Please do an anti-ASMR version where we don't have to hear the earing sounds. Yikes! I love the content but can't handle the eating noises so loud! 😂

Have to look at harvest date! Don’t buy without a harvest date!

Yes, it does.

Don't worry about cooking with "finishing" olive oil. My Italian parents in law do it the whole time. Okay... they do have their own olive trees so it isn't expensive for them. They sell most of their oil. But they simply cook in the same oil as what they use on their salad.

I'm Dutch myself, and was never exposed to olive oil... but getting married into a family that makes their own olive oil, I quickly learned.

In my experience there is a HUGE difference in taste between olive oils. Now... the biggest difference is the *kind of olives*. My parents in law have 5 different olive types in their oil. Some of them are extremely spicy, and others aren't. You can immediately taste Tuscan olive oil, because it has those extremely spicy olives mixed in, and that's what people around there love. Greek or Spanish olive oil is much milder. There's simply no comparison. But that difference in taste has nothing to do with quality of price... simply different kind of olives, and maybe different climate and where they grow.

There's also a big difference in taste between very fresh oil, and oil that is a couple of months old. completely fresh taste more fruity. But that special flavor is lost after a couple of months. You typically cannot buy that kind of fresh oil in the supermarket, not even in Italy.

I have tasted the difference between good and bad years on my families olive oil. Although I wouldn't necessarily call it good and bad... just taste.

Having tasted expensive oils in tasting in shops, I can't say that I think that expensive tends to be better. It might taste different, but not better. Maybe they are better in keeping their specific taste more constant, which might be important for high end restaurants. My families olive oil does vary in taste from year to year. I don't mind the difference, but my father in law didn't like the taste from one specific year, and didn't want to use it on salads.

I like Kirklands/Costco Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s like $13 for a big bottle.

Man this was a really good video

I prefer organic, first cold pressed ev olive oil and I try to find a budget friendly type, but I recall there was one of those from Spain that tasted better, but it is not available in my area but probably online. Olive oil companies should list if there are additional oils than olive oil, because some are on restricted diets and other oils may not be okay.

Not really a blind tasting, the way he mixed it No 2 was always in the middle and so it is very easy to distinguish between peanut oil and the expensive olive oil. Still interesting experiment...

Would have loved to see a comparison of non-extra virgin olive oil vs EVOO. Is EVOO worth it?

The olive oils at the left are arranged in order of the order when he adds them into the pasta dishes. Then they are rearranged in the order they are in after he mixes them all up. Hmmm!

I think the Brussel sprouts tasted the same because of being baked in the oven on the same pan and at the same time. The aromas would have more time to mix together during the baking process since it's in a closed chamber. If it was cooked individually, the result may have been different!

But, just a speculation.

I appreciate the use of “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concerto in the intro. It reflects the kind of austerity I feel when I think about subbing olive oil for butter. But it is tasty in some applications, so I appreciate this overview.

Peanut oil is poison. Please never eat it again.

you pay 30$ for a bottle, I pay 30% for 5L container. Also Greek olive oil is better than italian.

Interesting oily review...my brain really slid into this video absorbing the knowledge as my finger slides over that like button...I liked this video Ethan Chlebowski yes!!!!👍😅

Price does not say anything. Try Olivastro and have your mind blown.

Can't believe I sat through this way too long segment.

Found it interesting. Learned a few things. But was reminded of more than one culinary expert who claims Extra Virgin Olive Oil is most appropriate for salads only. For all other dishes--like frying--use regular olive oil.

So, forget about that overweight Food Network star, Rachael Ray, who constantly blathered about EVOO. She's an idiot simply appealing to American's weakness for the supposed best and brightest hawked by the loudest salesperson.

The Spanish and Italians have the best olives and they're very different

UNBELIEVABLE. Peanut oil is HORRIBLE for your health and almost ALL olive oil is adulterated with crap oil like canola. Since you don't know this and aren't exposing it, you are promoting poor health.

I love olive oil from Morocco. It tastes so strong but so full of flavor. Compared to the store bought one it packs a punch and you can really tell.

Having it with toasted bread is chef kiss

The one from Italy is less bitter but still strong. Not as strong as the one from Morocco but still great for having it with toasted bread.

I use the store bought/bland (it's not bland at all lol) for cooking. I'm not sure you can taste it.

I use the Italian one for frying eggs and it tastes GREAT.

Ironic, the more expensive bottle is clear - so it degrades and oxidises more

I agree Ethan. Buying the expensive EVOO is nice but if you're only using it for that once a month or so special occasion it is not worth the cost; it will go rancid about 6 months after opening the bottle.

I like Spanish style olive oil

Terrible experimental design. You only should have revealed to yourself the answers at the end. Otherwise you can guess based on similarity of flavour to previous test

Bro Tunisian and Palestinian Olive oil is the BEST …. Search it … and btw .. it’s also expensive

No valvoline?

Generally speaking Extra Virgin is used for frying/cooking. Non pressed Olive oil is better for mixing in a salad dressing or as a garnish.

Its more than just taste but polyphenols for health

Americans are just realizing that they always wanted a king. 2024 is when the world will see Americans bow down.

How can you even find the actually real olive oil... since there's no control over mislabeling

most italian olive oil is spanish olive oil bottled in italy

How can you taste the oil with a Brussels sprout in your mouth, hmmm…

Bro, a 30 minute video with so much fluff no one cares about? Im sick of yall, honestly

I would love to see a deep dive into whole olives