I use a local to California Olive oil. I actually know the grower and I trust him I've known him for years and I find their products are quality and they actually went a lot of awards. Nuvo olive oil in California
I’ve been mainly use avocado oil for literally any cooking needs in the past few years. Occasionally, I use Graza’s “Drizzle”or “Sizzle”. Graza is okay. It’s more like no brainer choice to me. On the other hand, I wonder if there’s a go-to olive oil for real foodies here, especially for bread dipping, fewer ingredients and zero hiding places.
I use a local to California Olive oil. I actually know the grower and I trust him I've known him for years and I find their products are quality and they actually went a lot of awards. Nuvo olive oil in California
Unfortunately, it's not readily available, so I'll probably never be able to get it again. I visited Crete on a cruise years ago, and there was a local monastery that made and sold olive oil. It was delicious, and peppery, and I'll probably never get to have it again, and now I'm sad. (In all seriousness, though, it was SO GOOD!!!)
Try the Gaea Sitia, Crete olive oil. It’s from the eastern side of the island, and for olive oil, this is the equivalent of an appellation d'origine contrôlée in France, you can’t claim it unless it is grown and produced there. I have found this at Whole Foods but you can’t also order it online. It may not be the same, but it is wonderful.
Agree on Crete. They harvest and bottle in the fall. I have purchased from Olive Oil Lovers in the past and continue to do so. Olive Oil Lovers
My fav is Terra Creta from certified cretean olives, they are grassy and spicy without being harsh or overpowering. If you can lay your hands on Croatian olive oil - it's also delicious, more mellow but with nice undertone of herbiness.
Me too! I buy the 3L tins of it. Crete is where some of the earliest olive cultivation and one of the first places olive oil was made. Plus, I visited Crete and fell in love with the oil I brought home from there.
Brought back a bottle of Oro del Desierto (I think it was coupage?) and one of Oro Bailen (arbequina) from Spain. Unbelievable the flavor on them. so now we bring back approx 7 bottles when we visit.
If you’re in the US you can get Oro del Desierto in 3L jugs on oliveoillovers.com, I’ve always got a jug on hand lol
Waiting for the Costco fanatics to show up.
rustico di casa asaro organic evoo. Hand picked olives from Sicily. Legitimately leaps and bounds beyond any other olive oil I've tried.
[removed]
Graza is a marketing and branding exercise. California Olive Ranch (find the 100% ca stuff) or the Costco Italian or Spanish bottles is much better than Graza
Yeah the Costco straight Italian, or straight Spanish, are really good, and an incredible bargain. Never buy the ones from multiple countries (initials laser etched on the bottles with a guide for the initials, right on the label. A lot of olive oils are pooled from more than one country and usually those are just way inferior. Even to my crude taste I can notice it).
California olive ranch has NO flavor. Not sure why people glaze this mediocre oil
Who tf thought to promote an oil in a plastic bottle
California olive ranch 100% California is what I use for evoo. For cooking I just use whatever. And then one time I was in rural Italy and bought a gallon of olive oil back with me from a local farm. Best olive oil I’ve ever had even years later,
California Olive Ranch used to be good, but the last couple of years, I can't find any that is fresh anymore. It all has that crayon scent of old oil. I still see it recommended all the time, though, and it surprises me, because I can't be the only one who has noticed a change.
Sicilian-hands down the Very Best.
The best one I ever had was the first harvest oil some anarchist collective brought into Switzerland. Small farm stuff, the middlemen and women are friends with the farmers iirc. But any first / early harvest will in my experience have a much more interesting, stronger flavour profile. See if that's available from California growers too
If you want the purest olive oil without having to go to someplace like Greece to try and bring it back then I would recommend California extra virgin 100% cold pressed single source olive oil. It has a very light peppery taste that is excellent for dipping warm crusty bread or pita. It's also excellent if you are making a Greek salads/horiatiki.
It's very good, albeit a little mild for my taste. It's my go to if we run out of our Sicilian oil.
I agree with this 100%
I'm spoiled because I can occasionally get a small batch, single grove Greek olive oil. Wish I had a steady supply. It's the ambrosia of olive oils. I like California oils for raw uses, and California blends for cooked uses, though I'll usually opt for vegetable or avocado oil in those cases.
The best olive oil won't be in stores in the US. Go to the oliveoillovers website to buy quality olive oil. Olive oil used for cooking doesn't need to be very good and shouldn't be the same one you use as a finishing oil. For finishing olive oil look for the words "cold pressed" as they typically are better than your average olive oil. It also depends on your preference. Some oils have a grassy taste and others have a more peppery taste.
We order from Sicily from a vendor we visited a few years ago. Essensily is the brand name. It's a small family run farm right outside of Palermo.
Looking this up immediately
What's the shipping costs
I like Frantoia
I love this Herbes de Provence infused olive oil from this company that is local to me (they ship!) Not affiliated. They also have delicious non flavored oils and balsamic vinegars. https://www.joeandsonsoliveoils.com/product/herbs-de-provence-infused-olive-oil/ https://www.joeandsonsoliveoils.com/
Honestly Bertolli is pretty good
Graza is a joke in my opinion. The ones in the plastic bottles are especially offensive to me. I only try to buy Sicilian, Moroccan, or Tunisian olive oils because their climate and soil is close to Malta, where my family comes from.
Gaea (not to be confused with Gaia) olive oil is wonderful. You can find this at Whole Foods, which is where I discovered it, but I order it by the case when they have the location specific oils (Sitia, Crete is my favorite). I am overwhelmed by the quality of the Gaea Fresh. The oil is extracted within 3h of picking for peak polyphenol content. It is incredible and I always use this raw. I haven’t tasted the Organic Gaea Planet olive oil from Lakonia but I’m excited to try it because it uses a different variety of olive. These oils and their website are super useful for connoisseurs or anyone interested in learning about olive oil.
So far for me, it's Quinta Luna via Gustiamo in the US.
Fairway carries single varietal olive oils, and I've tried a half dozen, such as Arbequina (mild, fruity), Koroneiki (grassy, herbaceous), Frantoio (artichoke-y, mild pepper), Coratina (intense, green, peppery), Biancolilla (delicate, floral), and Picual (robust, tomato-leafy). Some go better with cheese, veggies, or charcuterie. I try not to have more than one good one for drizzling going at the same time. We buy decent Spanish or Italian EVOO for cooking, etc.
We love Kouzini! It’s locally made and the owner is amazingly kind!
I really did like graza for a while but I noticed, predictably, as it got more popular, it tasted worse and worse. I now buy a big 3L jug of Italian extra virgin olive oil from wegmans, their store brand, and it tastes much better and is significantly cheaper. Costs like $38 for 3L
California olive oil. I personally use Bariani or Séka Hills (which I love as a dipping or drizzling oil rather than for cooking). I’ve admittedly never done the research, but I’d be interested in trying a high-quality Italian olive oil that was single-origin and traceable. But I’m weary because of stories of label manipulation, supply chain tampering, and other fraud. So I’ll stick to California because 1) I’m from California and 2) California has strict standards on their olive oil.
I dont get the hype of olive oil. It taste like oil. You dont want your food to just taste like oil. I love the video of Binging with Babish (near the start of his downfall) he taste tested like 50 olive oils. One of his favorites was walmart brand olive oil, and he was soooo upset.
Quality olive oil has a fruitiness to it, and the taste of olives in it. I'm not a big olive oil person, but the first time I tasted quality oil I was really surprised to taste more than oil.
I use the “100% California olives” California Olive Ranch (vs the “global blend”). I’ve used it for years. Very good, reliable olive oil. Graza tastes gross to me 🤷♀️
Honestly, the best I ever had was brought at a farmers market in Croatia and was in a recycled sprite bottle. For normal cooking? I am not that picky. For finishing oil, I have a refillable bottle that I fill with Greek olive oil at a local Italian market.
I prefer a less “green” tasting olive oil, so I LOVE CA Olive Ranch!
Puget. I'm not any sort of olive oil fanatic so it may be a personal quirk. It's not pricey at all so it may violate your "real foodies" requirement but if you come across a bottle, give it a go. Randomly bought a bottle maybe 15 years ago and have used it exclusively since. Has been very hard to find in the US, even via mail order, over the last couple of years. Since it's been hard to find I keep trying recommendations even pricey ones and getting disappointed.
Duque de Baena https://www.aceitesdobaena.com/producto/duque-de-baena-500ml-cilindrica/
Corto California olive oil,is really good. I still have a little bit of Greek olive oil left from samples that I was sent and when I use that up, I will go back to Corto. I buy it wholesale because I’m in the food business. It’s available on Amazon.
I live in Spain. The best oil I have ever had came from the olives from the trees I look out on daily. I get it from the local cooperativa
for stuff you can find in a grocery store, i've found cobram estate very tasty
Believe it or not I use Kirkland brand. It's surprisingly highly rated.
Lucini premium select is very good for a widely available OO. It’s much better than California Olive Ranch
Try the COR Premium Reserve olives oils. They offer an Arbequina, an Arbosana, and a Miller's Blend that are excellent, IMO. As an aside, COR acquired Lucini Italia in 2015, although they operate under their own labels. You can order Lucini from the COR website.
There's a Greek grocery store in my neighborhood that has several single origin olive oils on tap from different parts of Greece.
For dunking bread etc I use Castillo de Canena Arbequina or Picual oil, it's easily the best olive oils I've had For cooking I typically use Guglielmi Fruttato
The best I ever had was while visiting a friend and his family in Lebanon, it was first pressed "from a friend" in an unlabeled bottle. I have been looking to make friends with an olive grower ever since, but they're unfortunately rather rare in the US. The best olive oil that I buy is whatever I can get at my local grocery store which isn't a large recognizable brand and looks fancy.
Cold pressed same-day extra virgin from a small farm and facility in Greece. After that, there’s a small supplier in a nearby city that does extra virgin and balsamic vinegars. Kirkland Signature is a step down but good enough for me if I don’t have their stuff.
Kosterina extra-virgin has a wonderful taste and very high polyphenols. You can buy it by the half case.
Oro del Desierto 1/10 Novello It's bottled right after crushing and super high in polyphenols. Comes out once a year in October and pricy, but so good and fresh. I don't cook with it I put it on sourdough or finish dishes with it at times.
There’s a popular video that tells me that my Kirkland olive oil is right up there, but I’m not an olive oil sommelier. It’s good!
Since you asked for the best one I ever had.. not necessarily the one I can buy whenever the mood strikes. It was undoubtedly the small bottle our gracious Tuscan home keeper gave us on the way out of her second floor house homestay, which she had for rent on Airbnb. She did not speak English, only smiled as she offered the fruit of those beautiful rolling hills and her family labor. Brings a tear every time I remember it
Trader Joe's has this fresh press, unfiltered olive oil that they drop every year (i think around Thanksgiving/christmas). It's absolutely divine and the best tasting olive oil I've ever had. I made chimi with it the other day and all of my friends were raving that it was the best tasting chimi they ever had.
You need to find a Greek importer. Then look for Greek olive oil. It's usually in large 3 to 5 liter tins. The easiest to find is kalamata olive oil. This is southern peloponnese. Excellent. Olive oil from Crete is harder to find and slightly better. The richest, smoothest, butteriest olive oil with the most gorgeous greenish-golden hue comes from the island of lesvos. This is nearly impossible to find outside of Greece but if you do find some guard with your life and keep it in a cool dry place. Use that one exclusively as a finishing oil.
Anyone else read the investigations into olive oil? “Most imported olive oils are little better than lubricants.” Stick with California if you are in the States.
There was a local California olive oil I used when I lived there. I don't remember the brand at this point, but it was excellent. When I moved away, I ended up trying to save it as much as possible, but ended up using it in a cake because I knew it was going to go bad. Best olive oil cake I've ever had, though.
Best olive oil? EVOO I’ve gotten from places in Tuscany. For more available olive oil I like California or Italian olive oil from Costco.
We buy the Costco olive oil from Bari.
There are two companies in AZ, queen creek and Cave Creek that grow and bottle. I first had them at Pizzeria Bianco. We all did “shots” it tasted so good.
Cave Creek Oil Companies balsamic vinegars are absolutely fantastic! Pretty good olive oil as well.
Capizanos butter olive 🫒 oil
For home general use, I use the Costco jug of evoo. However, there's a restaurant near me in Minneapolis that has an excellent olive oil that they claim to press from Sicilian olives. That's the best one I've had recently, and luckily they sell it.
Graza is way over-priced and very mid at best Aldi Sicilian and when they have it, Spanish EVOO are EXCELLENT oils and well priced.
Capelli is legit as an every day delicious oil. I also tend to like higher end Spanish olive oil
[removed]
For finishing or salads, Franci Grand Ceu and Castillo de Canena First Day Harvest. Really bold olive taste.
Oddly enough, I’ve been getting into trying to buy better quality olive oil for my home cooking. I read online about 100% California olives, so I purchased the Whole Foods 100% brand. It’s really good. Next time I will get the California Olive Ranch. Related, but I also got some of the over hyped Algae oil. It’s crazy good. Very buttery in taste.
This is honestly so dependent on how fresh it is. Less nice but super fresh EVOO is better than old, nice stuff. Check the dates and shop that way!
I live next to an olive oil grove. I can't tell the difference because I have no idea what other olive oil exists other than a virgin first press. I bought a bottle from the supermarket once, and it was foul and disgusting. I really hope most of you aren't experiencing that. For those of you who can, travel out to your hills and get to know your local olive farmers, you will not regret the effort. You must do this, I am just 0 minutes away while you're 5 minutes away.
I like the Trader Joe’s premium oil.
The best olive oil i have comes from Spain. Its nice and fruity with a great finish
Finca Tindavar from Spain is good, my girlfriends grandparents used to bring it back for us cause they have a house nearby to where they’re located
I love the Trader Joe’s with the spout
I don’t buy imported oils as the market is saturated with fraud. California Olive ranch was a good choice but the last few years they have gone downhill. For California olive oil, Cobram Estate is hands down the best domestic olive oil you can buy. They have a few artisan blends but the classic extra virgin is fruity with a peppery finish.
Some friends and I had a private winetasting tour of a vineyard. They also produced their own olive oil and I bought a bottle. It was so good.
My favorite is the Le Blanc cold press from France. Their walnut oil is superb.
Manni. Also anything I've tried from Olive Odyssey has been amazing.
Fresh press farms from Georgia, USA is pretty goddamn good.
Love Frankie’s 457 as a finishing oil. Sicilian. Live Sicilian olive oils.
The best olive oil I’ve ever tried in the states is Wonder Valley. Beautiful bottle, too. It’s pricy so I would only use it as a finishing oil or for eating with bread, tomatoes, etc
Agricola Maraviglia is my favorite! Spendy but worth it
My go to California oils are Stonehouse and The Olive Press in Sonoma, CA. Both ship from online orders and have lots of single-varietal oils and blends with a range of polyphenol contents. My standard cooking oil is Stonehouse's Olio Santo.
Castillo de Canena First Day of Harvest Picual