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I prefer extra-virgin olive oils with fruit and grassy notes, rather than the peppery back-of-the-throat flavors that some folks enjoy. Are there particular olive varietals that are more likely to be fruity and/or grassy? Obviously when possible I taste before buying, but in the event that I need to choose just based on bottle info, is there any way to increase my odds?

EDIT: so just to be clear, I know well some brands that meet my needs. For example, Frantoia is widely available and hits just those fruit, grassy notes. My question is more for those situations where I don't have my own supply; maybe on vacation and just need to pick a bottle among the 6 at a small town-grocery, which ain't gonna give me a taste. At that moment, do I have a better shot of getting grassy and fruit with say an arbequina vs. kalamata oil? Or is there some other method of reading the bottle that might help?

Michael Natkin
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When food researchers want to compare the flavors of a food item, they assemble a group of expert tasters and train them on a controlled vocabulary to describe the many different compounds that can be detected in the food item.  Over time some of these vocabularies get standardized.  A limited vocabulary has been adopted by the International Olive Council to describe commercial olive oils and will give you a rough idea of what to expect from a brand.

To try different oils you can look for a local tasting bar (similar to wine bars) or search for “tasting notes” and “olive oil” to find postings from olive oil enthusiasts. A good place to get started with oil tasting is the olive source, which enumerates a vocabulary with short descriptions, offers tips on tasting olive oil, and lists tasting bars.

papin
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Tasting it is the only reliable way. Oil made from ripened olives is usually said to have a milder taste. Unfortunately that information is rarely on the bottle.

Also I do not trust descriptions or names like "Fruttato" much, it just differentiates varieties of the same brand.

Krister Olsson
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