"Extra Virgin", "First Cold Press" — What's It All Mean? 

Everyone knows that when it comes to olive oil, "extra virgin", means the very best olive oil.  But what—exactly—does the term "extra virgin" mean? 

In the broadest sense, extra virgin olive oil refers to raw, unprocessed, unrefined olive oil.  Just the pure juice of the olive, with all of its nutrients and flavor intact.  But most importantly, the oil has no taste or odor defects as judged by an independent, third party.  The acidity of the oil, a measure of how ripe or old the oil is, will also be below 1 percent.

To guarantee consumer confidence in California Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) introduced its Seal of Quality program in 1998.  To earn the Seal, oil is submitted to an independent laboratory for chemical analysis and then evaluated by a Panel of Tasters.  Each member of the tasting
panel has undergone rigorous, highly specialized training. Members reflect California’s talented culinary community: the panel includes some of the Golden State’s finest chefs, specialty farmers, food and wine writers, and experienced olive oil aficionados.

To insure objectivity, all olive oils are laboratory tested and tasted blind. Panelists taste for both defects and overall quality. Only oils that are made from 100% California olives containing 0.5% or less free fatty acid and are determined to be free of defects are awarded the COOC Seal.

To find out more about extra virgin olive oil, please read on.

How's It Made? 

Real extra virgin olive oil is typically produced on a family-owned farm either here in the U.S. or abroad. This is because to make real extra virgin olive, you end up with a relatively small quantity of oil. 

The large, multi-national manufacturers are going after two things when they make olive oil—volume and shelf life.  Neither of which is possible with extra virgin oil.

To make extra virgin olive oil, the olives are generally picked by hand so as not to damage the skin or pulp.  The harvest season ranges from early October to January.  The olives are then transported in well-aerated containers to a nearby olive mill. 

At the mill, any leaves or twigs are removed, the olives are rinsed in cold water, and then pressed at room temperature.  This is what is refered to as the first, 'cold' pressing. 

Extra virgin oil demands that the oil is obtained from the olives within 24 hours of being picked.  Any longer, and the olives—as with any fruit—will start to ripen or ferment, which will degrade the quality of the oil. 

Since no heat or chemicals are used in the making of extra virgin olive oil, only about a third of the potential oil is obtained. That's all.  

After pressing, the oil is allowed to settle or 'rest' in air-tight stainless steel tanks for a couple of months.  This encourages any remaining water to separate out, and it gives the oil a chance to lose some of its bitterness.  For those who like this taste, some producers sell a limited quantity of Olio Nuovo (New Oil) late in November and early December. 

Given this labor and time-intensive process, olive oil is rarely produced in this manner today.  Estimates are that less than 10 percent of all the olive oil in the world is.  But that 10 percent—WOW—what a remarkable taste sensation!

The Flavors of Real Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

What determines the flavor of a real extra virgin olive oil?  Two factors—the type of olive, and the time of the year that the olive is pressed. 

The olive oil sold by All Things Olive comes from California olive trees.  The olive tree has been growing in California since the late 1700s, when the Franciscan monks began planting them along their mission trail from San Diego to Sonoma.  The olives were the varieties known to their native Spain:  Misson, Manzinillo, Ascolano, and Sevillano are some of the more common varieties grown today.  In the late 1980s, at the beginning of the resurgence of California's olive oil industry, olive varieties native to Italy were planted by the entrepreneurs.  Pendalino, Lecchino, and Frantoio are common Italian varieties grown in California today. 

Each olive, just like apples, grapes, and all other fruit, offers a unique flavor.  Olive oil producers make their oil from single variety olives or they blend a number of olives together to create distinctive flavors.

The time of the year that an olive is picked and pressed will also affect the flavor of the oil.  Olives are picked each year in California beginning about October and continuing through to February.  In the early fall, the olive is green.  As it ripens, it changes color,  Mild and delicate olive oil is typically obtained from Mission olives that are pressed late in the year, usually in December.  At this point, the olive is very black and ripe.  When pressed, the oil will have a mild olive flavor, with minimal "pepper" or "bitterness" on the finish. 

Because it does not have a strong olive flavor, a mild and delicate olive oil is often used as a substitute for butter.  You get all the healthful attributes of olive oil, without a strong olive flavor.  This makes a mild and delicate oil ideal for use on toast or bagels, scrambling eggs, or on fresh peas.

The next notch up in the flavor category is the "fragrant and fruity" olive oil.  This oil is most often pressed from Spanish olives that are almost, but not quite fully ripe.  This category of olive oil is a good choice to serve with salads. 

The next category, "olivey and peppery" olive oil is typically produced from Italian olives which are a bit younger.  This type, often referred to as a Tuscan-type, is great on a crusty piece of bread or with pasta. 

The last category is the leafy green and grassy.  This oil comes from olives, Spanish or Italian, that are pressed early in the year.  That gives them their characteristicly strong olive flavor and peppery finish. 

What determines the flavor of a real extra virgin olive oil?  Two factors—the type of olive, and the time of the year that the olive is pressed.

What about the Other "Extra Virgin" Olive Oil? 

With less than 10 percent of all olive oil produced in the world each year estimated to be really extra virgin olive oil, you might be wondering about the olive oil in your cupboard.  How is most olive oil made today? 

To get the greatest amount of oil possible from the olives, manufacturers need to "hot" press the oil.  In making extra virgin oil, a key step is pressing the olives at room temperature.  But this "cold" pressing only gets about a third of all the potential oil out of the olive.  To meet today's high and continually rising demand for olive oil, large olive oil producers must use high heat and industrial solvents like hexane to get almost all the oil from the olive.

Hexane, it should be noted, is harmful to the environment.  However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require manufacturers to list it on the bottle's label because almost all of it evaporates during the processing.

After being hot pressed, the oil has no color, flavor, odor, or healthful properties.  It is also inedible.  The manufacturer will need to add chemicals and flavors, such as industrial chlorophyll and beta carotene, to make the oil look green and to give it some taste and smell.  But that is not all they need to do. 

To ensure the longest possible shelf-life (who do you know that has ever thrown out a bottle of olive oil?) the oil must undergo a number of other steps.  Among them:

Bleaching—Eliminates any pigments in the crude oil.

Degumming—Removes the free fatty acids and small quantities of proteins and other substances that contribute to the instability of the oil and the production of smoke during high-temperature cooking.

Deodorizing—Eliminates substances that causes oil to go rancid, and thus prolong its shelf life.

Hydrogenation—Adding hydrogen prevents oxidation or aging of the oil.

Refining—An alkaline substance (often caustic soda) is added to transform the oil's fatty acids into soap, which is then extracted from the oil via centrifugation.

Anti-oxidation—Synthetic vitamin E is added to further prolong shelf life.

How Can I Tell If It's Really Extra Virgin Olive Oil?