Let's hear everybody's story; Bad olive oil experiences!

[Steve]

Hi everybody. I thought I'd start out with an interesting discussion because I know that everybody has to have a story or memory related to this topic. How many of you have had a really bad olive oil flavor experience? What brand of olive oil was it? What was the flavor like? Did you need counseling for it, have any nightmares, or maybe just cry yourself to sleep at night about it? I know that it’s bad enough to have an off-tasting bottle of oil on your hands, but when you've also shelled out a decent amount of money for the bottle, it can leave quite an emotional scar.

I've had a couple of bad experiences, but a very recent one was the worst by far. Just a couple of weeks ago I bought a bottle of Spectrum unfiltered Frantoio olive oil. I haven't been impressed with any Spectrum olive oil in the past and would not recommend the brand by any means, but I figured this one might just change my opinion of the company. When I brought the bottle home and first tried it one evening, the flavors were so off-the-charts weird that I was completely and utterly confused. It was unlike any olive oil I’d ever had before. There didn’t seem to be any wonderful fruitiness or even any peppery qualities to the oil, it was all just bizarre and off-tasting flavors. Above all else though, there was some unusual aroma and flavor to the oil that I knew I had smelled somewhere before, but at the time I just couldn't figure out what it was. All I knew was that the flavor was terrible. However, I did finish the olive oil I had set out that evening and I continued contemplating the flavors the entire time, trying to figure it out. The next afternoon I opened up the bottle and smelled it again, and this time the memory hit me like a Mack truck; the oil had an overpowering note that was exactly like the human cadaver lab I had worked in during anatomy and physiology classes. Each time I’ve smelled the oil again the smell is so overwhelming that I can’t stand to get it anywhere near my tongue. I feel that this memory might scar me forever. I just don’t understand how an oil like this can be on the shelf next to other oils with flavors that are so unbelievably wonderful.

Has anybody else had a similar experience? Will anybody else try this oil and tell me if they agree?

[Tina]

Having lived in Umbria and having family in Tuscany, my expectations of olive oil are very particular. I don't think I even need to elaborate on why. ;-)

When I moved to Argentina I was excited and intrigued because Argentina is more than 50% composed of Italian descendents. There is a lot of Italian influence here and Argentina also produces olive oil, in Mendoza, its wine region. If the wine was good, surely the olive oil would be too, right? Wrong. In most cases anyway.

In general I am so sad that the olive oil here lacks that nice peppery bite at the back of your throat. Sure there are some wonderful oils that don't have the pepperiness (Ligurian oil made with Taggiasca olives, for example, is more buttery than peppery, but it's good), but this Argentinean stuff just had the weirdest taste and smell to it.

It's like they let the olives get too ripe before harvesting and then let them sit too long after they harvest. I can't tell. There's an almost rotten, musty smell to it. On top of that there are really no strict regulations that i know of, governing extra virgin olive oil.

Most people who don't know anything about oil get the really cheap stuff that is totally adulterated. Sunflower oil and a bit of olive oil. My ex-roommate used this one and it caused the kitchen to smell horrible.

So basically, being a foodie, I've been a bit depressed. May I add that there is no imported olive oil in Argentina... The ONLY imported oil you can find is overpriced and is (gag gag) Colavita (ok I'll go wash my mouth out)....

I have resorted to having visiting friends smuggle in olive oil, and that is what I've been eating until recently.

Fortunately I have finally found a couple of Argentinean brands that I really like, such as Tittarelli, that do have the peppery bite (not the same, but it'll do). And I think it's because i moved to a different neighborhood. Different demographic. :-)

[Judy Witts Francini]

I was raised in a more butter based culture, having a French grandfather and then becoming a pastry chef in a francophile hotel.

I moved to Italy in 1984, and was won over with the vast personality of oil.
At first, one is on a budget and buys grocery store brands, even those vary quite a bit.

But being lucky enough to actually know people that make their own, I can afford to be picky.

I was at a olive oil tasting oncem conducted by a guy that advised growers on creating blended oils.
Here there are usually 5 different types of olives grown and harvested together then crushed together.

He was trying get growers to crush each type of olive separately and then blend to increase quality.

During this tasting, I noticed he didn't give us one of the bottles to taste and I asked why.
He said because it was rancid.

I asked to taste, to be able to identify "rancid" oil.

It tasted like almost every oil I had had in America.

It is easy for oil to be rancid, before you even buy it.

Olives which are shaken from trees with machines when they have turned black and are overripe, fall to the ground and bruise and start to ferment.

When they are crushed, it creates a faulty oil!

In Tuscany I buy fresh oil for 19 euro a liter at shops and 10 euro a liter from the local mill.

Add on shipping, handling , taxes and profit and it is easy to spend $75 a liter for estate bottled oils!

[Alejandro]

I have a really bad story. I was tasting a few different olive oils to notice the differences. I had some quality oils, a couple typical U.S. supermarket oils and one that was old. Since I heard olive oil needs to be fresh, I thought this would be a great way to get a full variety of flavors. For my tasting I saved the worst for last and used the same quantity as I had for the other oils.

OMG! IT WAS HORRIBLE! Not only was it bad, I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. I tried the different oils, eating crackers, eating anything. It was bad. So if anybody is wondering if olive oil goes bad? It does. It really does.

[Costas the Greek]

Sounds like it was rancid.

Or worse, it might not even have been real extra virgin olive oil. maybe a mix of oils labelled as such. scary stuff. if it tastes really off, don't use it. in spain and italy, people have actually gotten sick with olive oil that's been tainted with other oils (even oils you probably shouldn't eat.)

[Jeff Suter]

Rancid oil... made an entire batch of Basil Pesto... got to the last step of fresh cracked peppercorn and took one large spoon to taste, and needless to say, I was almost sick on the spot.

Lesson learned, always taste as you go! Plus it's more fun that way!

I was more annoyed that I wasted some of the best Basil I had ever grown at that point.

[Costas the Greek]

Wow. So the oil itself was rancid? What a shame. That is a good lesson: taste your oil as you go, especially if it's been sitting around for months and months. And particularly when making pesto, you want to use the best possible oil you can find and afford. :-)

[Tina]

Ahem, and for pete's sake, do not let your opened olive oil sit around for months! You shouldn't have a bottle of olive oil open for more than a month. Once you open it, go through that thing. That's what I was taught at a lecture in Tuscany anyway. ;-)

[saber]

well I am really sorry for you and I don't understand you people how can you by olive oil with out testing it in my country buying a good olive oil is question of honour

[Jeff Suter]

Well Saber, you won't find too many Grocery stores here in the states with 6-7 open bottle of oil for taste testing. It obviously is different in your country. ; )