Victoria S. Dorsano breaks down five ways to spot authentic extra virgin olive oil: check the harvest date (within 12-18 months), buy dark glass bottles, look for PDO or PGI labels, expect to pay more, and taste for a peppery finish. Real EVOO should be grassy and slightly bitter.
How can you make sure that you're actually getting extra virgin olive oil? Here's a simple buying checklist to use. First thing, try to find a bottle where you can see the harvest date and try to make sure that you're getting that within the 12 to 18 month range of when it's been harvested by. The harvest date will be a better indicator of its quality over the best by date. Secondly, only get extra virgin olive oil if it's in dark glass or tins only. You're going to want to usually avoid clear bottles, especially if they're sitting under bright lights. Try to find an extra virgin olive oil that has a specific origin of olives and isn't just a mishmash of a region. Something you can look for on the bottle that will help with this will be the PDO or PGI, helping you to specify where those olives are from. The next thing to note is that the price isn't necessarily gonna be as cheap as you want it to be. True extra virgin olive oil is gonna come at a little bit of a cost. And lastly, when you brought the olive oil home, you can always do a taste test. Fresh extra virgin olive oil should be vibrant, grassy, a little bit bitter, and with a peppery finish at the back of your throat.
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