Just as we are not only our physical appearance, the charm of the olive oil does not lie in its exclusive manufacturing process, in its original packaging or its culinary application, but in its “tasting”.
And what is “tasting” olive oil?
Tasting olive oil is a romantic process 🙂 It is to merge with the product after having analyzed it with all our senses, especially the taste and smell.
With our senses fully focused on olive oil, it will be how we express what the product evokes us, what makes us feel.
What do I need to taste the olive oil?
- If we want to make a tasting as professional as possible, instead of using a transparent glass -usually-, we should use an opaque glass so that the color of the olive oil that we are “tasting” does not interfere with our subsequent perception in the mouth and nose.
- Have a good disposition and ability to concentrate. If we are not fully involved and willing to evade what surrounds us, it will be truly complex to perceive all the richness and nuances of the oil both on the nose and in the mouth.
- Experience !!!. Like any other product, we need to train our senses, test and test, repeat and do it again.
What should I avoid doing in the oil tasting?
- Being too perfumed
- Smoking before tasting
- Eat before the tasting
- Try to “taste” while having colds or if we suffer from any ailment / condition that alters our olfactory or gustatory perception.
- Tasting without taking breaks. If we do not rest, we will achieve the well-known “sensory fatigue”. It is recommended to breathe in and out through the nose repeatedly during breaks.
What is the process?
- We will pour a little olive oil in a small glass that we will cover by hand.
- We will “caress” – we said it was a romantic process! – the glass to temper it and achieve a temperature of 28º. We can gently balance the glass so that the aroma intensifies.
- We will raise the hand that we have used as a lid to slowly and deeply inhale the liquid gold that we have tempered.
The first thing we must ask ourselves is if it smells good or smells bad !!!. It’s that simple.
- The next questions are: does it smell like fruit or vegetables?
- It smells like fresh fruit or ripe fruit?
- What fruit does it smell to me? to which vegetable?
- Already with this feeling and having passed 30 sg approx. from the olfactory phase, it is when we will proceed to taste the oil and discover what sensations we have in the mouth. We try just a little oil !!! It is not a drink. It’s just a little. For this, it is not necessary to ingest it quickly, but we must distribute the olive oil throughout the oral cavity so that it is impregnated and perceives to the maximum what the oil wants to offer us.
- We must also assess the sensation that we perceive on the palate the seconds after the tasting.
What we must value in the olive oil tasting are those notes of its aroma, intensity, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness, balance, aroma / taste ratio, etc. We must feel something similar to what we have smelled.
Between tastes, we must clean our mouths with apple bits and sparkling water / water.
We have designed this infographic of the tasting process, we trust that it will help you!
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