I Tried a $65 Olive Oil and a $7 One (The Results Blew Me Away)

four was Oh my god, I'm kind of shocked right now, guys. Are you paying too much for your olive oil? I'm putting cheap extra virgin headto-head with the Posh

stuff. We're going to be doing a blind

stuff. We're going to be doing a blind taste test to see if the so-called premium olive oil is really worth the cash. Lovely people, I'm cracking open

cash. Lovely people, I'm cracking open all these bottles to compare the taste and health benefits of each and test how each one performs on foods like pasta

and bread because unlike me, you might not enjoy chugging it straight.

Now, I don't claim to be a professional extravirgin expert. Insert joke here.

extravirgin expert. Insert joke here.

But I have immersed myself in the world of olive oil for a long time. I've

reported from olive oil farms and mills in southern Europe, taken the time to learn from the actual experts. I've got

a whole olive oil playlist in the description. My goal in this video is to

description. My goal in this video is to find out if price truly dictates quality and flavor in the world of extravirgin olive oil. But I don't just want to see

olive oil. But I don't just want to see if I can tell the difference between the high and low-end brands. I'm also going to share my top tips for identifying the

good stuff so that you know exactly what to look for when choosing a bottle. Hey,

it's Nicole from After the Taste Test.

Just popping in real quick to say that the results really blew me away. There

was one bottle in particular that had no business being in the price category it did. I'll see you then. So, here's what

did. I'll see you then. So, here's what we're doing. I'm going to test an olive

we're doing. I'm going to test an olive oil from each of these price categories from $6.98

all the way up to $64.95.

Yep, that's not a typo. First, I'll

taste each oil straight, then on some tortoillini, and lastly, naturally, on some of my fresh homemade sourdough. By

the way, this video is not sponsored by anyone, but this video is supported by those of you who have purchased my step-by-step course, How to Make Great Sourdough. So, if you want to learn how

Sourdough. So, if you want to learn how to make this delicious bread, even if you've never made a loaf in your life, check the link. And thank you so much for your support. For the budget option,

I actually chose two bottles from my best olive oil under $10 video. I wanted

to give the lowcost brands a fair shake because on the cheaper end, you're more likely to find oils that have been poorly sourced or poorly stored and

they've gone a bit rancid. This Filippo

Berio cost me $6.98 and this Pompean 738, but of course prices go up and down, though, let's face it, mostly up these days. The

premium bottles were chosen by the experts at Olive Oil Lovers. They're the

first place I turn to for authentic extra virgin. They work directly with

extra virgin. They work directly with all their producers. It's where I buy my extra virgin from. I've got their link in the description as well as the links to all the bottles I'm tasting today.

Okay, so let's get to it. Is this really worth 10 times the amount of this? Will

it be my favorite? Or maybe one of the others?

Bring out the liquid gold.

Don't know how to open this.

>> As with all my blind taste test videos, my lovely husband and cameraman Mark has set this up so I don't know which olive oil I'll be tasting when.

I love this.

Okay, I think I want to start by smelling. Let's see.

smelling. Let's see.

Nothing remarkable there. Oo, very

bright.

Oo. Yeah. Hello.

Okay. Candle waxy like going off a little bit. We'll see. I will reserve my

little bit. We'll see. I will reserve my judgment.

>> Is that supermarket?

>> I'm not going to tell you.

>> Okay.

Okay. It just had that I don't know how do I describe that. It's not off.

It's just um too ripe like the olives were too like riper than they should be

too.

Yeah. It's very it's a it's sort of a delicate balanced um olive oil, a little bit of fruit, a little bit of bitterness. a moderate

amount of spice. It's not like like very very pungent. Three.

very pungent. Three.

It's like it's M. Ooh. Okay. I'm getting

sort of artichokes now. Sort of um uh like like herbaceious and nice bitterness uh to that one. Very lively. Quite like

it.

Four.

My first thought, this is so wild, guys, is melon.

And some good healthy spice coming through. Five.

through. Five.

Oh, wow. Okay, that one has like um creeps up on you. It's like when you when you think it's like, ooh, okay. So,

this is like a a fruity olive oil and then it slowly slowly slowly goes.

There's your your pepperiness, your that balanced bitterness.

Okay, I like that. Very nice.

Six.

You know, I know there's a Pqual here, and I really thought I was going to like nail that one because I love Pqua. Pwal

is one of my favorite. Pquala is a uh an olive that you really find in Spain a lot and it is known for its like real

punch like it's really spicy high usually high polyphenol count good bitterness and that one actually is uh has a good fair amount of bitterness.

Um, but I expected that I would like know immediately which one it is, but I don't know.

Seven.

[Music] No, don't like it.

Tastes like candle wax. Okay.

Oh, that that that one is definitely one of the supermarkets.

Okay.

Okay. I'm coming back to to one. I've

just tasted seven. I've come back to one.

I think these are my supermarkets.

And I think I even know which one is what. I think this one is the burrier

what. I think this one is the burrier and I think this one is the Pompei. And

we'll see if I'm right.

But I think that's what I'm working with here. The the berio has a little bit of

here. The the berio has a little bit of um little bit of spice at the finish, but the the taste is very flat. I don't

know. I'm going for these two. But maybe

Okay, I think it's time to taste all of these with some food.

Not bringing a lot to the party. Two.

That brings a nice like brightness, but then a little peppery. That's like a rainbow. That's a delight. Three. This

rainbow. That's a delight. Three. This

one is a little bit softer, but fruity.

Nice. Four.

This is what's so fun about olive oil.

So with with food, I'm not tasting melon anymore, but it is a lovely Oh, it's such a nice balance of of sort of fruit with a little bit of

bitterness with a little bit of spice.

Just I'm on five.

Has a real nice green flavor and then um bit of spice at the end.

I like Okay, six. Okay, this is I'm going to say I think six is the prequel. It has

prequel. It has the hallmarks. If it's not, it's very

the hallmarks. If it's not, it's very interesting to me, but it's um it's got that like pleasant bitterness. It's got

a good punch. And last one, I'm sorry, that one is so not good.

Not even pasta can help that one.

Okay. And last but not least, my favorite part, sourdough natural bed fellow. I am sorry, guys. I

I am going to avoid these. The number

one and number seven. I've had enough of those. I think that having number six

those. I think that having number six with pasta actually really brought out um the flavors of this one.

Yeah. When I get to dance, when I start dancing, I like it.

I'm go for this five again.

There really is no better way. No better

way to enjoy olive oil than with sourdough. This is a beautifully

sourdough. This is a beautifully balanced m olive oil. I'm tasting like green notes, some like pleasant bitterness, just a little tickle of spice at the

end.

Okay, number four. I think is a little bit uh stronger spice. Like my tongue is tingling right now in a really nice way.

Number three, fruit forward, but also sort of an herbaceious

flavor. Kind of green, really nice,

flavor. Kind of green, really nice, alive in my mouth. I very, you know, there's a bit of bit of that pleasant pepperiness.

very difficult to choose among the among the ones that are not these.

There's so much variety and they're all really delicious. You know, it's kind of

really delicious. You know, it's kind of impossible for me to know for sure which one is the most expensive here because once you get into the 20 to $30 range,

you're not really going to find a bad olive oil. Each one is going to be

olive oil. Each one is going to be distinctive and delicious and each one has its own story with how the olives were grown and how the oil was produced.

I'm going to break all this down in just a bit. Now, one of the biggest factors

a bit. Now, one of the biggest factors when it comes to olive oil pricing is quantity. There are two models for olive

quantity. There are two models for olive oil production. The single producer and

oil production. The single producer and the cooperative. Single producers, they

the cooperative. Single producers, they do it all. Grow, harvest, mill, bottle.

These tend to be smaller operations with stricter quality control. The

cooperative model, however, is where individual farmers bring their olives to a central milling facility, which means a single brand of olive oil is sourcing

its olives from a mix of farms with different farming practices, different soils. Of course, you can produce way

soils. Of course, you can produce way more olive oil through a cooperative than you can as a single producer. And

the more quantity you have, the cheaper the price will be. All your budget brands are getting their oil from cooperatives. But there's something else

cooperatives. But there's something else that also dramatically impacts that cost. Often these olives are harvested

cost. Often these olives are harvested when they're really ripe. Ripe olives

produce way more oil than olives at their earliest stages of maturity. Think

of a piece of fruit. It's juiciest when it's at its ripest, right? Well, olive

oil is the juice of the olive fruit. But

this juice gets blander tasting as the olive ripens. All the pungent flavors,

olive ripens. All the pungent flavors, that delicious pepper and spice are present when the olives are younger when they're mature but not yet ripe. Those

flavor compounds are called polyphenols.

Those antioxidants that deliver so many health benefits. So, the punchier your

health benefits. So, the punchier your olive oil, the healthier it is, too.

Premium extra virgin tends to have higher polyphenols because they're using younger olives and it's a lot more expensive because you get way less oil out of those younger olives. Let's go

through these bottles to get a better understanding of their cost. We'll start

with this $21.95.

This is Antellia. This is the most affordable of the premium brands here.

It's from Greece, the island of Cree, which is known for its high quality Coroniki olive oil. That's a type of olive. This Antellia is produced by a

olive. This Antellia is produced by a cooperative, but it's DOP, meaning it has that authentic stamp of origin. That

certification makes it more expensive than other Greek oils because it has stricter standards to meet in everything from harvesting to bottling. But on the other hand, labor and overhead costs

tend to be lower in Greece. The climate

is perfect for growing olives. All of

this helps keep the cost down compared to, say, in the remote mountains of northern Portugal where this $30 bottle

is from. This is Aushla. Aushla is a

is from. This is Aushla. Aushla is a single producer, a private family-owned estate with 100year-old olive trees prized for their complex flavor. Though

they don't yield as much oil as younger trees, aushla also farms organically.

Organic olive oil will always cost more to produce because you can't use conventional pesticides to control insects, which means the farmers will lose some of their crop due to pest

pressure. And that has to be reflected

pressure. And that has to be reflected in the price. Now, let's take all of that one step further with this $40

bottle of Grumpy Goats. This comes from a small family farm in California. And

when I mean small, I mean just 20 acres of olives. Grumpy Goats takes organic

of olives. Grumpy Goats takes organic farming to another level. Yes, they even use goats to keep the weeds down. On top

of all that, they pick this variety of olive called Pqual by hand. That's

almost unheard of in commercial olive oil production. This gentle way of

oil production. This gentle way of harvesting produces a really high quality oil. And they've won a ton of

quality oil. And they've won a ton of international awards. I mean, if all you

international awards. I mean, if all you know about American olive oil is California olive ranch, and by the way, most of their stuff isn't actually from

California, then this is going to knock your socks off. Go ahead and cook with California Olive Ranch. But for

everything else, this Grumpy Goats is tops.

Now, on to our $50 bottle.

This is 46° parallelo made from casaliva olives native to northern Italy. Like

grumpy goats, also a single producer. So

they're shouldering all the expense, all the risk, but they can also tightly control every step of the process. And

these guys are all about data. They're

known to be super high-tech, using advanced farming technology to monitor every part of the process, irrigation, milling, storage, weather, which can be

pretty dicey at the foot of the Alps.

And all that investment in systems and tools is reflected in the price. If you

like an olive oil that's a bit more delicate and fruity, a bit herbaceious, not too crazy pungent, then this one is a superb choice. Okay, now let's talk

about our big spender.

This bottle of Estublon Organic from France. Like some of our other bottles,

France. Like some of our other bottles, it's also a single producer. It's also

organic. It's also AOP. That's the

French certification of origin like Italy's DOP. And it's also produced from

Italy's DOP. And it's also produced from a type of olive that's distinct to one particular region. Beruette olives from

particular region. Beruette olives from Provence. So, why is this bottle priced

Provence. So, why is this bottle priced so much higher than all the others?

Honestly, a lot of it comes down to packaging and branding. This is a very unique bottle. In fact, it looks kind of

unique bottle. In fact, it looks kind of like a giant perfume bottle. And I bet that's intentional. They clearly want to

that's intentional. They clearly want to show off the color like you would say a whiskey. Ordinarily, I wouldn't

whiskey. Ordinarily, I wouldn't recommend a clear glass. You should look for dark bottles that keep out the light because light degrades olive oil. But in

this case, they've gone ahead and made a fancy box to protect the oil from light.

Now, clearly Esublanc positions itself as a super high-end luxury product. It's

like the Chanel of olive oil. But does

it taste great? Yes. Does it taste better than the $20 bottle of Antella?

Well, I'll answer that in just one sec.

But I will say if you want to get the most fabulous gift for someone you love, go for the eston. The reveal, sir.

Oh god. Can you guys read this handwriting?

Okay. Yeah. Number one, burrio. I knew

that. I'm feeling very proud of myself right now. Bio. And I want to know

right now. Bio. And I want to know seven. Yes. Pompean.

seven. Yes. Pompean.

Okay, I got those two right.

Identified my two supermarkets. Number

two, ooh, this is the Portuguese one, the Aushla.

Number three is Parallelo. Okay.

Oh, this was four. Four was Oh my god, I'm kind of shocked right now, guys.

This is Antalia, which is our $20 one. I

thought this had a very unique flavor.

This one is our French estublon. That's

number five.

And number six, Grumpy Goats. Okay, I

think in the end I said this is the Pqual. I did. Okay, number six. I did in

Pqual. I did. Okay, number six. I did in the end decide this is the Pqual. Grumpy

Goats from California.

All of the premiums had their own qualities, their own distinctive flavor, and I truly enjoyed every one of them.

Now, does that mean expensive olive oil is actually worth it? Well, except for the one big exception, yes. There is a

gulf of difference between the budget brands and the premium ones. And not

just when it comes to flavor, you're also paying extra for extra virgin that's healthier and the confidence in knowing that oil is authentic. Here are

your signals of authenticity. That

certification of origin, a single producer, one family farm controlling the whole process. A harvest date, too.

All good producers list a best buy or a harvest date. This is the stuff you want

harvest date. This is the stuff you want to be eating raw. dipping your bread in, dressing salads with pouring over vegetables and pasta, and there is so

much to explore in this category.

Remember, I've put links to all these bottles in the description. But, as I mentioned, there is one exception, and that's when you're looking for an extra virgin to cook with where heat is going

to break down some of those healthy flavor compounds anyway, then a bottle in the budget category may be your best bet.

That's what I do. In fact, this is what I use to make my outrageously delicious granola. And you can get that recipe

granola. And you can get that recipe right here.