Life's Too Short for Bad Olive Oil (Encore)

Summary

The Wirecutter Show - “Life’s Too Short for Bad Olive Oil (Encore)”

Date: July 21, 2026
Hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset, Kyra Blackwell, Rosie Guerin
Guest: Michael Sullivan (Senior Staff Writer, Wirecutter Kitchen Team)

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Episode Overview

This episode is an encore presentation devoted to understanding, buying, and tasting quality olive oil. The hosts, joined by olive oil expert and Wirecutter journalist Michael Sullivan, explore which olive oils stand out after rigorous testing, demystify labeling, and break down storage best practices. Packed with actionable tips, honest reactions, and a live (and sometimes awkward) tasting, listeners will leave knowing how to find, store, and savor a great bottle of olive oil.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

How Olive Oil Degrades & What To Avoid

• Acronym HALT: Heat, Air, Light, and Time are the main enemies of oil freshness.
  • Michael Sullivan: “HALT is the acronym for it. But heat, air, light and time are the things that really degrade oil.” (00:33)
• Storage Tips:
  • Avoid clear bottles (light exposure degrades oil).
  • Use a dark glass bottle or tin with a tight-sealing lid.
  • Do not store next to the stove or in direct light.
  • Avoid plastic bottles when possible due to oxygen permeability.
  • Don’t decant into open carafes unless you’ll use it quickly.
  • No need to refrigerate; leads to condensation and inconvenient chunkiness.

Understanding Olive Oil Labels & Choosing the Best Bottle

• “Extra Virgin” Explained:
  • Means the oil is lab and taste-tested, free from defects, and not processed with excessive heat or solvents (12:14).
  • US Standards: Regulations are weak; California is stricter, but only produces 5% of U.S. olive oil (13:10-13:54).
  • European standards (IOC) aren’t enforced on exports to the U.S.; label claims can be misleading for American buyers (14:32).
• Harvest Date vs. Best By:
  • Only the harvest date tells you how fresh the oil actually is; “Best By” is arbitrary and not reliable (08:21).
• Country of Origin:
  • “Product of [country]” means the olives are from there; “Packed in” or “Imported from” could mean just bottled there (18:30).
  • No need to fixate on Italy, Greece, or Spain; flavor variety comes from cultivars and personal preference.

Tasting & Testing: Wirecutter’s Process

• Selection Criteria:
  • Only oils with a harvest date were tested.
  • Focus on what’s easily available in national grocery chains.
  • Tasted plain (slurping for flavor notes and freshness), then with bread.
• Sensory Cues:
  • Look for fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency (peppery finish is a good freshness sign).
  • Color isn’t an indicator of quality—professionals use dark cups to mask this (09:24).
• Rancid Oil:
  • Smells like “Crayola crayons, waxy, or stale nuts” and tastes flat, briny, or coats your mouth unpleasantly (16:31).

How Long to Keep Olive Oil

• Unopened: Use within 2 years of harvest date (17:42).
• Opened: Finish within 2-3 months (17:42).

Practical Shopping & Storing Tips

• At the Store:
  • Don’t buy the biggest bottle unless you’ll use it fast; freshness declines after opening.
  • Hunt above and below eye-level shelves for hidden gems (27:42).
  • Specialty food stores and transparent online producers are good bets.
• Mail-Order Favorite:
  • Fat Gold (California) – robust flavor, moderate price, transparent practices (28:49).
• Guide Picks:
  • Bertolli (Rich Taste): Bold, peppery, grassy; widely available and affordable (27:12, 34:02).
  • Bono Sicilia PGI Organic Sicilian: Fruity, buttery—great for fish or light salads (34:02).
  • Graza: Bold, peppery, in green plastic—use quickly (24:43, 34:51).

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Live Tasting: Memorable Moments

Segment begins: 29:08

Tasting Notes:

• First oil (Fat Gold, Arbequino olives):
  • “It just smells grassy. Smells very grassy. Yes. I feel like I’m at a farm.” — Michael Sullivan (29:56)
  • Hosts initially surprised by clean and fruity taste with a lingering peppery finish.
• Second oil (Fat Gold, Frantoio olives):
  • More bitter and thick, with herby and fruity undertones.
  • “Pepper. Spicy like. Like black pepper.” — Michael Sullivan (31:31)
• Third oil (deliberately rancid sample):
  • “That’s almost like waxy to me.” — Christine (32:16)
  • “Remember I was saying earlier, is that…like a little essence of crayon?” — Christine (32:22)
  • “It smells like it’s like wackies and cardboard.” — Michael (32:25)
  • “Just coats your mouth…not pleasant.” — Christine (32:34)

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Time-stamped Highlights

• HALT & Storage Rules: 00:33, 10:58, 11:31, 23:30
• True/False Quiz on Olive Oil Basics: 06:19-07:14
• All About the Harvest Date: 07:40, 08:21, 17:19
• Regulations & Labeling Loopholes: 12:14, 13:10, 14:32
• What Rancid Oil is Like: 16:31
• Tasting Technique & Experience: 29:08-33:12
• Top Picks & Shopping Advice: 27:12, 27:42, 28:49, 34:02, 34:51

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Notable Quotes

• “HALT is the acronym for it. But heat, air, light and time are the things that really degrade oil.” — Michael Sullivan (00:33, 10:58)
• “You don’t want to keep it near, like, a heat source, so you want to keep it away from heat. And you want a nice, tight sealing lid on it.” — Michael (06:51)
• “If it just says ‘best by date,’ you have absolutely no idea… It could be old oil, it could be new oil. It could be a mix of both.” — Michael (08:21)
• “The color of olive oil is not an indication of quality.” — Michael (09:24)
• “Most often to me, [rancid oil] smells like a box of Crayola crayons. It will smell waxy. It’ll have just sort of a stale nut smell to it and flavor.” — Michael (16:31)
• “Product of whatever country” means the oil is from there; “Packed in” doesn’t tell you much.” — Michael (18:30)
• “You want to use it up within two years of harvest date. And then once you open it, you want to try to use it up within two to three months.” — Michael (17:42)
• “Above and below [eye-level shelves] is where a lot of higher priced oils will be. That’s called the strike zone.” — Michael (27:42)
• “Fat Gold…reliably good, so flavorful and robust. And we’ll actually be trying some today.” — Michael (28:49)

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Hosts’ Takeaways & Conclusions

• Christine: “I have now the olive oil walk of shame… I’ve been keeping my olive oil in a clear bottle with a spout near the stove… I’ll taste it when I get home to make sure it hasn’t gone rancid.” (35:52)
• Kyra: “I think I’ve decided that I’m not going to be an olive oil person. I’m happy with whatever works and it’s cheap.” (36:29)
• Rosie: “Extra virgin is king of the hill… and the other thing to look for on the bottle: harvest date.” (36:36)
• Christine: “And older is not better here.” (37:11)

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Actionable Tips (Cheat Sheet)

• Skip clear bottles; always buy dark glass or tin.
• Look for extra virgin—but be aware of limited regulations.
• Always check for a harvest date, not just best-by.
• Use opened oil within 2-3 months, unopened within 2 years.
• Store in a cool, dark cupboard—never near heat or light.
• Don’t be afraid to return an oil if it tastes rancid.
• Explore flavors by region & cultivar, not just country.
• At the store: check top & bottom shelves for hidden gems.

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For more info and olive oil picks, check Wirecutter’s guide and the episode show notes.

Transcript

[Kyra Blackwell]

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[Michael Sullivan]

HALT is the acronym for it. But heat, air, light and time are the things that really degrade oil. So, so exposing it to the air, the light and then the time. Obviously, like the longer you wait, the more likely it's going to go rancid. So that's a kind of an easy way to to remember, like, oh, what should I be doing with this? How should I be storing this olive oil? That's an easy way to remember it.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Those just happen to be the same things that make us look old, right?

[Rosie Guerin]

Heat, air, light and time.

[Michael Sullivan]

Air. Exactly. Yeah. I guess it app to us too.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I'm Christine Cyr Clisette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

I'm Rosie Garon and you're listening to the Wirecutter show.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Hey there, it's Christine. I wanted to pop in and let you know that today's episode is a rerun all about finding great olive oil. It's such a great interview and so, so relevant for summer cooking. We wanted to share it with you again. We'll be back with a new episode next week. In the meantime, enjoy.

[Rosie Guerin]

Today we're talking about olive oils.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yes. I love olive oil.

[Rosie Guerin]

I love olive oil.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

It's one of my favorite fats.

[Rosie Guerin]

Especially in the summer. Especially on like some really fresh veg. Oh, yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Ooh, yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

On a super ripe tomato.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Or like when you make your own homemade salad dressing. Yeah, that's good.

[Rosie Guerin]

I recently heard this hot take by a food journalist who said, if you're going to splurge on anything, the grocery store, it should be oil or vinegar. And I kind of subscribe to that. I like being adventurous with taste testing different olive oils.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

That's interesting. I've never thought about the thing that I would spend the most on. Like what? Like I, I think about that with a wardrobe, like always, shoes, gotta get the good shoes. But, but yeah, I, I, I, I could see that all I have a couple of items.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah, Butter.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

These things that are the fats that you cook with.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, I like the idea, but honestly, I'm just gonna splurge on like the protein every single time. I'd rather spend my money there, but I get it.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Well, given it is prime tomato season, olive oil is the thing that you want in the summertime. We thought this would be a great time to talk about our olive oil review with our writer Michael Sullivan, who has been on the show before. He's awesome. He is just a wealth of knowledge. He is gonna come on with us today and talk about olive oils, the ones we've tasted, the ones we recommend. But also he's gonna give us a real schooling on how to shop for olive oil. So if you in the grocery store deciding what you're going to buy, I think you'll be able to walk away from this episode with a lot of really actionable tips on how to get a great bottle.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah. And it turns out one of the ways to identify good olive oil is to taste it. And we're going to do a little bit of that as well.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

That's right.

[Rosie Guerin]

So we're going to take a quick break. When we're back, we'll chat with Michael.

[Kyra Blackwell]

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[Kyra Blackwell]

Welcome back. With us now is Michael Sullivan. He's a senior staff writer on our kitchen team, and he's reviewed a ton of kitchen gear for Wirecutter. So for our review of olive oils, Michael researched over 40 oils and tested over a dozen. And he used to work at an olive oil store. So cool.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Michael, welcome back.

[Michael Sullivan]

Thank you for having us.

[Rosie Guerin]

Who better but you?

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah, absolutely. I'm really excited to talk about this with you today, Michael. Just to lay a picture, a little bit of what our tastings look like in our test kitchen. We have something about, like, 10 staff writers and editors at this point. And I'm always intrigued when you're doing a tasting. It's like this very serious thing that's going on in the test kitchen. I see, like, a group of people sitting around a table. They're quiet. They've got notes in front of them. There's like, little bowls or whatever you guys are eating. I always like to go in and kind of peek in when nobody's in there. I'm gonna admit it. Then I'll go in and look in the fridge and see what you guys are testing. And it's like a wall of butter

[Michael Sullivan]

or, you know, yogurt or whatever.

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Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

And so it's really fun, and you guys do a lot of work, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that. But we thought it would be fun to start this episode by you testing our olive oil knowledge just to get kind of a baseline of what we know.

[Michael Sullivan]

Great. Okay. Yes. So I came up with some true or false questions for you. Okay. First one. True or false? Olive oil doesn't age.

[Kyra Blackwell]

True.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I think it's true.

[Michael Sullivan]

True. Yeah. True or false? Italy is among the biggest importers of olive oil.

[Rosie Guerin]

True.

[Kyra Blackwell]

True.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

True.

[Michael Sullivan]

True. Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Oh, my gosh.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

We know some.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, that one. I feel like that was a tricky one. Okay. True or false? It's fine to store your olive oil near the stove with a pour spout.

[Rosie Guerin]

I'm gonna say true.

[Michael Sullivan]

Oh, it's mixed. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I'm gonna say true.

[Michael Sullivan]

Okay. It's false. Yeah. You don't wanna keep it near, like, a heat source, so you wanna keep it away from heat. And you want a nice, tight ceiling lid on it. You don't want to keep it open to the air.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So you're saying that bottle that's sitting right by the stove is, like, not a good idea.

[Michael Sullivan]

Probably not the best way.

[Rosie Guerin]

It makes a lot of sense because you just reach for it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

You use it for everything.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay, and last one. It's best to store olive oil in the fridge.

[Rosie Guerin]

False.

[Michael Sullivan]

False. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Okay. I didn't answer that one, but I'm just thinking of all the people I know who store their olive oil in the fridge.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I've never heard of that.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

It might be, like.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Doesn't it get, like, all congealed like coconut oil?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah, it does, which is why. Yeah, you don't want to do that on the.

[Rosie Guerin]

Well, anyway, I'd like to say I think we have some things to learn. Let's get into it.

[Michael Sullivan]

Okay.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. So, Michael, first of all, can you tell us how you test olive oils?

[Michael Sullivan]

Typically, for, like, any of our taste tests, we're looking at what's available in national chain grocery stores because we want people to easily find them. And then we also took a stance and only tested bottles with a harvest date. So that's really the only guarantee that you know how fresh your oil is if it has the harvest date on it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Well, all bottles have a harvest on them.

[Michael Sullivan]

They will not. So that will really help you narrow down the selection.

[Rosie Guerin]

And by harvest date, we mean the date that the olives were crushed.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Kind of like wine.

[Michael Sullivan]

Well, sort of like wine. Little different. Yeah, Wine sits for a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For olives, you want to get them crushed as soon as possible.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, got it, got it. Is the harvest date different from the best buy date?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes. So the best buy date is arbitrary. So the harvest date will tell you when exactly those olives were crushed. If it's just a best buy date, you have absolutely no idea. Like what. When that oil was put in that bottle. Right. Like, it could be old oil, it could be new oil. It could be a mix of both. So that really tells you how fresh the oil is. And that's really the only way to know. I mean, there's a lot of other things that we'll talk about today, but. Yeah, that's a big one.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Got it.

[Michael Sullivan]

We didn't include any flavored oils. We really wanted to just do plain olive oil. And then we looked for, you know, oils that would have sort of a range of flavors that, you know, you could use them for various cooking applications.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

And what is the actual testing process? Like, when you are all in that room in the kitchen and you're tasting things together?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. Olive oil's sort of a funny one. I mean, I should mention that we're not trained professional olive oil tasters. These testers train for years isolating like, specific defects in the oil, and that's how they're like grading it for the sensory part of it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Connoisseurs, basically.

[Michael Sullivan]

Sommeliers.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Sommeliers.

[Michael Sullivan]

And so we're not that. So we're tasting just, you know, based on like flavor and the nuances of that. But we did follow the California Olive Oil Council's guidelines for tasting. So we use these little blue cups that are tulip shaped and they're dark colored so that you don't see the color of the oil because that's not an indication of quality. So it sort of masks the color so you're not influenced by that.

[Rosie Guerin]

These look like mini. Like sifters.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Can you look?

[Michael Sullivan]

Sifters?

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah.

[Michael Sullivan]

They look like little brandy. Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Like when you have a really fancy

[Rosie Guerin]

whiskey, a little brandy.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michael Sullivan]

But the tulip shape helps to focus the aroma when you're smelling it. So we use, we use these when we test, which is this is what professional tasters would also use. And then we concealed all the brands as we always do with our taste tests. And then we're evaluating, like the smell, you know, the fruitiness, the bitterness, the pungency, like how peppery that kick you get in the back of your throat when you swallow. Good indication of how fresh the oil is.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

So are you just sipping the oil? You're not like dipping bread into it or something?

[Michael Sullivan]

Slurping it. Slurping it, yeah. Because you want to sort of move it across your palate. And the oil. We also do test it with bread. After we.

[Kyra Blackwell]

After you slurped it.

[Michael Sullivan]

After we've slurped it, yeah. You know, we always go back and taste the oils again with bread.

[Rosie Guerin]

So much to my wife's chagrin. I love spending a lot of time in the olive oil section at the grocery store. I'm never quite sure what I should look for on a bottle. So can you walk us through what you should look for when you're going to grab a bottle of olive oil?

[Michael Sullivan]

Sure, yeah. I mean, it is very overwhelming when you're standing in the store and you're like, oh my God, all these bottles. One of the easiest things you can do right away is avoid clear glass bottles. The UV rays will degrade the oil and that's through photo oxidation. So it's HALT is the acronym for it. But heat, air, light and time are the things that really degrade oil. So exposing it to the air, the light and then the time, obviously, like the longer you wait, the more likely it's going to go rancid. So that's kind of an easy way to remember like, oh, what should I be doing with this? How should I be storing this olive oil? That's an easy way to remember it.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Those just happen to be the same things that make us look old, right?

[Rosie Guerin]

Heat, air, light and time.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I guess it applies to us too. So a clear bottle, you just don't know how that was stored. You don't know where it was stored, how long it's been exposed to light. So it's just you risk it being already oxidated by the time you open it. So that's an easy one to avoid.

[Rosie Guerin]

Dark bottle.

[Michael Sullivan]

So you want a dark. A tin or a dark green bottle, dark glass. And then I think most people know to look for extra virgin olive oil, but I don't know that everyone really knows what that means. Actually, that should have been a true or false question, but I would have

[Kyra Blackwell]

gotten that one too.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah, same talk about it.

[Michael Sullivan]

So what it means is that the oil has been lab and taste tested, like I professional tasters, and they're making sure that it's free of any defects. And also it can't have any excessive heat applied to it during the extraction. And the use of any sort of solvents or chemicals to extract that oil are prohibited. So it's the highest grade. This comes with some caveats, and I think if you bear with me for a minute, I can kind of like dig into this for a minute.

[Rosie Guerin]

Love it.

[Michael Sullivan]

So there's no national or international agreed upon standard for olive oil. So the USDA has their own guidelines, but they're voluntary for producers, which means it's not mandatory. So an oil that's coming in from another country, that's coming into the United States at the border, there's no one checking it to be like, oh, you know, randomly checking it to make sure that it is indeed what it says on the label. That grade is what it is. Right. California has its own laws.

[Rosie Guerin]

Shocking.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes. So the California Department of Agriculture cdfa, they have some pretty strict laws. Actually, they're slightly stricter than the usda. The acidity level has to be lower for the oils that are extra virgin. They're randomly tested by the cdfa. So the producer of olive oil is going to have a random person come and show up and they're going to test the oil to make sure that is indeed what it says it is. But California only makes something like 5% of the oil in the U.S. the rest is all imported. So it's like a huge amount of oil that's coming in from elsewhere. So while their Guidelines are really strict. It's not that much oil.

[Rosie Guerin]

So this is for olive oil that's made in California.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes. And specifically for producers that make 5,000 gallons of oil or more.

[Rosie Guerin]

Wow.

[Michael Sullivan]

Okay. Yeah. Then when we're talking about oils in Europe, they have the ioc, the International Olive Council, and they are an intergovernmental organization. And setting the guidelines kind of for all these different countries. Right. In Europe. And all of the European Union countries are part of the ioc, but they are not enforcing the laws for the olive oil. That's up to each of the countries that is a member of the ioc. Right. And that's for all of the oils that are sold in Europe. So they're taste tested and they're lab tested. But because the US Is not a member of the ioc, there's not really an incentive to, like, make sure that the best oils are coming our way

[Rosie Guerin]

so they can export, like, the dregs.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah, they're sending us their junk.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. I mean, in theory. No, they should not be. Right.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah.

[Michael Sullivan]

But.

[Rosie Guerin]

But they. How would we know? Yeah.

[Michael Sullivan]

Right. Now, I should mention, like, the FDA has done random testing. They did about 10 years ago. They were in the D.C. area and they grabbed a bunch of bottles of oil from grocery stores and had them lab tested. And they found that adulteration was low, meaning the oils were not cut with seed oils or other types of oil.

[Rosie Guerin]

Okay.

[Michael Sullivan]

They did not do a taste test. So the oils could still be labeled extra virgin, but not be extra virgin. Because let's say when it got shipped over here, it was way too hot and it's spoiled on the way, but it still says extra virgin on the label. But then you bring it home and you use it, and it's no longer what it says it is. It's a purity versus quality issue. The reason that you do a lab test and a taste test is because the lab test is picking up the acidity level. And then the taste test is picking up all the things you couldn't pick up in a lab. Like, any defects. Oh, it smells like dirty gym clothes. Or it has, you know, it's. It's briny or it smells like it's waxy. Like they're picking up all the flaws that you wouldn't be able to determine in a test. So they're done in tandem for that reason.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

If you see extra virgin olive oil on the shelf, what you're saying is that it likely has been processed in a certain way with, like, low heat. It's been lab tested, but you may not know the Quality of that oil on the shelf that you're seeing in the supermarket.

[Michael Sullivan]

Right, right. Which is why I think tasting it is so important. And what's frustrating about that, people are like, well, what's the actionable advice? Like, what do you do tasting the oil to make sure that it's not rancid? And if it is, then you can take it back to the retailer and be like, this is rancid. And they'll give you a refund or a store credit because you really shouldn't be paying all that money. I mean olive oil is expensive. So like you shouldn't be paying all that money if it's not what it says it is on the label.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

What is rancid oil? How would you describe the flavor of rancid oil?

[Michael Sullivan]

So most often to me it smells like a box of Crayola crayons. It will smell waxy. It'll have just sort of a stale nut smell to it and flavor. It could also be like slightly fermented. Might have like a briny or like sour kind of quality to it sometimes. But I find it for me anyway, it's like more often like when I worked in olive oil store, it was more that it had that waxy quality. An old oil will also sort of cling to your mouth, It'll stick to the walls of your mouth and it's kind of, it's gross. But like a fresh oil is actually like quite clean, which is kind of surprising I think. I think most people be like, you're drinking fat, but it actually, when you swallow it, it is like a very like kind of refreshing, like clean. Doesn have that same effect when you taste it.

[Rosie Guerin]

We'll see about that when we taste it.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

When you're looking at the harvest date, is there a time period that you would recommend? What's the window?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. So generally in the northern hemisphere it's the fall and winter harvest. And then the southern hemisphere it'll be spring and summer. So you're looking for the previous harvest date from whatever time you're in.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And if it goes beyond that, maybe it's from two seasons ago. Is that too far back?

[Michael Sullivan]

You want to use it up within two years of the harvest date is a good rule of thumb. And then once you open it, you want to try to use it up within two to three months. So I know big families can buy those big three liter tins and they can use it up in two to three months and that's great. But if you can't do that, like don't be buying these giant bottles if you can't use it up within.

[Rosie Guerin]

No, you know, really well, because remember, olive oil does not get better with age.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, I guess it's true. But if you buy in bulk and you don't open them, it's still like not.

[Michael Sullivan]

Well, as long as you're in that. That, that's sort of that two year window. Yeah, yeah. But generally buy smaller if you can't use it up within that window once you open it.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

So here's the big question. How much does country of origin matter? I feel like there's so much debate, like Italy is the best, Greece is the best, Spanish is the best. I mean, is, does it break down like that or does it really even matter?

[Michael Sullivan]

I don't like to discriminate based on like a region. I really encourage people to try just all kinds of olive oil from all over and see what they like. It's like wine in a lot of ways. You know, it doesn't age like wine, but it has. There are so many nuances and flavors and there's so many cultivars of olives that can be made and they are in certain regions versus others. And so to limit yourself to like one region, I think is doing yourself a disservice. I think it's really fun. And because it's, it's such a pantry staple, like you're using olive oil, or at least I am all the time, that it's really easy to just buy whatever and try different stuff and see what you like. And eventually you'll kind of figure out like, oh, I really like this type of oil. Or, you know, I like it really bold and grassy and peppery. Or maybe you like it more like fruity and a little more mellow with a subtle pepperiness. So you'll sort of, by tasting a bunch of them, you'll discover what you like. The important thing, country aside, you really want to look for on the label, it should say product of whatever the country is, because that means that the olive oil is from that country. Right. If it says imported from or packed in, that just means that the oil was bottled there. Right. And so you know how earlier the true or false question. Italy is one of the biggest importers. That's because they're also exporting it. But it's bottled in Italy. But it'll say imported from Italy. But if you look on the back of the, it should say like where the olives are actually from. It's not bad that the olives are from this other place, but I think it's just like, it's a little bit of like marketing saying centrifuge.

[Rosie Guerin]

Is there any benefit of trying to assure that you're getting something that's quote unquote, single origin, like where all of the olives are from one place or what'. Your, what's your feeling about blends? Like, because I've seen, you know, olive oil from Portugal plus, yeah, Italy or something like that, I think.

[Michael Sullivan]

So blends is, it's important I think to kind of define what we're talking about. So you could have a blend of two oils from two different estates, but you could also have a blend of oils from literally all over the world that are like five or six different countries. Those are often cheaper. We're talking about like some of the big grocery store brands do this. They're combining oils from all over the world and, and you know, you just don't know how long those oils were sitting where, when. I mean that's why the harvest day is so important. Right? Especially when you have all these oils from all over.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Well, now I feel like I have been doing a lot of things wrong with my olive oil. But just to recap, by and large, people should be looking for extra virgin olive oil. If they want the most flavorful, the most kind of complex oil, they want to be looking for that harvest date and it should be within two years. You want to consume it within two years of harvest.

[Michael Sullivan]

Right.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Clear oil in a dark bottle or in a can.

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Right.

[Kyra Blackwell]

We're going to take a quick break and then when we're back, we're going to talk through how you should be storing your olive oil. And we're going to do a taste test. Plus we'll get some of Michael's best secrets for finding a great olive oil out in the wild. Be right back.

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[Michael Sullivan]

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[Michael Sullivan]

Welcome back.

[Kyra Blackwell]

We're here with Michael Sullivan and we're talking all about olive oil. And we'd covered a lot of the basics for what you should be looking for when you're shopping in the aisles. But now we want to know, Michael, what you think most people are doing wrong when it comes to storing their olive oil at home.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, I think the most common issue is storing the olive oil right next to the stove. Just because that heat, like when you think about, like, oh, for extra virgin, you don't want excessive heat applied to it during production. Right. So then to just put it right next to the stove sort of defeats that whole purpose. And they worked so hard. Ideally to.

[Rosie Guerin]

For those of you at home, Michael is making meaningful eye contact with Christine and Kyra.

[Michael Sullivan]

I am.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I keep mine in a clear bottle

[Rosie Guerin]

with a spout next to.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'll change, I guess.

[Michael Sullivan]

But also, you want to try to avoid decanting the oil, like in a clear glass bottle or some sort of carafe. I know. And I have a beautiful one that I found at an estate sale. And I'm just sort of like, I guess I just look at you. I don't know what I do with you. But yeah, like we were saying, dark glass or tin is best. Ideally a tight sealing lid. Avoid pour spouts. I mean, like, you know, restaurants will have them in open, but think about how quickly they're going through that oil. It's like, like not an issue. And it's best to store it in like a dark cupboard or pantry, like away from heat and light, so not

[Kyra Blackwell]

directly above your stove.

[Michael Sullivan]

Got it. Yeah, yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And what about plastic? I mean, even one of the bottles that we recommend, Graza. Yeah, the Graza. I see it in grocery stores all

[Michael Sullivan]

the time in Bertoli too.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, it looks really cute, honestly, but it's in a green plastic bottle. What's the deal with that?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. So, you know, the experts that I spoke to, they overwhelmingly say that it should not be put in plastic. And I think they're pointing to the fact that it, you know, some plastics are semi permeable, so then there's the risk of oxygen getting in. So they really say to stick to glass and tin. You know, I think it's hard because so many of the reasonably priced oils in the grocery store, some of them are in plastic. And so, like, we included them in our lineup because we just felt like we needed to, you know, include some of these reasonably priced oils. You know, I think just using them up quickly is. Is probably best advice.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Can we spend a beat talking about why you're not supposed to refrigerate your olive oil? I grew up with a bottle of olive oil in the refrigerator. I don't like how it gets chunky, but I would assume that keeping it in the refrigerator would extend the life of the olive oil and keep it from the heat that could, you know, accelerate it going rancid. So why not keep it in the refrigerator?

[Michael Sullivan]

For one thing, it's impractical because then you. Yeah, like you're saying you have this congealed oil, so when you go to use it, you're like, okay, now I'm waiting for this to thaw and come back to being liquid again. And some people will run it under hot water, which probably not a good idea. Also, the taking it in and out of the fridge can create condensation, which, you know, some experts were saying that that's also obviously bad for it. So you just want to keep it in a cupboard at room temperature. The fridge thing, don't bother. There was also some misinformation circulating many years ago that was like, if you put your olive oil in the fridge and it congeals or it solidifies, that's an indication of quality. And it's. No, it's not an indication of quality because all, you know, each oil will have a different density and they're going to solidify different temperatures. And only a lab test and a taste test can determine the quality of the oil.

[Kyra Blackwell]

What's the most surprising thing that you found during your testing?

[Michael Sullivan]

You know, I think when we made the decision to only include oils that have a harvest date, I thought there would be fewer than there actually were at the grocery store. And some of the big brands like Bertoli is one of them that I was actually really surprised by.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Which is one of our picks, right?

[Michael Sullivan]

Which is one of our picks. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I mean, that's surprising to me. Like, we tasted all these sort of fancier oils, what I would consider more expensive fancier oils. But Bertolli did well against these other oils.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, it did, which was surprising, you know, but it has that bold, peppery, really grassy flavor to it, which was appealing.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

So I want to know, if someone is in a grocery store, they don't have access to the oils that we recommend in our guide. They want to buy a nice oil. What are some tips for finding something good?

[Michael Sullivan]

If you're in a grocery store, like Whole Foods or somewhere like, you often want to look not at eye level. So like, above and below is where a lot of higher priced oils will be. Or any product really, for that matter. Like, a lot of. You'll notice if you go to like, Walmart or wherever, like, all the white label products are all eye level. That's called the strike zone. And it's all strategically placed for the consumer. So same applies to olive oil. You'll often find, like, at the bottom, you know, some. Some more interesting oils, not like the major brands that are at all the chains.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's why my toddlers are always picking the oil.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes, they have champagne taste, but yeah, that's like a good thing. You can also look online too. If you don't have a specialty food store. A lot of specialty food stores, if you have one in your area, will have maybe a better selection. If you live in an area where you don't have access to stores like that, you could go online and just do a little bit of research. A producer that's very transparent online and shares their lab results. Wow, that's like a pretty. They're not hiding anything. Right? So I think that's a good indication of a quality producer.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

What's your favorite mail order brand? Give us the inside scoop.

[Michael Sullivan]

So one of my favorites is Fat Gold, and they're actually based in California. They're moderately priced. It's just like reliably good. And it's so flavorful and robust. And I just. It's one of my faves. And we'll actually be trying some today, so.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Ooh, I'm very excited.

[Rosie Guerin]

Okay, Michael, you brought some oils for us to try.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Let's do it.

[Rosie Guerin]

Let's taste test. Unfortunately, the process is to swirl, sniff, slurp, and then swallow.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Great.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yay.

[Rosie Guerin]

Which is just. Just horrifying.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Horrifying to do on air.

[Rosie Guerin]

So this is number one.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes, this is number one. So, okay, so first hold it in your hand and there's like a little lid for these Sometimes. Or you could just use your hand. You just want to, like, swirl it in your hand and just sort of, like, warm the oil a little bit. Just makes it easier to smell. And then this is quite a picture.

[Rosie Guerin]

We are holding these little tulip glasses and swirling them with our palms over the tops.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

It's delicious.

[Rosie Guerin]

And then you knock your nose.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

You don't like the smell? I love the smell. I feel like I'm in Italy.

[Michael Sullivan]

It just smells grassy. Smells very grassy. Yes. I feel like I'm at a farm.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

All right.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. So now. So when you slurp it, you just slurp it and. And slip it across your. Be noisy. I know. It's a weird sensation. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Oh, my God. That's so weird.

[Rosie Guerin]

We're losing Kyra.

[Kyra Blackwell]

You guys, I don't think I can do this two more times.

[Rosie Guerin]

I really did not like the experience of it in my mouth, just drinking oil.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

But the after of it, the way that the flavor diffuses on the palate and really kicks you in the back of the throat. That's so nice.

[Michael Sullivan]

It is very fruity. And this isn't even the most. Yeah, green apple, definitely. Yeah, yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

So that's number one. This is olive oil.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Number two, we're swirling, we're warming.

[Rosie Guerin]

Let's get the nose in there.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Oh, wow.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, I like this one better. It's not grassy dirt smelling like fruits.

[Michael Sullivan]

Like.

[Rosie Guerin]

Like light fruit. Maybe a little herby.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, definitely getting herbs on this. Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

So swirl, sniff, slurp, swallow.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I'm slurping.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I didn't hear you.

[Rosie Guerin]

Go on.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That was the.

[Michael Sullivan]

Okay.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Okay.

[Michael Sullivan]

So bit. But this one's, like, bit very bitter.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah, it's a little bit.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I can handle this one.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

This one isn't doing anything for me.

[Michael Sullivan]

Oh, really? Maybe because you already hit your.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Maybe because it already hit me, I don't feel any sensation.

[Michael Sullivan]

In other words, slurp it, like, across your tongue. Yeah, yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

Oh, my God. Cause this is spicy in the tongue and in the back.

[Michael Sullivan]

Pepper. Spicy like. Like black pepper.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

The other thing to say about this one is it's very thick. It's. In terms of viscosity.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah. Has, like, a buttery quality to it. Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

But it's not, like, clinging to my mouth. Like, the last one kind of was.

[Michael Sullivan]

Oh, really? Yeah, yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

Number one. Tasted more oily.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah. This has a buttery quality to it. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

This is very mild to me. It tastes bitter.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

And I feel a little bit of a burn.

[Michael Sullivan]

Oh, interesting.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Nothing like that first burn.

[Michael Sullivan]

That first burn is like, whoa. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Okay. This is number three.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay.

[Rosie Guerin]

And cap it and warm it.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Swirling, Swirl, warming. We're swirling. And I'm going to sniff.

[Rosie Guerin]

Whoa.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

That's almost like waxy to me.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. Remember I was saying earlier, is that

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

like a little essence of crayon? I think it's like a red crayon.

[Michael Sullivan]

It really does. Isn't it wild? It smells like it's like wackies and cardboard.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah, it smells old. Just like, old.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Is it safe? This is the rancid one.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

Swirl, sniff, slurp and swallow, guys. Oh, just coats your mouth.

[Michael Sullivan]

I know. It's a different. I don't like that Michael sensation is.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I don't like if you were like you just played an off note or something. Yeah, like, it's like.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah, doesn't have that burn. It's flat. Clings to your mouth. Michael's. That's been sitting in my window for about a month with a loose lid on it in a clear glass jar.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

In preparation for this day.

[Michael Sullivan]

In preparation for this day.

[Kyra Blackwell]

This is what it would taste like if you just drank straight vegetable oil.

[Michael Sullivan]

Yeah. Yeah. It has that sort of. So it's like, lost all of its. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

And the lingering flavor is just not pleasant.

[Michael Sullivan]

So number one was fat gold, and it's their oil that's made from Arbequino olives. And the second one was also fat gold, but it is from Frantoio olives. That was the bitter, spicy one. I just got this shipment in, so I was like, oh, this'll be fun. I think it's nice because, you know, the olives. Some of the grocery store brands aren't gonna have the type of olive. So I thought it would be interesting for you to try, like, a specific type of olive cultivar.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

So.

[Michael Sullivan]

And then the last one was my little jar of gross oil.

[Rosie Guerin]

Clear jar.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

What are some of the. These are not picks.

[Michael Sullivan]

No. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

What are some of the picks that we have in our guide that you really love, that you've been using since you. Since you did this guide?

[Michael Sullivan]

Yes. Okay, so for one that's like, really fruity and buttery, that's really good with fish, or like a lighter salad dressing. Maybe a salad dressing that has fruit in it. I really like the Bono Sicilia PGI organic Sicilian olive oil. That one's really good. We all really like that one. It's not going to be a. As pungent and bold as some of the others. Like, if you want something more bold, Bertolle is like, really? We Tested the rich taste one. That's what they call it, the rich taste. So it's just like the bold, peppery. So they're blend. There's a blend of a bunch of olives, but that's, like, gonna be the more, like, grassy, bold one. But yeah, that's like, kind of. Those are, like the two extremes of the spectrum. And then also the Graza, that one's also gonna be a little more bold and peppery. Yeah.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Love it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Michael, what's the last thing you've recently bought that you've really loved?

[Michael Sullivan]

Oh, so this is kind of nerdy, but. So I do a lot of sewing, but I just bought these antique buttons. I'm laughing as I'm saying this, so I sound like such a dork. But they're, like, portraits of these very fabulous women. They're like 100 years old, and they have, like, little portraits, and one of the women is wearing a big jaunty hat. So anyway, like, I'm to put them on a shirt that I'm going to make. Where did you find them, the World Wide Web? WW No, I got them on. On ebay.

[Rosie Guerin]

Michael, thanks so much for joining us.

[Michael Sullivan]

Thank you so much.

[Rosie Guerin]

Another great episode with Michael Sullivan.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

I mean, when are we going to have him back again? He's so great.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. He better not bring any more olive oil around me.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah. To be fair, we don't want to drink any more of his olive oil.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

No.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Lovely man.

[Rosie Guerin]

Lovely man.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Please don't ever make me do that again.

[Rosie Guerin]

Y', all, what are you all taking away from this episode?

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Well, I truly feel that I have now the olive oil walk of shame to do on this show where I need to admit that I've been keeping my olive oil in a clear bottle with a spout near the stove because it's super convenient. And I guess I'm gonna have to stop doing that when I get home.

[Rosie Guerin]

For shame.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yes, for shame. For shame. And I think because of the way I've been storing my oil, I will taste it when I get home to make sure it hasn't gone rancid.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Wow, you're brave.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. I'm just gonna assume that my olive oil is bad, and I'm just gonna buy a new one. No need.

[Rosie Guerin]

What are you gonna get?

[Kyra Blackwell]

I think I'm gonna get the Bertolle, because I definitely seen that in every grocery store I've ever been to.

[Rosie Guerin]

So very accessible.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I think I've decided that I'm not going to be an olive oil person. I'm happy with whatever works and it's cheap.

[Rosie Guerin]

I feel like this conversation validated the fact that I am an olive oil person and will continue to be. I'm taking away that extra virgin is king of the hill. That's what you look for. The designation you look for when you know you want to have something that is that real authentic olive taste. And then the other thing to look for on the bottle. Harvest date.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah. Really trying to ensure that you see a harvest date and that it's within two years that you're consuming it from harvesting.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And not to be confused with the best buy date.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Right.

[Rosie Guerin]

Not to be confused with the best by date.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

And older is not better here.

[Rosie Guerin]

Older is not better. We're not aging like fine wine. If you want to find out more about Michael's reporting, you can check out our show notes and our website. That's it for us. Thanks so much for listening.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Bye bye.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

The Wirecutter show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Mattie Mazziello and Nick Pittman. Today's episode was mixed by Katherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Rowan Nimisto, Catherine Anderson and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager. Manager Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor in chief. I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

And I'm Rosie Guerin.

[Christine Cyr Clisette]

Thanks for listening.

[Michael Sullivan]

It's. Yeah. If you're not used to trying it. The reaction was just like people like choking in public in the store. You're like, oh my gosh, are you okay?

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