Terminology

Terminology

When we talk about oil, mill, and everything related to the world of olives, we generally nod along, but do we really understand the terms used, such as ACIDITY of the oil, UNSATURATED ACIDS, BLENDING, etc.?

Here we try to explain these words in a simple way for better understanding. We will add a new term every month.

Olive Oil

This is the oil that contains at least 10% virgin olive oil, and the rest is refined olive oil.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is the oil produced in a mill, meaning that it has come from olives and has been produced in the mill, and has obtained an average defect in the TASTING PANEL between 0 and 2.5.

Virgin Extra Olive Oil

This is the oil produced in a superior quality mill. To be considered EXTRA, this oil must pass a TASTING PANEL that determines whether it is EXTRA or not. So, an extra virgin olive oil is also virgin, but it does not have to be the other way around.

Mill, olive oil mill, or press

This is the place where VIRGIN olive oil is produced. The word mill comes from Arabic and means “place where it is squeezed.”

Bitterness of extra virgin olive oil

A quality extra virgin olive oil should, depending on its variety, be slightly bitter. There are varieties in which bitterness is very low by nature, but in others it is very high. Our extra virgin olive oil CLEMEN should be slightly bitter, just as it should be for an oil made with MANZANILLA olives. This bitterness will be more intense if the olive is MORISCA. Bitterness indicates the FRESHNESS of the oil and also that it has NOT BEEN MIXED. It is a symbol of naturalness, purity, and quality.

Pungency of extra virgin olive oil

Like bitterness, the pungency of extra virgin olive oil is a synonym of quality. But it also depends on the variety; some olives are sweeter while others are more pungent. The MANZANILLA variety is moderately pungent, so a slight to medium pungency in the mouth during tasting is a symbol of FRESHNESS and QUALITY. Sometimes it is easy to identify oils that are not extra virgin because they do not present any type of pungency.

These two characteristics of the oil are more intense the fresher the oil is, so if an oil is pungent and/or bitter, it is a sign of freshness, of oil from the current year, and of quality.