7 Store-Brand Olive Oils, Ranked - Tasting Table

"If you've ever stood in the grocery aisle staring at a dozen extra virgin olive oils, wondering whether the $5 bottle could possibly be as good as the $25 one, you're not alone. Olive oil is one of those ingredients that runs from sublime to shockingly bland, and the price tag doesn't always correlate to quality. Often, in a given grocery store, the store-brand olive oil is the cheapest, but is it worth cutting the cost? Depending on which store you're at, it might be."

"At first glance, Amazon's store-brand olive oil doesn't inspire much confidence. Its pale, yellowish tint immediately raises doubts about whether it's truly extra virgin, and those suspicions only deepen once you take a whiff. The aroma is muted, and it lacks grassy or fruity notes that distinguish higher-quality oils. It's not the bright, peppery kind of bitterness that comes from fresh olives; rather, it's a heavy, dull acridness that coats the tongue and refuses to let go."

"Tasting it straight feels almost punishing, with the oil clinging to the mouth in a way that's more reminiscent of a blended vegetable oil than a first-press olive product. Even used sparingly on bread or in salad dressing, it imparts an unpleasant aftertaste that overshadows other flavors. Swallowing it was genuinely difficult, partly because of its texture, but also because it feels low quality, as though it's been overly refined or blended down."

Grocery store olive oils range from sublime to shockingly bland, and price does not always correlate to quality. A head-to-head taste test compared store-brand bottles from major U.S. grocers, evaluating appearance, aroma, and flavor. Some oils proved disappointingly flat, while others were peppery, complex, and delicious. Amazon's store-brand olive oil displayed a pale, yellowish tint and a muted aroma lacking grassy or fruity notes. The oil presented heavy, dull acridness, clung to the mouth like a blended vegetable oil, and left an unpleasant aftertaste that overpowered bread and dressings.

Read at Tasting Table