California Olive Ranch Olive Oil Arbequina Ev 500 ml (Pack of 6)

Tastes great good quality fair size bottle hav a spoonful in my smoothies every day

So far I have used two flavors of the California Olive Ranch EV oils: this Arbequina and also their Miller's Blend. The flavors are EXACTLY as described by the company in their product descriptions. This one is light and fruity and the Miller's Blend has a mild peppery flavor but is not "hot" spicy. I love them both.Although EVOO should not be used in cooking because heat destroys the delicate beneficial polyphenols, this brand of olive oil should most definitely never be used in cooking - or you will lose not only the health benefits but also the delicate flavor. The light, fruity flavor of this Arbequina is totally heavenly as a bread dip, and swirling it over lightly cooked veggies also complements the flavor of the vegetables without leaving an "olive oil taste" like the Zoe brand I used to use. And for salads, combined with freshly squeezed lemon juice, it is totally delicious! (You could use it with a good balsamic or red wine vinegar also, but I don't use vinegar of any kind.)This is not a highly processed and filtered oil. There is sediment in the bottom of the bottle. This information about the sediment is also found on the bottle itself. Shaking it well before pouring enhances the flavor.I have not tried the most expensive brands of olive oil on the market so I can't compare this mid price oil to them, but for the price I truly believe this is the best oil on the market. If you are looking for a light, fruity EVOO I recommend the C.O.R. Arbequina.

I don't give five stars unless it's earned. A couple of years ago, my wife and I and my son and daughter-in-law went to Italy for a month. We started in Rome, then to the Almafi coast then to Tuscany. At each place, we rented a villa and toured via a rental car from each villa. We saw a lot of Italy, and tasted a lot of Italy. It's wine and it's olive oil and it's food was our passion. One place we stayed, was on a farm that grew olives and made olive oil. For us that was heaven. We brought back wine and olive oil and then had the olive oil shipped to us from that magical place. I have been searching for an olive oil replacement since I left Italy. I heard on DR OZ that most extra virgin olive oil wasn't what it represented to be. That is why all my efforts to find a replacement olive oil failed. He referenced a study made by the University of Calif at Davis, Olive Oil Center, that conducted a study of off the shelf olive oil and found 73% of that tested, to include some of the most renound, was not extra virgin olive oil. It did find olive oil from the California Olive Ranch to be authenic. We just conducted a blind taste test between the Arbequina extra virgin olive oil from the California Olive Ranch and the olive oil we had shipped from the farm that we stayed. ALL AGREED THE CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL FROM THE CALIFORNIA OLIVE RANCH WAS THE WINNER. It was fruity with a distinctive peppery olive taste. Further, it passed the refig test, that is place the bottle in the frig and see if it becomes solid. Other olive oils I have tested did not "seize up" or become solid even over night. The California Ranch Olive oil seized up in about 2 hours and had a harvest date, the marks of a quality product. I have found the replacement I have been searching for. It is BETTER THAN THE BEST FROM ITALY.

A bit pricey, but for some things there's no substitute.

When I started buying EVOO I read a lot about the benefits and the scandals surrounding it. I read all about the imported extra virgins may not be extra virgin at all. I read about different home tests you could do. I read consumer reports and they reported that KIRKLAND EXTRA VIRGIN olive oil was the real deal and had great flavor.I started buying Kirkland Extra Virgin olive oil but it really bothered me to buy it in a PVC or PET bottle whether or not it was BPA Free.I decided I wanted to buy in glass bottles from now on and continued my search. America's Test Kitchen picked their favorite brand of EVOO as Columela from Spain. I really liked that olive oil and bought it for months. But something in me kept telling me that if I could buy American I should.I found the California Olive Ranch Miller's Choice brand and bought that for awhile but I honestly still preferred the Columela brand from Spain so I went back to it.Then I saw America's Test Kitchen did a test of California olive oils up against there favorite Spanish olive oil (Columela) and though none of their competitors beat their favorite in blind taste testings the California Olive Ranch Arbequina EVOO came in under a fraction of a point under the Columela brand. I decided to give this olive oil a try.I must say this is clearly my favorite EVOO I have tasted yet. Even my wife who is not a fan of EVOO at all noticed the fruitiness of this olive oil and I have successfully won her over. Great product will be buying frequently!

This is excellent olive oil and I use it in nearly everything I cook. I purchased a case after reading the NYT report on olive oil purity and this was one of the highly rated brands. The customer service is also excellent: I had one bottle break in transit but didn't document it, so I left feedback just to let them know they might want to rethink the packaging. They promptly apologized, refunded me for the bottle, and expressed hope I'd continue to be a customer. I got my second case this week, all bottles in perfect shape. I expect I'll be a customer for a long time.