{"id":28,"date":"2026-06-30T19:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:33:59","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/?page_id=28","title":{"rendered":"FAQ \u2014 Honest Answers From the People Who Press the Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Olive<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Good olive oil has nothing to hide, and neither should the people who make it. These are the questions we are asked most \u2014 by home cooks, by chefs, by buyers who have been burned before \u2014 answered the way we would answer a friend at the kitchen table in San Procopio: directly, with the numbers where numbers exist, and with “we don’t know yet” where that is the truth. If your question is not here, write to us on the contact page<\/a> and a person who has stood in the grove will answer it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the oil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where does Olive Father olive oil come from?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From one family, on two hillsides. Our Calabrian oils come from the Posterino family’s groves above San Procopio, at the toe of Italy’s boot, where the same family has farmed for six generations. Our ETRURIUM line comes from the family’s Tuscan estate between Siena and Florence and carries the Toscano IGP seal. We never pool oil from other farms, co-operatives or countries. That is the whole meaning of single source<\/a>, and it is what lets us put a harvest date and an estate name on every label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which olive varieties are in it?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Calabria’s own cultivars, above all Ottobratica and Sinopolese, which give the oil its signature \u2014 green tomato leaf, wild rocket, a fast peppery finish. Tuscany contributes Frantoio, Leccino and Moraiolo, pressed into something more structured and longer on the palate. The cultivar tells you more than most labels ever will; we explain why in our guide to Italian olive varieties<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When is it harvested, and why does that matter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Early \u2014 from mid-October into November, when the fruit is still turning from green to violet. Waiting three more weeks would give us dramatically more oil per tree, and every commodity producer takes that deal. We don’t, because the yield we give up is exactly where the polyphenols, the aroma and the pepper live. Fruit is milled within hours of picking, below 27\u00b0C. The full chain is on harvest and cold pressing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it organic? Is it certified?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our organic line is certified organic under EU rules, and the estate has farmed that way \u2014 cover crops, no herbicide, no synthetic fertiliser \u2014 since long before the certificate existed. ETRURIUM carries the Toscano IGP designation, which is audited by a consortium and verifies both origin and quality. Where a certification applies, it is printed on the bottle; where it does not, we will not imply it. Details on organic and sustainability<\/a> and what DOP and IGP actually mean<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality and freshness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What does “extra virgin” actually guarantee?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Legally: free acidity below 0.8%, a peroxide value below 20 meq\/kg, UV absorbance within limits, and \u2014 the part most bottles quietly fail \u2014 zero sensory defects on a trained tasting panel. Our lots test well inside those numbers; a typical early-harvest Calabrian lot runs around 0.2\u20130.3% acidity. But the grade is a floor, not a ceiling, and a bottle can pass the lab on the day it was filled and be tired a year later under supermarket lights. We wrote about what the two words really require in what makes quality olive oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long does the oil keep?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Olive oil is a fresh fruit juice, not a wine; it does not improve. Unopened, kept cool and dark, a high-polyphenol oil like ours is excellent for eighteen months from harvest and still good beyond that. Opened, use it within two to three months \u2014 not because it becomes unsafe, but because every day of air and light quietly takes something. Store it away from the stove, cap closed, never in the fridge. Our full guide covers storage and how to recognise rancid oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is it bitter and peppery? Is something wrong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nothing is wrong; that is the oil working. Bitterness on the tongue and the catch at the back of the throat come from polyphenols \u2014 chiefly oleocanthal, the compound behind the cough. Official panels score both as positive attributes, and they are the most reliable freshness signal you own, because they fade as the oil ages. A flat, buttery, greasy “extra virgin” has usually lost them. Learn to read the signals on our tasting page<\/a> and on polyphenols<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I tell if any olive oil is fake or low quality?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Five checks, ten seconds. A harvest date, not just a best-by. A named estate or mill, not “packed in Italy,” which describes a bottling plant. Dark glass or tin, never clear. A single origin, not “blend of EU and non-EU oils.” And then your own palate: fruit, bitterness, pepper. The 2010 UC Davis Olive Center study found most imported supermarket oils it sampled failed extra virgin sensory standards \u2014 not always fraud, often just age and heat. Our most-read post lists the seven signs your olive oil is fake<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the kitchen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Can I cook with extra virgin olive oil, or is it only for finishing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cook with it. A fresh extra virgin smokes at roughly 375\u2013410\u00b0F, above the temperature of everyday saut\u00e9ing and roasting, and its high oleic acid and antioxidant content make it one of the most heat-stable oils you can buy \u2014 more stable under prolonged heat, in published tests, than several seed oils with higher smoke points. The idea that you need a cheap “cooking oil” for the pan is a myth we take apart in can you fry with olive oil<\/a>. Cook with the Classic; finish with the Organic, raw, where the aroma is intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which oil should I choose \u2014 Organic, Classic or ETRURIUM?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Organic for the table: the most intense, the greenest, the one to pour over bread, beans, grilled fish and soup. Classic for the stove: the same grove and the same harvest standard, in a profile that starts the soffritto and slicks the roasting tray without argument. ETRURIUM when the occasion wants a name and a place \u2014 balanced, long, unmistakably Tuscan. Tins are how Italian kitchens actually buy oil; bottles are how they serve it. The whole range is on Products<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a spoonful a day really good for you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The evidence is real and specific. The PREDIMED trial found roughly 30% fewer major cardiovascular events in people eating a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil, and the EFSA permits a blood-lipid protection claim for oils delivering at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and derivatives per 20 g. Both findings belong to fresh, phenol-rich oil, not to refined blends. We are careful about this \u2014 read olive oil and health<\/a> for what the science does and does not say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why does it cost more than the supermarket bottle?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because it costs more to make, and the arithmetic is public. Early picking sacrifices yield; milling within hours means the mill sits beside the grove; single-estate bottling gives up the economics of blending; a bad drought year is ours alone to absorb. The cheap bottle is cutting corners you can taste, and we lay out where every dollar goes in why olive oil is so expensive<\/a> and on why not supermarket oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can I buy it online?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Online ordering is opening in stages as this harvest’s allocation for the United States is confirmed. This is the oil’s first arrival in America and we are building the shop with the same patience we give the oil. To be among the first to buy and to hear when it goes live, register through our contact page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you supply restaurants and shops?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes. We work with specialty grocers, restaurants and independent shops that care about provenance. Trade formats, harvest allocation, sampling and how to open an account are on the wholesale page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if I have a question that is not here?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ask it. Lot numbers, acidity results, which block of trees a bottle came from \u2014 we would rather answer than have you guess. Talk to the people who press the oil \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where the oil comes from, when it is harvested, what “extra virgin” legally guarantees, how long it keeps, whether you can cook with it, why it costs more, and how to buy \u2014 answered plainly, with numbers, by the family behind Olive Father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions\/218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivefather.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}