Buying olive oil direct from the grower: how it works and what to ask
How direct sale of olive oil works, what guarantees you have, what the seller should be able to tell you, and where the scams are.
What the grove teaches us
From the grove to the kitchen, told by the people who make it
No borrowed advice and no magazine recipes. What we do each harvest in a rain-fed grove in Marmolejo, and what you ask us when you order a bottle.
Can you fry with extra virgin olive oil? Smoke point, reuse and myths
Why the smoke point argument is mostly wrong, how many times you can reuse the oil, and when using a premium bottle is simply a waste.
How extra virgin olive oil is made, step by step in a two-phase mill
From trailer to bottle: cleaning, milling, malaxation, decanter and tank. What each stage decides and where the quality is lost.
Does olive oil go off? How long an opened bottle lasts
Best before versus expiry, how long an opened bottle really holds up, and the clear signs that an oil has gone rancid. Plus how to store it.
How to read an olive oil label: the seven things that matter
What to check on a bottle of olive oil before you pay, in what order, and which impressive-sounding claims mean absolutely nothing.
Jaén olive oil: regions, PDOs and what sets them apart
The full map of Jaén olive oil: plains and mountain ranges, the four denominations of origin, and what to expect from each part of the province.
Picual, Arbequina, Hojiblanca and Cornicabra: which one is for you
The four big Spanish olive varieties compared: how each one tastes, what it suits in the kitchen, and which keeps best in the bottle.
Rain-fed or irrigated olive oil: what changes in the glass
Why a thirsty olive tree makes a more concentrated oil, how much less it yields, and why almost no label ever tells you which one you bought.
Shipping olive oil to Europe: what survives, how long and what it costs
How olive oil is packed so it does not break, which destinations need customs clearance, and realistic delivery times for an EU shipment.
