The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the UK: What to Look For

The best extra virgin olive oil is fresh, traceable to a named place, independently lab tested, and tastes green, bitter and peppery. Price and a pretty label tell you very little. Here are the seven things worth checking before you buy a bottle in the UK.

1. A specific origin, ideally a single estate

"Packed in Italy" or "a blend of EU oils" can mean olives from several countries, mixed together. The best oils name a region, and the very best name a single estate or mill. The more specific the origin, the more accountable the producer.

2. A harvest date

Olive oil is a fresh product, not one that improves with age. Look for a harvest date or season (for example 2025/26) rather than only a best-before date. Oil from the most recent harvest will taste noticeably brighter.

3. Published lab results

Any producer can write "extra virgin" on a label. Confident producers have their oil independently tested and share the numbers. The key ones are:

• Free acidity: must be 0.8% or below for extra virgin. Lower is better.
• Peroxide value: must be 20 or below. Lower means less oxidation.
• Polyphenols: no legal minimum, but higher generally means a fresher, more robust oil.

4. Polyphenol content

Polyphenols are the natural antioxidants in olives. They give great oil its bitterness and peppery kick, and they help protect it from going stale. Robust varieties picked early, like Puglia's Coratina, tend to be richest in them.

5. Dark glass or a tin

Light and heat damage olive oil. Clear bottles on a bright supermarket shelf are a warning sign. Choose dark glass or a tin, and store it away from the hob at home.

6. How it tastes

Pour a little into a glass and sip it. A great extra virgin olive oil smells fresh and green, like cut grass, tomato leaf or artichoke. It's pleasantly bitter on the tongue, with a peppery catch in the throat. Greasy, musty or flat flavours mean it's past its best.

7. A price that makes sense

Very cheap extra virgin olive oil is hard to produce honestly. You don't need to spend a fortune, but expect to pay more for a single-estate, lab-tested oil than for a supermarket blend.

How ours measures up

Our extra virgin olive oil comes from a single estate between Puglia and Basilicata. It's Coratina-led, cold pressed, unfiltered and bottled at source. An independent ISO 9001-certified laboratory measured 687 mg/kg polyphenols, 0.36% acidity and a peroxide value of 7.06. See the full lab results.

Quick answers

Is Italian olive oil the best? Italy, Spain and Greece all produce excellent oils. Origin matters less than freshness, variety and how the oil was made.

Is extra virgin worth it over regular olive oil? Yes, for flavour and freshness. "Olive oil" without "extra virgin" is usually refined, with most of the flavour and polyphenols removed.