Olive Oil Set O-Med Limited Edition Picual & Arbequina 500ml

Tasting set from O-Med with 500 ml each of Arbequina and Picual olive oil

If you have always thought that all high-quality olive oils taste the same, you should not miss out on the O-Med tasting set. You don't have to be an expert to recognize the really striking differences between the two top oils, O-Med Arbequina and O-Med Picual. To experience each of the two oils in its full variety of taste and aroma, your mouth should be free of any foreign taste when you take the first sip.

Before tasting, drink a large sip of water or eat a piece of dry white bread. Don't smoke cigarettes and try to stay away from strong scents such as perfume. Then you will be able to detect a variety of different nuances from the first few drops that you enjoy raw.

It depends on the type of olive

The aromas that a high-quality olive oil has to offer depend on the time of harvest of the fruit and on the other hand the type of olive also plays a very important role. Because each type of olive has its own, typical scents and flavors.

The Arbequina olive is one of the smallest olive varieties, about the size of a hazelnut. Despite this, it is very productive in terms of oil yield. And because its oil, which is characterized by predominantly soft fruit aromas, is also popular with most olive oil beginners, the cultivation of the Arbequina olive is becoming increasingly widespread in Spain.

Arbequina olive oil, which comes from the fruit of an early harvest, is green in color and has a slight bitterness in addition to the fruity scents and flavors. If the oil is obtained from riper olives, the Arbequina oil is golden yellow. It smells strongly of apple and banana and, with an almost sweet taste, is reminiscent of the fruit puree from baby food.

The Picual olive is a medium-sized variety. The young olive is round and takes on an oval, pointed shape as it ripens. Because Picual olive oil contains a particularly high amount of oleic acid, it is more stable than other olive oils. It is therefore also suitable for use in the kitchen at higher temperatures.

However, the Picual olive also has more polyphenols than other varieties. On the one hand, this makes its oil one of the healthiest, but on the other hand, Picual olive oil always has a bitter taste. The green color predominates in Picual olive oil. And so it smells and tastes primarily of fresh, green herbs.

A tasting set of opposites

Because the Arbequina olives at O-Med also come from a very early harvest, their oil has a green-yellow color. In addition to apple and banana, the scent and taste also contain wonderfully fresh herbal aromas. There is even a nutty note.

Despite the very early harvest time, O-Med 's Arbequina olive oil also has a mild sweetness. It is not bitter, but has a slightly peppery aftertaste that lingers for a while even after swallowing.

The Picual olive oil from O-Med comes from fruits that are harvested very early, as early as October. Therefore, it has slightly more polyphenols than a conventional Picual oil. In addition to the scent and taste of green herbs, the very healthy olive oil from O-Med also scores points with aromas of tomato plants, green almonds, artichokes and olive leaves.

It is a very complex olive oil that surprises with a slightly peppery note in the finish. The fresh, green oil lasts for a long time and causes a slight itching sensation in the throat when consumed raw. The Picual from O-Med is particularly expressive and also gives your dishes a very characteristic taste.

Which oil goes with which dish?

As a soft, slightly sweet olive oil, we like to use O-Med 's Arbequina with light and delicate dishes.

It goes particularly well with

• green leaf salads
• fruit salad
• fine fish dishes
• cold sauces
• homemade bread or cake

We prefer the full-bodied, characterful Picual from O-Med to go with hearty and savory dishes.

We refine it

• bitter salads
• Cold meat dishes
• Juicy steaks
• grilled squid
• spicy tomato sauces
• grilled vegetables