Grocery & Gourmet

Olive Oil Grades Explained, How to Pick Your First Good Bottle

The words on an olive oil bottle are a grade, not marketing. Extra virgin is pressed without heat or chemicals and has the most flavor and antioxidants. Virgin is the same kind of pressing with a looser standard. Pure and refined are processed for a neutral taste and a higher smoke point, with far fewer of the compounds that make olive oil worth buying. For a first bottle, what matters most is the grade, the harvest date, and the kind of bottle it comes in.