How to Recognize Good Olive Oil

How to Recognize Good Olive Oil

Does Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tick All The Boxes?

This is a KEVOO Manifesto, reflecting our love for good, high quality, extra virgin olive oil, hoping to educate and inspire you to find the best olive oil for your culinary adventures.

Summarized in ten points on quality, brand, purity, sustainability, ethos, seasonality, production methods, taste, and packaging this is your ultimate guide to finding fresh, healthy, and delicious olive oil.

Quality

Let’s start with the basics. The quality of olive oil is what makes all the difference, by virtue of superior taste and health benefits. And it all comes down to the olives. KEVOO is made of single-sourced Koroneiki olives, which are tiny little olive fruits bursting with flavor. And that is ALL we use. No mix and match no other types of olives in the bunch. That is one of the first things you should be looking for in olive oil, so check the bottle and see what it's made of.

Purity

In the olive oil industry, there's a lot of blending. Lower quality oils and mixed with extra virgin olive oil to enlarge the quantities and decrease the price. And this is where the game is lost. Kasandrinos is never mixed with lower-quality oils or other types of olives, and you can take this to the bank. Our olive oil is as pure as gold. So, that’s another thing for you to check when you are buying olive oil.

Seasonality

We like things fresh and we know you do too. Once bottled, olive oil has an 18-24 month shelf life and more fresh equals more health benefits and of course, more robust taste. Always check the dates on your bottle of olive oil. Kasandrinos only sells olive oil from this year’s harvest to maintain quality. Another box, checked.

Production Methods

Look for cold-pressed olive oil. Cold-pressed means that the olives never exceed a certain temperature during the entire pressing process and keeping the olives cooler ensures maximum quality. Heating produces lower quality olive oil. Olive oil brands should be transparent about their production methods and offer all the info the customer needs. If they don’t there’s probably something going on. Our olives are pressed within twenty-four hours after they are picked, then dirt and twigs are removed via a washing process, and are then pressed within twenty-four hours. This yields an extremely fresh and high-quality oil.

Taste

Have you ever tasted real, pure olive oil? Then you know the difference between the real deal and the commercial kind you find at supermarket shelves. Generally speaking, the lower the acidity of a virgin oil, the better quality it is. Fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency perfectly balancing each other is what olive oil should taste like. It should be so good that you could drink it on its own. Our oils all fall under .3% acidity level - an extremely low level that yields a higher nutritional content and better taste.

Ethos

In most cases, smaller, independent producers that are truly passionate about their product are involved in the entire production process, from picking the olives to the packaging process until the product reaches you, the customer. The core identity of the company should be centered around the best possible olive oil they can offer you and create value-centric products that attract the right people. Before committing to a brand, check their set of values and see if they are aligned with your own. Kasandrinos is founded and owned by Tony Kasandrinos, a Marine Corps veteran, and Effi Kasandrinos, his sister. When you buy Kasandrinos, you know you’re supporting a family brand that upholds its values.

Branding

You can tell a lot by the distinctive branding of a product, and that applies to olive oil as well. The way we feel about olive oil is reflected in every single drop of it. Humble but superior, premium but understated. Olive oil that speaks for itself, from our fields to your table. Kasandrinos is dedicated to bringing the best olive oil to your table, no middle man involved. 

Packaging

Dark-tinted bottles or non-reactive cans are a sign of an olive oil brand that respects their product. Clear bottles, plastic cheap packaging materials indicate an equally cheap, low-quality product. Kasandrinos bottles and cans fulfill all the requirements. Even our Spartan Packets are BPA-free packet keeping out light and air, preventing oxidation and preserving taste and texture.

Sustainability

A brand that cares about sustainability is usually a brand that cares about high-quality products and happy, satisfied customers. It's a brand that understands how it's not all about making easy and quick money, but more about producing and offering an excellent, sustainable product that will earn a place in your day to day life, making it successful in the long run. We are very conscious about integrating environmental issues into our business operations and this is reflected in our production process as well as the Kasandrinos packaging. For us, olive oil isn’t just a heart-healthy kitchen essential. Every bottle of Kasandrinos olive oil is a piece of our homeland, made with economic stability, environmental sustainability, and your health in mind.

We hope you found this olive oil manifesto not only educational but life-changing, as these points can and should be applied in most aspects of your life as a conscious consumer. We are here to answer any questions and we love chatting with you, so please subscribe to our newsletter and keep in touch on our social media!

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