The 2017 summer was hot and dry here in southern Spain. Not much precipitation at all…… which bodes well for fans of flavorful Spanish extra virgin olive oil.
Just like any other fruit, when there is an abundance of moisture during the growing season, the fruit becomes fat and juicy and the olive oil extracted is less flavorful and less concentrated. This year, the fruit is smaller and the juice will be more robust.
The first harvests are underway in the fincas of Andalusia and the fruit still is slightly green or “verde”. The first cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil that comes out of the green, less mature fruit is very strong – very similar to the juice produced by early apples or oranges. Some people here in Spain will only consume the earliest olive oil produced during a harvest because they like a very strong flavor on their toast, pasta, vegetables or salads.
Yesterday, I visited the olive oil mill Alamazara 1945 and Victor and Pepe gave me a sample of the earliest of the earliest olive oil of the season. I tasted it and it has a lovely, fruity bite. I can’t wait to try it on my breakfast toast tomorrow, and then on a salad in the evening.
I work with Alamzara 1945 in the selection and bottling of GringoCool olive oils. They are located near Cordoba, in the heart of olive country. They are a family managed olive oil mill that produces one of the very best quality of extra virgin olive oil in Andalusia.
In this new season, I will start working with Victor and Al Margen in creating a sampling packet with four varieties of Spanish extra virgin olive oils, … possibly even including a “verde” in the packet. I am looking at including an organic picual, an hojiblanca, an arbiquino and a “verde”. The samples bottles would be 250 ml (8.5 fluid oz) and would allow GringoCool customers to sample and compare Spanish extra virgin olive oils. This is important because the flavors of some olive oil varieties compliment certain types of food more than others.
As of right now, GringoCool has two varieties of extra virgin olive oil for sale in the US – an organic picual and a conventional hojiblanca. They were both carefully selected for flavor and body. We aim to provide the very best quality and value. After our olive oil is bottled and packaged, we ship it directly to our warehouse in Oregon. And then it goes to our customers tabletops via the United Post Office. No middlemen… period. You get the real deal, quality assured.
We do not spend time, money and effort in attending international award festivals. Awards don’t mean much anyway, because they are only based on one bottle at one time. Instead, we put our effort and our money in the product and getting it to market and your tabletop as quickly as possible. Our bottle is a wide bottomed vessel of dark glass, which improves the tabletop stability and protects the olive oil from direct sunlight. Our packaging is designed to ensure safe shipment through the mail or by carriers. Our labeling is simple, with craft paper. We want to provide the very best quality of product at the lowest price possible. No bells and whistles… just quality.
Check out our Spanish extra virgin olive oils at www.gringocool.com. We are working at being your trusted source for only the very best Spanish extra virgin olive oil.
Thanks for reading. And have a great day. – Steve
p.s. This season we will be sending samples of our extra virgin olive oil with purchases of pottery. I can not wait to hear from out customers and see if this is something they like.
