When Life Gives You Olives…

Sylverleaf now offers a variety of services to the olive oil industry and to those who are interested in the entering the olive oil world. We have experience in all facets of the operation of an olive oil business, from startup to growing to sales. Please contact us if you would like more information on any of the services that we offer:

• Blending & Taste
• Horticultural Practices
• Organic Certification Advisement
• Design & Marketing
• Bottling & Labeling
• Information Technology

We might be a little behind the curve, but Sylverleaf is in full-on recycling mode. Unlike a city, there is no curbside pickup out here in the puckerbrush. So, if we want to recycle, we need to store the material somewhere until we have enough to load up in the truck and take it to the recycling center. We simply never made the time for this, nor did we exert the extra effort needed. No longer. So, being newly converted to the wonderful world of recycling EVERYTHING, we thought it would be a good idea to remind everyone that our containers are fully recyclable:

• Olive Oil Bottle
  Our bottles should be sorted into bins with other dark glass containers. It is no longer necessary to remove the labels for recycling (but they are recyclable!). Also, rinsing is not necessary for an empty olive oil bottle.
• Screw Cap
  The screw cap is made of tin, so it can be tossed in with your other light metals.
• Labels
  The labels we use are a Type 5 – PP plastic, commonly called BOPP. Other Type 5 plastics are refrigerated containers, some bags, most bottle tops, some carpets and some food wraps.
• Shipping Box & Inserts
  All of our shipping materials are made from paper pulp and cardboard. We do not use Styrofoam inserts or peanuts in our shipping boxes. Please reuse the heavy-duty single wall boxes or recycle them along with your other thick-stock paper goods.

If you have a creative use of empty Sylverleaf olive oil bottles, we’d like to hear about it.

The 2010 release of the Sylverleaf Estate Organic is again exceptional. It is of medium fruitiness in the mouth, dominated by greener fruit. You’ll find notes of green olive, green apple, fresh green vegetables and bitter greens along with light hints of green banana, ripe olive, avocado and citrus. It is a classic “typey” Mission olive-based oil. On the nose, you’ll sense a distinct floral note and herbaceous tones. The pleasant bitterness and pungency will catch your attention for up to one minute after tasting the oil. The most important integrative measures are (on a 0 to 10 scale):

• Total Aroma Intensity: 3
• Total Flavor Intensity: 5
• Balance: 4
• Complexity: 3
• Freshness: 5
• Class: Mild-Medium

If you’d like to sample it for yourself, please visit our online store: https://shop.sylverleaf.com/index.php?main_page=estate_notes

This year’s Foothills Blend is very balanced, smooth and fruity. It is a little less pronounced that the Estate Organic, but a fantastic oil on its own. The balance of green and ripe fruit is almost perfect. You’ll sense ripe banana and apple, a distinct nutty flavor, strong notes of butter, then green banana, tomato leaf, artichoke and a hint of mint. There is a distinct sweetness to this oil, with very little bitterness and a very mild pungency. The most important integrative measures are (on a 0 to 10 scale):

• Total Aroma Intensity: 5
• Total Flavor Intensity: 6
• Balance: 7
• Complexity: 6
• Freshness: 6
• Class: Mild

To get your Foothills Blend fix, visit our online shop: https://shop.sylverleaf.com/index.php?cPath=3

Enjoy!

We have been experiencing the most amazing spring and summer around the farm. No other year can compare to this year with regards to temperature, rainfall, wildflowers and wildlife. It’s simply amazing.

That being said, this is the time of year when we need to buckle down and work, work, work, work, work. The orchard is now disced and ready for leveling. We were forced to wait a little longer than normal this year to allow the hen turkeys to sit their nests and hatch out the cute little poults. For some reason, there are very few poults this year. Instead of the usual 8-12 poults, we’re only seeing 1 or 2.

The irrigation system is well on its way to being setup for the year after some surprising problems. We discovered a completely shattered pump head on our main irrigation pump. The freezing weather this past winter cracked the pump head and all of the seals. We’ll power everything up in the next week, then the bulk of the orchard chores will be done. …until pruning time anyway.

The fruit is also now set on the trees after a pretty good flowering. Unless there is some freak weather, we should have a pretty good crop this year. Finally. Keep your fingers crossed!

I promised you tasting notes a couple of weeks ago for the Sylverleaf Estate Organic and the Foothills Blend…  Well, this lovely head cold/flu that is going around got around. It has completely destroyed my senses of smell and taste, albeit on a temporary basis. As soon as I have all of my tasting abilities back to normal, I’ll have the official 2010 Tasting Notes here on the Sylverleaf blog.

Thanks for your patience!

If you read the last (very long) blog post, you would have noticed that the geek quotient was, ehm, very high. Lots of specific terms, technique and tasting jargon. It was my way of getting a little stress out while I waited for a letter…

Then, I got the letter.

After a nearly 6-year journey, Sylverleaf’s resident blendmaster has been selected to become a founding member of the University of California at Davis’ olive oil taste panel. The new taste panel is composed of a group of 20 of the most highly-trained olive oil experts in the United States. If you know what a Sommelier is, then that is what each of the panel members now is in the olive oil world.

To put a little more perspective on this nomination: More people have been to space than have this certification.

There are approximately 150 people in the entire world who have met the intense requirements set by the International Olive Council. Not only must a panel member meet these requirements, that panel member must also manage to maintain the high standards through constant training and testing. This taste panel will be the only internationally-accredited group in the United States, finally putting us on equal footing with our European counterparts.

Not to sound silly, but this is a HUGE step forward for the US olive oil industry. A real shift in the dynamic.

So, you might be asking, what does this taste panel do? In double- or triple-blind trials, we certify olive oils as extra virgin (or as not extra virgin). We look at the chemical testing results (see a previous blog post for more info), then sit down with the oil and rate it in a very controlled environment. After evaluating the IOC-mandated attributes (see previous blog), we go further and analyze more than 30 additional attributes. Our goal is to provide the olive oil producer with a very detailed and highly descriptive review of their olive oil. A review that could guide them to produce a better olive oil in the future.

I’m super excited to be working with my fellow taste panel members and helping everyone to make better olive oil!

As usual, if you have questions, send them over to blog@sylverleaf.com.

Since we’re in the middle of blending, I thought that it would be the perfect time to fill you in on how it all happens. We start the blending process by tasting each and every batch of oil that we have. During the tasting, the oil is rated in quite a few categories, these being the most important (see below for definitions of the terms used):

• Check for defects in the oil.
• Rate the fruitiness of each oil and determine whether that fruitiness is from green fruit or ripe fruit.
• Rate the bitterness.
• Rate the pungency.
• Rate the intensity of the oil, both in flavor and aroma.
• Next, check for balance and complexity.
• Finally, we go back and try to pick out individual flavors and aromas, along with mouthfeel and persistence.

After all of the ratings are compiled in a spreadsheet, we look for the oils that really stand out with high ratings. Those oils become the base for the particular blend (Estate, Foothills Blend or end blend).

We then come up with the percentages of each oil to go into the final olive oil and do a test blend of only 5 ounces. That test blend is allowed to settle out and come together over a 24-hour period. After that time is finished, we taste the blend and rate it again, comparing these new ratings with the expected results. We’ll then tweak the blend to add a little flavor here, a little pungency there, some green fruitiness here and some bitterness there.

For the last step, we get out the pumps, pipes and blending vats. All of the oils that we want to use are then combined on a large scale and will soon be ready for bottling. All in all the blending process takes about 4 days to complete. It’s a laborious process (would you want to drink 12-16 ounces of olive oil in the morning–for 2 or 3 days in a row?!) that many other olive oil makers do not follow, but we know it helps to make an extremely reliable and consistent product.

Definitions

Negative Attributes

There are only six major defects that could be present in an olive oil. They are listed below along with a brief explanation of the term. I list the defects first because, if we find them in an oil, it is instantly disqualified from blending. There is no need to go further with that oil, except for soap or lip balm!

1. Fustiness or Muddy Sediment

This is a defect in the handling of the olive oils after milling. This one is the producer’s fault, for sure. Oils with this defect will have a flavor that is exactly like the sediment that settles out of olive oil over time. Since we at Sylverleaf don’t filter our olive oils, we have to pay particular attention to a racking schedule (blog soon to follow on racking) to ensure that this defect doesn’t pop up. If you’ve never smelled olive meat after milling, this one is a little difficult to describe… Basically, it is caused by anaerobic fermentation and has that characteristic flavor and smell.

2. Musty / Humid / Earthy

We don’t see this much in the US, but the oils have a certain “wet” quality. You can almost taste humidity and mold in the oil. This defect is caused by large concentrations of fungi and yeasts on the olives prior to milling. Typically, it is caused by olives sitting at the mill, waiting to be processed (for several days) in wet or humid conditions.

3. Winey / Vinegary / Acidic / Sour

Just like it sounds, you’ll sense an off wine flavor, or a strong flavor of vinegar and sourness. This is caused by aerobic fermentation in the olives or poor cleaning techniques at the mill. If a racking schedule is not closely adhered to, an olive oil producer might see this defect.

4. Metallic

You won’t taste this one very often, but it is a flavor that tastes exactly like metal. It is also due to prolonged exposure to metals (not stainless steel) in the processing or storage of the oil. If you buy oil in a tin container, you know this flavor well.

5. Rancid

This is a perception that many people equate with olive oil. This is because we, in the USA, have been forced to purchase low quality olive oils at the supermarket. Many of these imported and heavily processed oils are thoroughly rancid. It is a flavor that we can instantly recognize. Many times, this defect manifests itself by a distinct flavor of cardboard, wax or Play Doh.

6. Other

This is the most difficult to define! This can be any perception of flavor or aroma or mouthfeel that is just not right. For instance, a strong flavor of wet wood indicates that the olives were injured by frost before harvest. Another good example is the taste of rotten bacon. This flavor is caused by an infestation of the olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae (Diptera, Tephritidae)) in an orchard (a very common problem around the world, but easily treated with organic-approved sprays). There are quite a few of these defects that just don’t fit into any other category, so they go here.

Positive Attributes

1. Fruitiness

Fruitiness is just that, how fruity in flavor and aroma is the oil. Is that fruitiness from green fruit (think green grass, artichoke, green olive, green banana, herbs) or from ripe fruit (ripe apple, ripe banana, floral, buttery, nutty or tropical flavors). A good balance of both green and ripe fruit is what we strive for at Sylverleaf.

2. Bitterness

People usually cringe when we talk about bitterness, but it is a vital quality to an olive oil. Olives are bitter, green or ripe, they’re bitter. That bitterness is what makes olive oil so versatile and interesting. Here at Sylverleaf, we shoot for the mid to lower range of bitterness, but it’s always there.

3. Pungency

Pungency is that biting, cough-inducing sensation at the back of your throat when you taste a very fresh olive oil. It is not a strong sensation in a Spanish style olive oil, but if you’ve ever tasted a true Italian oil, it is THE sensation. If you like Verde, then you’re a fan of pungency. The Estate will have a good bit of pungency, but the Foothills Blend won’t have much of it at all.

4. Intensity

The intensity of the oil is a rating of both flavor and aroma. It defines just how much the flavors and smells stand out. Typically, our Verde will have high intensity ratings, the Sylverleaf Estate will have a medium intensity and the Foothills Blend will be medium to medium-low intensity.

5. Balance

This is an attribute that we spend quite a bit of time perfecting. Balance is a judgement of how the oil hits your senses. If an oil is very well balanced, no one flavor or smell will jump out above the rest. Everything will just meld together to give a single snapshot of that oil. If one attribute does jump out at you, like bitterness or maybe green grass smells, then that oil is not balanced (not that this is a negative, but just not as positive).

6. Complexity

Complexity is hard to define, but easy to sense. Basically an oil is complex if one can pull out a wide range of flavors and smells when tasting the oil. In our opinion, the more complex, the better (keeping an eye on balance is the trick!).

7. Mouthfeel

This rating attempts to define how the oil feels in your mouth. Is is waxy in texture? Greasy? Can you feel the oil in your mouth long after you have swallowed it?

8. Persistence

Persistence is a measure of how long the flavors and aromas stay with you after ingesting the olive oil sample. A good oil will be somewhat persistent, but not obnoxious or overwhelming.

I hope that this post helps you to understand the craft of making olive oil a little better. If you have any questions, please send them to me. I do answer all questions!