Arbequina Olive Oil

Arbequina olive oil with the scent of green bananas

The Arbequina olive oil from O-Med is a monovarietal extra virgin olive oil from Ácula in the province of Granada, pressed on the very day of the harvest. Mild in character, with green fruit and a slight hint of pepper at the end. Not a blend from multiple countries, nor mass-produced oil from a large tank.

Arbequina olive oil is the milder of the two oils pressed by siblings Paula and Juande García at their small mill in Andalusia. 100% Arbequina, harvested early in October, with an acidity level of 0.1 – far below what an extra virgin olive oil is even required to have. The oil for everything delicate on the plate.

Green banana, green apple, no throat burn

The Arbequina tastes of green banana and green apple, bright and clear like a morning in October. Fruity, gentle, light – and this fruitiness lingers for a long time.

The oil glows golden-green, bright and clear. Fragrant, fruity, unobtrusive – it never pushes itself to the forefront, which is precisely why it ends up on the table with almost every dish.

Unlike stronger varieties, this oil does not unleash bitterness. It remains soft and brings only a slight trace of pepper at the end, more of a suggestion than a sharp heat. If you previously thought that good olive oil must cause a scratchy throat, you will learn the opposite here.

For fish, in salads, in pastries

The mild Arbequina loves delicate dishes that a strong oil would overpower – fish, fine leafy salads, vinaigrette, aioli.

Drizzled over steamed cod or a baked sea bream, it provides a green accent without masking the ingredients. In a dressing, it combines with lemon and a pinch of Fleur de Sel from Ibiza; with Portuguese sardines on toasted bread, it is a must anyway.

And then the Arbequina can do something that is rarely expected of olive oil – it works in sweet applications. For baking, in desserts, even in ice cream. Over fresh strawberries with a few salt flakes, it sounds strange but tastes magnificent.

A small mill in Ácula since 2004

Juan de Dios García bought the small oil mill in Ácula in 2004, and his children Paula and Juande joined him and run it today. Both are pharmacists and work on the oil with the precision they learned at university.

Harvesting is done by hand in the early morning hours of the last week of October, when the olives are still green and their aromas are at their most concentrated. Because the mill is located in the middle of the groves, there are only a few hours between the tree and the press. The shorter this journey, the less time there is for oxidation and the clearer the green fruit remains in the finished oil.

The building itself tells the story of how Paula and Juande work. Roof openings regulate the temperature instead of air conditioning, rainwater is collected in cisterns, and daylight enters every room through glass fronts. The groves belong to Olivares Vivos, the biodiversity project of SEO/BirdLife, featuring nesting boxes, water troughs, and green lanes between the trees.

Der Feinschmecker magazine ranked the Arbequina 2nd in the world in the mild category in 2015 – the same year as the stronger Picual from the same mill. Two varieties, two second places, one house. In addition, gold medals at Olive Japan 2013 and 2014 and gold at the International Olive Oil Award of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Quite impressive.

The white bottle with the green-illustrated olive tree holds 500 ml and is best kept in a cool, dark place, just not the refrigerator. If you would like to continue exploring, you can find other extra virgin olive oils from Spain, Italy, and Portugal in our shop.