Graza Olive Oil

Quality olive oil in a squeeze bottle 🫒

I love good olive oil. Some of my favorite things to eat are great bread dipped in olive oil. A few years ago, our family spent an incredible week in a village in Tuscany called Sarteano, where every single restaurant served olive oil from a local producer - Tistarelli.

Since that trip we have been buying their oil and shipping it to the US. The cost works out to approx. Twenty euros for 500ml of oil, which is on the high end of oil cost. As such we generally use this oil for drizzling, salads and dipping in bread - not for cooking.

I’ve been looking for an affordable cooking oil that we can easily secure and have on hand. Recently I discovered a cool company called Graza that produces excellent olive oil.

Graza makes two oils, Sizzle and Drizzle.

DRIZZLE: 500ML

Extra Virgin finishing oil made from olives that are picked early, when flavor is bold and antioxidants are highest. Made for eating, never heating.

SIZZLE: 750ML
Extra Virgin cooking oil made from mature, mid-season olives that yield a more mellow flavor. Use it every day, in every way.

Graza olives come from Spain. They are 100% Picual olives.

I am not an expert on Olives, but I am an expert on what tastes good to me. We have had some fun in our family with taste tests and everyone has always picked the Italian, Spanish, Greek olive oil over the American oil.

Spain, Italy, and Greece are traditionally known for producing some of the world's best olive oils. This is partly due to the long history of olive oil production in these countries, as well as the favorable Mediterranean climate for growing olives.

Graza makes big claims about their olives

Picual Olives:

People have tried to re-plant Picuals in California and elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but they seem to solely thrive in the heart of Andalusia. The oil extracted from this fruit is extremely high in polyphenols (the stuff that makes you live longer) and also has the longest shelf stability & free-acidity stability of any olive varietal.

The most unique thing about Graza is their packaging. The olive oil comes in bottles made of PET plastic. It’s so simple to squeeze the bottle! And no mess!

But is PET safe?

• The PET Resin Association also has a FAQ section addressing safety concerns: https://petresin.org/faq/

• The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has a scientific opinion on the safety of PET for food contact, which can be found here: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/345

Another great Olive Oil is from Thrive Market. Thrive has found a producer for oil that they like. The differences here are that:

• Greek

• Metal container

• Organic

Finally, if you are looking for a nice way to serve and store your olive oil, I am a huge fan of the 500ml Farmhouse Pottery bottle.