That $40 bottle of fancy olive oil I bought on a whim...

I saw a display at the farmer's market near my apartment and bought this small-batch olive oil for $40. Used it twice and realized my regular $8 bottle from the grocery store tastes exactly the same to me. I guess my palate just isn't refined enough for that stuff... it's been sitting in my cupboard for 3 months now. Anyone else fallen for overpriced ingredients that didn't make a difference in their cooking?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliarodriguez2d ago

Maybe you're using it wrong, fancy olive oil is for finishing not cooking.

nguyen.morgan2d ago

lol I had the exact same thing happen with a $25 bottle of truffle salt. Tasted exactly like regular salt to me. My roommate did a blind test and couldn't pick it out either. Now it's just sitting there in the back of the spice cabinet looking fancy and useless.

aaron_perry2d ago

I used to think expensive olive oil was always worth it, but I've had the same experience as you with a $30 bottle that just tasted like regular oil to me. I even went back to my cheap grocery store bottle and did a side by side taste test, and honestly couldn't tell a difference. Now I save my money for things like good balsamic vinegar where the quality jump is actually noticeable.