The 10 Best Olive Oils

Anyone who wants one bottle for dressing, dipping and weeknight cooking should start with Cobram Estate California Select. It's pressed only from olives grown in California's Sacramento Valley, and the maker says the fruit goes from tree to mill within hours. Expect a clean, grassy taste with a mild bitter edge, and a steel pop-up spout for pouring. The company's Australian oil did well in a blind tasting, but this California bottle hasn't faced one of its own.

Cheap doesn't have to mean dull, and Bertolli Rich Taste shows it. In a recent blind tasting of ten supermarket oils, America's Test Kitchen placed it second, with a buttery, grassy flavor and a peppery finish. The dark green glass keeps light out. The olives come from several countries, and the mix changes from lot to lot, so read the label if origin matters to you. It's a fine everyday cooking oil rather than a showpiece.

Graza Sizzle is a cooking oil in a squeeze bottle, built for people who pour olive oil into the pan every day. It comes from one olive variety, Picual, grown around Jaen in southern Spain and picked late in the season, when the fruit is ripe and the taste is gentle. The squeeze top gives a thin, steady stream without drips. The bottle is plastic, and no independent lab or tasting panel has checked this oil.

For a bold, peppery Sicilian oil to keep on the counter, look at Partanna Robust. The Asaro family presses it from Castelvetrano olives grown near Trapani, and the red steel tin keeps light away from the oil. The maker promises a high level of polyphenols, the plant compounds behind that throat-tickling bite. That strength can swamp delicate fish or baked goods, and no outside lab has confirmed the claim.

Fans of the green, peppery style of Greek oil should try Kosterina Original. It's pressed early in the season from Koroneiki olives grown in southern Greece, which gives a fresh, bitter, spicy finish. The opaque white glass blocks light, a real help for keeping the oil fresh. The maker reports wins at a major blind-judged competition in each of the last two years. A small bottle carries a high price, so many buyers save it for finishing.

California Olive Ranch Everyday is a smooth, all-purpose oil for baking, roasting and salad dressing. The brand's California-grown oils have passed several independent lab checks over the years. This bottle is a different oil, though: a global blend whose label sets no minimum share of California olives. The maker rates it medium intensity, and it comes in green glass. Bottles can sit on store shelves a long time, so check the date before buying.

A familiar supermarket name, Colavita Premium Selection has a gentle, buttery taste that won't fight with garlic, lemon or tomato. It carries a trade group's quality seal, which means samples are lab-checked against international grading rules, and it passed a consumer group's own lab test. Blind tasters found it pleasant but forgettable. It's a sensible pick for marinades and roasting, but anyone wanting a grassy, peppery oil should look elsewhere.

Graza Drizzle belongs on the plate, not in the pan. Its Picual olives from Spain are picked young, which gives a greener, spicier oil that shines on salads, soup, bread and even ice cream. The maker says to keep it off the heat, because cooking dulls those flavors. The soft bottle squeezes out thin, tidy lines. Like most finishing oils, it's a second bottle to own, not a replacement for a cooking oil.

Two Brooklyn restaurant owners started Frankies 457 to sell the oil they cooked with, and this organic version comes from Nocellara del Belice olives grown in Sicily. The taste is fruity with a peppery finish, good for both drizzling and sauteing. The tin keeps light out, and its size suits people who cook with olive oil daily. Pouring from it takes care, so many cooks decant some into a smaller cruet.

Made by one family from Nocellara del Belice olives in a single Sicilian valley, Papa Vince is meant to be tasted straight, on bread or from a spoon. Each harvest goes to an outside lab, and the family shares the results, which show plenty of polyphenols, the compounds behind a peppery sting. It comes boxed, so it works as a gift. It's expensive for the amount you get, and those lab results are the maker's own.