Honey and Oil Taste Testing

I got nice presents from my sister, a package of 3 Mediterranean olive oils from different countries and an assortment of honeys from various flowers.  Now I have to figure out how to taste test them for comparison.  Any suggestions?

That's a nice fun gift! For tasting the olive oil, I would buy a nice quality french bagget. Cut it into small cubes and use it to dip into small bowls filled with the oils. The bread is a good foil for the oil.

As for the honey, I would use a small spoon (maybe a caviar spoon) and sample the honey directly. I was at a food festival this summer and that's what some local beekeepers did to let folks try their offerings. They had small plastic spoons. It is amazing how different they can be based on what the bees were primarily visiting. My favorite was a buckwheat honey. It was very dark in color and really flavorful. Enjoy your gift, John!

That's a nice fun gift! For tasting the olive oil, I would buy a nice quality french bagget. Cut it into small cubes and use it to dip into small bowls filled with the oils. The bread is a good foil for the oil.

As for the honey, I would use a small spoon (maybe a caviar spoon) and sample the honey directly. I was at a food festival this summer and that's what some local beekeepers did to let folks try their offerings. They had small plastic spoons. It is amazing how different they can be based on what the bees were primarily visiting. My favorite was a buckwheat honey. It was very dark in color and really flavorful. Enjoy your gift, John!

Good suggestions! I especially like the idea of the bread. Thank you.

A lemon tea with ginger and honey sounds like a good idea to me in this season.


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Homemade wheat sourdough would be my choice.

Well, we did some tasting this afternoon, using a cubed French baguette.  Neither of us had done this before.
First we tried the olive oils: Italian Corotina ("rich, robust, spicy"), Greek Koroneiki ("bright, olive forward, peppery"), and Spanish Arbequina ("fruity, smooth, buttery finish").  I liked the Italian best.  It seemed the smoothest and brightest, with not a lot of "oliveness" and no spiciness that we could detect.  The Greek one definitely had more olive flavor and a pepperiness that grew with each successive bread cube; neither of us liked it as much as the others.  And the Spanish oil probably was the runnerup; while not very fruity, it was indeed buttery and smooth. 
We're going to use all of them for salads dressings and on pastas, but the Greek oil probably will be used for cooking too.


Next we tasted the honeys: Canadian clover ("light, delicate"), Ukrainian sunflower ("dry, not too sweet"), Mexican orange blossom ("fragrant, floral"), Argentinian eucalyptus ("herbal, with a hint of menthol"), American macadamia ("floral, nutty"), and Bazilian mimosa ("a bit nutty").  For both of us, the descriptions did not really apply.  Generally, the taste robustness, heaviness, and complexity increased with the increasing darkness of the honeys from the clover first to the mimosa last.  The clover tasted like regular generic honey.  The sunflower, very smooth and bright, was my wife's favorite.  The orange blossom definitely was floral in taste, although not really fragrant.  The eucalyptus didn't have any menthol flavor but was herbal and sort of smoky; neither of us liked it a lot.  And the macadamia and mimosa both were quite rich and nutty.  I preferred the macadamia over the others. 
I think that when it comes to morning muffins or toast, she will use them starting on the left, and I'll probably start from the right.

Enjoy the olive oil and the honey, John.