There are wine tastings; there are salt tastings; there are pepper tastings and yes, there are olive oil tastings. If you ever get the opportunity to do a “comparative tasting” of some product, do it!
From Trader Joe’s, they do carry some good products and some hard to find products, there are some helpful hints for Tasting Olive Oil, or a Guide to Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Yes I know, this article is mostly about their olive oils, but the basics – tasting, cooking with or storing – are in this link. Here is some brief information on olive oil, these happen to be from Trader Joe’s. And sorry if this sounds like an ad for Trader Joe’s, it is not! It is good information, though.

Hippocrates called olive oil “the great therapeutic.” Homer called it “liquid gold.” For some, that’s reason enough to slap on a high price tag and call it a day. [We]seek out Extra Virgin Olive Oils from experienced producers in the world’s best growing regions — Spain, Italy, Greece, California… Then our tasting panel examines them from every angle: body, fruitiness, bitterness, pungency…

If you would like to organize and have your own olive oil tasting, here are some helpful hints for – Hosting and Olive Oil Tasting, and be sure to read and copy the section called Prep Your Tasters. Some things you might need, beside a variety of olive oils, are Tasting Sheets, [PDF], paper bags, permanent Marker, wine glasses, small bowls, spoons, pens, Granny Smith apples, sliced, sparkling mineral water, chilled and maybe baguette, warmed and sliced. Those are all suggestions from Trader Joe’s. Read the articles in the links and get more ideas for hosting your own olive oil tasting, or other kinds of tastings. Thanks to Robin for finding this link and sharing it. Cheers!