Did You Know? The Colour of an Olive Tells You How Ripe It Is

Olives come in a range of colours, and each one has a story to tell about its ripeness and when it was harvested. Understanding the colour of an olive can help you appreciate the flavour profile it will bring to your dishes.

Green Olives

Green olives are harvested before they reach full ripeness. They tend to be firm in texture and offer a nutty, slightly bitter flavour. Because they’re picked early, they are often cured to mellow the taste, making them perfect for creating olive oils with robust, herbaceous notes.

Black Olives

Although we commonly refer to them as “black olives,” the actual colours can range from light brown to shades of red and purple, all the way to deep black. As a general rule, the darker the olive, the riper it was when picked. These olives tend to have a milder, sweeter flavour and are often less bitter than their green counterparts.

The Exception – Canned “Black-Ripe” Olives

The dark “black-ripe” olives found in cans are not naturally dark at all. These olives are initially picked while they’re still green, then pumped with oxygen to turn them black. A chemical process involving ferrous gluconate is used to fix the new colour. This treatment results in olives with very little flavour, setting them apart from naturally ripened black olives.

What Does This Mean for Your Olive Oil?

The type of olive and its ripeness are crucial factors in determining the flavour of olive oil. At Sherman Foods, we take great care in sourcing the best olives at their peak ripeness, ensuring that the olive oils we offer have rich, authentic flavours that elevate every dish.