In a few months, we'll be back in the grove. October will come, the olives will be ready, and we'll start all over again, with all the anticipation and quiet anxiety that comes with every new harvest.
But until then, we wanted to talk about something you've asked us many times in our videos, something we've never addressed here, with the space it deserves.
How to store your olive oil properly.
Because there's no point choosing a good oil carefully, and then letting it quietly deteriorate next to the heat.
Heat
Let's start here, because it's the most common enemy, and the most deceptive one. The bottle next to the stove, above the oven, on the windowsill that catches the afternoon sun, it feels convenient. And it is. But the oil warms slowly, without you noticing, and as it does, it gradually loses everything that made it special: the polyphenols, the intensity, the freshness. By the time you notice something's off in the taste, it's already become something else entirely.
Ideally, olive oil wants cool, somewhere between 15 and 20°C. A dark cupboard, away from any heat source, is the best home you can give it.
Light
A beautiful bottle on the windowsill has its own aesthetic appeal. We understand that. But light, especially direct sunlight, is a silent killer for olive oil. It breaks down its delicate compounds, accelerates oxidation, and slowly turns it into something that bears little resemblance to what you opened the first time.
This is why good olive oil always comes in a dark bottle. It isn't a design choice, it's protection.
Oxygen
The moment you open the bottle, the clock starts. Every time you pour a little oil out, the air that takes its place continues its quiet work. You can't avoid this entirely, but you can slow it down. Close the bottle well after every use. And if you know you won't go through it quickly, choose smaller bottles over one large one that sits half-empty for months.
The fridge?
Many people refrigerate their olive oil thinking they're doing it a favour. It makes sense intuitively. But the cold solidifies it, clouds it, and every time it shifts temperature it stresses the oil a little more. It won't ruin it completely, it just won't let it be what it is.
A dark cupboard does the job far better.
And time
What we often forget: olive oil doesn't improve with age. It isn't wine. A good extra virgin has its own window of freshness, around 12 to 18 months from harvest. Once opened, the ideal is to finish it within a month or two. Not because it becomes dangerous, but because it deserves to be enjoyed while it's still at its best.
One thing we do
The dark bottle we chose for Yapapi wasn't accidental. Neither was the way we package it. We think about every step from the moment the oil leaves us to the moment you open it, because we don't want anything that went into that bottle to be lost along the way.
Everything after that is up to you.
New season coming in a few months. Take care of what you already have.