Atlas and Desert Miracle Moroccan Olive Oils

I present to you two elegant, dark bottles. One is octagonal with shiny, embossed gold lettering, and an elegant "A" with what appears to be an olive branch. The label itself is dark, and blends into the bottle from far away, giving the appearance of gold imprinted into the glass. The top of the octagon is tapered, moving up into the cap. 

Its sibling is equally impressive. It wears the same golden A, with an elegant square lattice on the front. The neck of the bottle is so long I imagine them to be siblings, and one lucked out with the tall genes and the other is, well, a bit squashed.

Let's take a closer look at the top of the Atlas bottle. The tops must be designed to regulate flow. It is an entire interesting topic in and of itself. I would call these flow regulators. The general idea would be to prevent a huge dump of olive oil on your food. Some do this by way of a spout, and others a nozzle, squeeze top, or even a small dispenser. There are a few I have with corks that act no differently than wine bottles. And of course, the "no regulator" approach means I regularly pour a large amount. Not a problem! The one in the picture below is interesting because there is a small, white plastic ball directly inside. It gives the satisfying sensation of movement and a click when you are pouring it!

I will note that the Desert Miracle has exactly the same inner structure. This is a hint for why I am putting these together. 

Background

They are both cold-pressed EVOO, produced by a company in Morocco (Atlas Olive Oils) since 1887. That is a little less than 100 years before I was born! How was life different back then? At this time, Morocco was an independent, sovereign state governed by a Sultan. Olive oil was part of traditional dishes, but also had medicinal and functional purposes like being used as fuel for fire. You can read about these points in this report released by the International Olive Council. Olive trees (as of this report date) account for 65% of trees in Morocco, and provide ~380K permanent jobs. Over 90% of olives are of the Picholine marocaine variety. The report is rich with information and pictures, and I recommend you take a look.

According to Atlas Olive Oils, they have three farms at the foot of the Atlas Mountain Chain at (approximately) 980 to 1,480 feet. It's not hugely high in elevation, but there are 1.4 million trees, and likely that number is increasing. They state that there are only 20 minutes between harvest and grinding. You can look on that page or directly on the bottles to see they have won a substantial number of awards.

I was not aware of Bioagricert, which is an international inspection and certification body. I will need to do a separate post just to learn and write about the awards. If you are interested in the orchards and estate, there are nice pictures and a small video here.

So how were they? And this is where I need to get better at reviewing, because I often do not realize I am out until I pour and... there is not anymore left.🙃️ And I have not taken the time to carefully assess the taste. I probably should pour some into a little glass to show the color too. I will do my best. Atlas is tasty. It's delicate, and I had a hard time pinning a flavor. I would say there is a subtle fruity and almond taste, but it doesn't linger. There isn't any unpleasant aftertaste. The bottle is gorgeous. I'm definitely going to keep this one on hand.

I really enjoyed the Desert Miracle. It is smooth and gentle, still with a little peppery kick. It is not huge. I'd recommend this if you want a relatively good tasting oil that has a tiny bit of bite but you are afraid of a peppery throat burn. I will also say that this bottle feels very special. I do not drink, so bottles of wine are not something I typically have around. This bottle feels celebratory. Put this on a beautiful table to accompany a meal. Just do no confuse it with your wine. 🍷️

Olives

Closing up, one realization I had writing this is (now) almost 15 years ago, I really enjoyed visiting olive bars in nice grocery stores. Here is the olive bar from the Whole Foods in Los Altos, circa 2012.

 

 

And this was by far my favorite and most frequently visited. This was a Mollie Stone's Market in Palo Alto. The olives are from the same market, but a different day.

 

 

 

I was on a graduate student salary, so I tried to be cost conservative in all ways. I would only select one or two of each kind I wanted to try.

 

California was fairly new to me, and I was taken with the fact that I could hop on my bike and go for an adventure just to do something spurious like bring home the perfect little sample. It did take me almost 15 years to realize that if I really enjoyed olives, I would really enjoy olive oil.

 

Don't rush me! 😉️