Is posh olive oil really worth your money? Which? experts put 14 popular extra virgin varieties to the test - from a £5.49 Lidl bottle to a £13 Waitrose splurge

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Updated: 02:58 EDT, 1 August 2026 The question Britons used to be a bit suspicious about olive oil. The Victorian cookery writer Eliza Acton estimated that it was just about good enough for deep-frying fish in, while Mrs Beeton unglamorously recommended it as a treatment for flatulence. Now, the stuff is everywhere. Wellness types on TikTok glug daily shots of it; bougie restaurants drizzle it on ice cream as a topping; and Dr Tim Spector says it should be your ‘default daily fat’. But which one is best?The basics Four olive oil experts – a chef, a certified ‘olive oil sommelier’, a producer and an importer – each tested 14 popular extra virgin olive oils, from a £5.49 bottle from Lidl to a £13 one from Waitrose.The method The panel tasted each product blind, and in different orders – so no one could be influenced by another’s opinion. They rated taste, aroma, complexity and balance. The important thing here is acidity: virgin olive oil has a maximum acidity level of two per cent, but, for olive oil to be considered ‘extra virgin’, its acidity level must not exceed 0.8 per cent.The thing to remember Which? buys the products it tests. That means no relying on freebies, and no biased results.See the full range of expert reviews at which.co.uk/olive-oilsBEST VALUEWhat works? Lots. Experts liked this product’s smell (it was very fresh) and thought the taste was good, too (light, balanced and with ‘delicate notes of tropical fruit and banana’). And, given the bottle size is larger than other supermarket options, it works out as cheap.What’s the catch? The flavour wasn’t as punchy as some of the other oils tested.BEST MID-RANGEWhat works? This one has staying power. Experts were impressed by its peppery aftertaste, which ‘hit the back of the throat’. They reckoned it would work excellently drizzled over prosciutto or carpaccio.What’s the catch? Apparently, it has a ‘slightly greasy mouthfeel’ – which some people might not be a fan of.BEST BLOWOUTWhat works? This was the winner with all four experts. They loved that it had proper flavour: fresh and fruity, but with a pleasant amount of peppery bitterness, too. Also, they reported that it smelled nicely grassy. Bravo!What’s the catch? The obvious: it’s pricey at £12.