Why does good olive oil catch in your throat?
The catch in your throat comes from the polyphenols, the olive's natural protective compounds. It is not a fault and not pungency in the usual sense, but the clearest sign that you have a fresh, carefully made oil in front of you.
Italian tasters have their own word for it: pizzica, it prickles. In tastings this characteristic is not tolerated, it is scored.
What exactly happens in your throat?
The compound mainly responsible is called oleocanthal. As you swallow, it irritates a receptor at the back of the throat that otherwise responds to pungency.
What makes it unusual is that the sensation sits almost entirely in the throat, not on the tongue. This is why a polyphenol-rich olive oil feels different from something hot in the classic sense. Chilli burns on the tongue; good olive oil catches at the back of the throat, often with a few seconds' delay.
Anyone experiencing it for the first time sometimes has to cough. At tastings that counts as a good sign.
What are polyphenols?
Polyphenols are compounds the olive produces itself to protect its fruit from sun, pests and oxidation. During pressing some of them pass into the oil.
In the oil they do the same job as they did in the fruit. They are the reason a polyphenol-rich oil stays fresh longer than a mild one. They bring the bitterness on the tongue and the catch in the throat with them. And they disappear over time, which is why an old oil tastes mild.
Bitterness and the catch are therefore not a side effect. They are the same characteristic, once measured and once tasted.
Why doesn't every olive oil have this effect?
Because polyphenols cost money. Three decisions determine how much of them ends up in the oil.
The harvest date. Green, unripe olives contain considerably more polyphenols than ripe ones. They also give less oil. Harvest early and you get fewer litres from the same quantity of olives.
The time until pressing. The longer olives lie around after the harvest, the more fermentation sets in. Hours are good, days are bad.
The temperature during pressing. Heat raises the yield and breaks polyphenols down. Cold extraction means that 27 degrees are not exceeded at any point in the process.
Each of these three decisions can be made in favour of quantity or of quality.
How much is a lot?
The content is given in milligrams per kilogram and varies widely.
Many commercial oils are below 100 mg/kg. From around 250 mg/kg an oil counts as decidedly polyphenol-rich, and you taste that clearly.
The figure is rarely on the label, because the law does not require it. It is determined in a laboratory, and whoever quotes it has had it measured.
Our 2025 harvest was tested by an accredited laboratory in Sicily: 274 mg/kg. That is the reason for the catch you feel at the first sip.
Do I have to like the catch?
No. But it is worth giving it a chance.
If you only know mild oils, a polyphenol-rich one often feels unfamiliar at first. After a few days that usually changes.
If it is too strong for you on its own: over warm food the pungency recedes noticeably and the fruitiness remains. Over pasta, grilled vegetables or a soup a robust oil is often more pleasant than over a salad.
How we do it at HEVOlogica
We harvest by hand in the olive grove of Azienda agricola Bonfanti in Noto, while the olives are still green. Our harvest is finished in September, by early October at the latest, earlier than most.
Only a few hours pass between tree and press. Pressing is cold, bottling happens on site. From a single variety, the old Sicilian Moresca. What single-variety means is explained in What does monocultivar mean?.
Every one of these steps costs yield. In return, what creates the catch stays in the oil.
Frequently asked questions
Is the catch a sign of bad oil?
On the contrary. It comes from the polyphenols and shows that the oil is fresh and gently made. Spoiled oil does not catch, it smells rancid.
Why doesn't my olive oil catch?
Either it comes from ripe olives or it is no longer fresh. Polyphenols break down over time, so a mild oil may simply be old. How to store it properly is described in Storing olive oil properly.
Does the catch disappear when cooking?
It becomes much weaker. This is why a robust oil often tastes rounder over warm dishes than over cold ones.
Is bitterness the same as the catch?
No, but both have the same cause. The bitterness sits on the tongue, the catch in the throat. Both come from the polyphenols.