Olive Nation Blog

How long can you store olive oil for?

Posted by Amit in Olive Oil, May 14 2008

We get asked this question a lot. A lot of olive oil purists will probably disagree but I say - a long time! Let me explain. Firstly, lets understand that contact with air is what ruins olive oil quickly, followed by sun light. So when you buy olive oil try to pick the bottle that is the most full and has very little air inside. Then store the bottle or can away from direct sunlight and not too near the stove. That way your olive oil could last up to 2 years unopened. Once you open it though, you should probably finish it in 6-9 months.

For our personal use at home, we bring over cans of olive oil from Italy and keep them sealed. When a can is opened, we transfer the olive oil to smaller bottles making sure to top up each oil bottle as much as possible (again to keep the air out). Our olive oil lasts 2 years - no problem.

Honestly, our older olive oils still taste better than anything we get at the store. So its all relative.