I Thought All Olive Oil Was the Same Until I Tried the One Everyone's Obsessed With

Nov 13

I'm going to be honest: I thought olive oil was just... olive oil.

You go to the grocery store, grab whatever bottle is on sale or has the nicest label, and call it a day. They're all basically the same, right? It's just oil made from olives. How different could they possibly be?

The Grocery Store Olive Oil Era

For years, I'd been buying whatever olive oil was cheapest at Trader Joe's. Sometimes I'd splurge on the "fancy" Italian one with the pretty bottle for $12. I used it for everything, cooking, salad dressing, roasting vegetables.

It was fine. Totally fine. Never thought twice about it.

Then I started seeing these bright green squeeze bottles everywhere on my Instagram feed. Food bloggers drizzling it on pasta. Home cooks showing off their "Sizzle and Drizzle" collection. My friend's kitchen counter featuring these bottles like they were decor.

Graza. Everyone was talking about Graza.

"It's just olive oil in a squeeze bottle," I thought. "Why is everyone losing their minds?"

The Skeptical Purchase

But the internet wore me down. I ordered the "Starter Kit" with both Drizzle and Sizzle, mostly because I was curious about the squeeze bottle situation and tired of my regular bottle dripping oil everywhere.

When they arrived, I did what any normal person would do: I tasted them straight. Just a little pour into a spoon to see what the hype was about.

Drizzle hit first. Bold. Peppery. Almost spicy. It had this fresh, grassy, alive taste that made my regular olive oil taste like... nothing. Like I'd been eating flavorless oil-flavored liquid my whole life.

Then Sizzle. Smoother, mellower, but still so much more flavorful than anything I'd been using.

"Oh," I said out loud to my empty kitchen. "OH."

The Moment Everything Clicked

I made a simple arugula salad that night, something I'd made a hundred times before. Arugula, cherry tomatoes, shaved parmesan, lemon juice. But this time, I finished it with Graza Drizzle.

The difference was insane.

The salad went from "fine, I'm eating vegetables" to "wait, can I have seconds?" The olive oil wasn't just a background ingredient, it was actually adding FLAVOR. Real, noticeable, delicious flavor.

My partner took a bite and looked at me. "What did you do different?"

"Just the olive oil."

"...We need to keep buying this olive oil."

How I Use Them Now

Drizzle (the smaller green bottle): This is my "finishing oil." I drizzle it on literally everything at the end. Pasta, salads, avocado toast, roasted vegetables, soup, hummus. It's the "made for eating, never heating" bottle. The flavor is too good to cook away.

Sizzle (the bigger green bottle): This is my everyday cooking oil. Sautéing, roasting, pan-frying, baking. It has a higher smoke point and a mellower flavor that works for everything. I go through this bottle like water because I actually want to use it.

The squeeze bottles? Game changer. No more drips. No more fumbling with caps. Just squeeze and go. It sounds silly but it genuinely makes cooking more fun.

What I Learned (That Nobody Tells You)

Here's what I didn't know about olive oil before Graza:

Most grocery store olive oil is OLD. Like, sometimes years old. Olive oil goes rancid. That bottle sitting on the shelf? Could be from harvests years ago. Graza picks, presses, and bottles in the same season. You're getting actual fresh oil.

Most olive oil is BLENDED. Different countries, different olive varieties, all mixed together. Graza uses single-origin Picual olives from Andalusia, Spain. One place. One type of olive. Consistent quality.

Harvest timing matters. Early harvest olives (Drizzle) = bold, spicy, high in antioxidants. Peak season olives (Sizzle) = milder, more versatile for cooking. I had no idea this was even a thing.

"Extra Virgin" doesn't mean much. Lots of oils labeled "extra virgin" are... not. Or they're mixed with other oils. Graza is 100% extra virgin, single-origin, actually verifiable.

The Cost Reality

My old habit: $8-12 for a bottle of grocery store olive oil that I didn't even like that much

Graza:

Drizzle: $20 for 500ml
Sizzle: $15 for 750ml
Starter Kit (both bottles): $35

Yes, it's more expensive upfront. But here's the thing: I'm actually using it. I'm not hoarding expensive olive oil for "special occasions." I'm using quality oil every single day because it's made to be used every day.

And honestly? The taste difference makes it worth every penny.

Even tastes good with the olive oil ice cream trend!!

What I Really Think..

I can't go back. I tried to use my old olive oil the other day (it was still under the sink) and it tasted like... nothing. Flat. Boring. Slightly off.

Graza ruined me for regular olive oil, and I'm not even mad about it.

If you're someone who:

Thinks all olive oil tastes the same
Uses whatever's on sale
Wants to actually taste the difference quality makes
Is tired of drippy bottles and boring flavors

Just try it. Get the starter kit. Taste them side-by-side with whatever you're using now. You'll get it.

Shop Graza here and prepare to never look at olive oil the same way again.

Maria Navarro