“I don’t like bitter olive oils.”

It’s a phrase I hear often.

As children, we discover sweetness, and instinctively seek it everywhere. As we grow older, sometimes to our great frustration, conditioned by sweetness, we learn that what is truly good for our health doesn’t always seduce us at first taste. Sometimes, it takes more than one try.

You probably grimaced the first time you tasted spinach, arugula, artichokes, or dark chocolate. In China, where medicinal plants and bitter drinks are used for healing, there is a saying that those who learn to eat bitterness become accomplished individuals.

The same is true of olive oil.

A mild oil, made from late-harvest, fully ripened olives, is immediately pleasing—but it offers little in return. By contrast, an oil from an early harvest, naturally more bitter, is far more complex, more expressive aromatically, and above all, much richer in polyphenols.

These polyphenols—powerful antioxidants found in exceptional concentrations in high-quality olive oil—play an anti-inflammatory role, protect the cardiovascular system, and contribute positively to longevity.

Olive growers who strive to produce exceptional oils invest tremendous effort at every stage, from cultivating the olive tree to transforming its fruit, precisely to amplify and balance this bitterness. They seek it, respect it, and value it, because what it represents enhances everything it touches.

Learning to appreciate bitterness is accepting that what is deeply good for us takes time. The palate works like the mind: it must be educated, opened, and trained.

You are ready.