Different groves. Different character.
Olive variety, soil and weather all change the oil. They can change its aroma, strength and balance. Even within one state, one grove can taste different from another.
WHY OUR OLIVE OIL?
Good olive oil starts long before the bottle.
It starts with fruit. When it is picked. How quickly it is handled. How carefully the oil is protected. And whether it still tastes alive when it reaches your table.
Our experience, traditions and travels through Italy sharpened the standard we wanted for Back 2 Basics Traditions: oil with flavour of its own, made to be used.
South Australian olives
Cold extracted
Limited quantities
Made for the table
WHY FLAVOUR CHANGES
Extra virgin olive oil is not one flavour.
Olive oil changes from grove to grove and season to season. Variety, climate, rainfall, ripeness at harvest and the way the fruit is handled all shape what ends up in the bottle.
That is why one extra virgin olive oil can be soft and rounded while another is grassy, green, bitter or peppery. Those differences are part of the fruit. They are not something a good producer needs to hide.
Harvest timing changes the taste.
Earlier fruit often gives a greener, more robust oil with more bitterness and pepperiness. Riper fruit generally gives a softer, rounder style and a higher oil yield.
Olive oil does not improve with age.
Heat, light, oxygen and time all work against fresh aroma and flavour. A good oil should still smell and taste alive when you open it.
WHY SOME OIL TASTES GENERIC
Consistency is not the same thing as character.
Large-volume oils can be blended across varieties, regions, batches and harvest seasons to hit price and volume targets. That can put consistency and category compliance ahead of the best expression of fresh fruit. If the bottle is labelled extra virgin or virgin, the final blend still has to meet the chemical and sensory rules for that category — but meeting the category is only the minimum, not a promise of freshness, character or exceptional quality.
Longer storage and supply chains can also take more freshness out of the oil. Mass-produced does not automatically mean poor quality. But “extra virgin” should still taste like something.
OUR STANDARD
We want you to taste the fruit, not just the fat.
THAT PEPPERY FINISH HAS A REASON
Fresh EVOO brings more than monounsaturated fat.
Extra virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, mainly oleic acid. It also contains natural plant compounds, including polyphenols and vitamin E.
Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the olive fruit. Some contribute to the bitterness and peppery throat sensation that people notice in fresher, more robust oils. The exact amount varies with olive variety, ripeness, season and processing.
So a gentle bitterness or peppery finish is not automatically a fault. In a balanced oil, it can be part of what tells you the oil still has freshness and structure.
Oleic acidThe main monounsaturated fatty acid in olive oil.
PolyphenolsNatural antioxidant compounds that also help shape bitterness and pepperiness.
Vitamin EA natural antioxidant found in olive oil.
Freshness mattersVariety, ripeness, season and processing all change these minor compounds.
You do not need a laboratory to notice freshness. Start by smelling and tasting the oil.
Taste the difference in our EVOO
MODERN EXTRACTION · LESS INTERFERENCE
The work between harvest and bottle matters.
Modern quality olive oil is not made with old pressing mats. Modern mills crush the fruit and separate the oil with a centrifuge.
Our oil uses the latest Italian olive-oil extraction equipment. The aim is simple: release the oil without excess heat and protect it from the things that make fresh oil fade.
WHAT COLD EXTRACTED MEANS
Cold extraction keeps the olive paste below 27°C while the oil is separated mechanically. Modern mills use a centrifuge rather than the old hydraulic-press system.
01
Crush
Clean olives are milled into paste. The paste is gently mixed so tiny oil droplets can come together without cooking the fruit.
02
Separate
A modern centrifuge separates the oil from olive water and solids. Extra virgin olive oil is made by mechanical means, without chemical refining.
03
Protect
The fresh oil is filtered and stored with care. Heat, light and oxygen are kept away because they work against flavour and freshness.
More heat can increase oil yield. Our priority is not squeezing every last drop from the fruit. It is protecting what makes good extra virgin olive oil worth tasting.
WHY OUR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OIL?
Local fruit. Limited quantities. Flavour first.
Our Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil starts with olives selected from South Australian groves. It is cold extracted.
We expect a real agricultural product to show natural variation. A season with different growing conditions or fruit maturity can shift the balance from softer and rounder to greener and more peppery.
What should not change is the standard: fresh fruit, careful extraction, clean flavour and an oil good enough to pour at the table.
Shop our Premium EVOO01South Australian
Olives selected from local groves rather than an anonymous imported blend.
02Cold extracted
The temperature stays low to help protect flavour and freshness.
03Limited quantities
A food product we choose for flavour and use, not a generic oil designed only around volume.
04We let the season dictate
Some seasons may give us a straight Coratina. In others, Frantoio or another suitable cultivar may be part of the blend. We let the fruit and the season shape the oil instead of forcing the same profile every year.
05Made for the table
For bread, vegetables, pasta, salads, cheese, sauces and the final pour before serving.
LEARN TO TASTE IT
Fresh, fruity, bitter and peppery are not contradictions.
A balanced extra virgin olive oil can carry several of those qualities at once.
To be classified as extra virgin, an olive oil must be made by mechanical means, meet the chemical limits for the category — including free acidity no higher than 0.8% — show fruitiness and have no sensory defects.
Smell first.
Fresh oils can suggest green olive, grass, herbs, tomato leaf, artichoke, almond, citrus or ripe fruit. The exact profile depends on the oil.
Do not mistake character for a fault.
Bitterness on the tongue and a peppery catch in the throat can be positive attributes when they sit in balance with the fruitiness.
Fresh oil should not taste stale.
Flat, waxy, greasy, musty or rancid flavours are not signs of a strong oil. They are reasons to question freshness and handling.
OUR INFUSED OLIVE OILS
Six flavours. Simple ways to lift everyday cooking.
This is where olive oil becomes one of the easiest flavour tools in the kitchen.
Our infused extra virgin olive oils bring fragrance, depth and character to everyday dishes. They are cold extracted, small batch and South Australian — and each flavour has a clear job to do.
The six infusions are Garlic, Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Lime, Thyme and Mandarin — savoury herbs through to bright citrus, with a flavour for different parts of the meal.
Use them while you cook. Reach for them when a dish needs one more layer. Or pass them around the table for dipping, drizzling and finishing.
Cook build flavour into the dish
Drizzle add aroma just before serving
Dip let good bread do the work
Finish give simple food a final lift
Shop the infused olive oil range
MATCH THE OIL TO THE FOOD
One range. Six very different directions.
You do not need to remember complicated recipes. Start with the food in front of you, then choose the flavour that naturally belongs with it.
The savoury all-rounder.
Garlic bread · prawns · stir-fries
Keep it close when you want a warm garlic note without making the whole dish heavy.
Made for tomatoes.
Bruschetta · tomatoes · buffalo mozzarella
A natural partner for the simple combinations that make summer food so good.
For the roasting tray.
Lamb · roast potatoes · hearty vegetables
Use it where rosemary already makes sense — with generous roast flavours and crisp edges.
Freshness without heaviness.
Zucchini · fresh salads · stir-fries
A bright citrus direction for vegetables and dishes that benefit from a cleaner finish.
Quietly savoury.
Roast vegetables · potatoes · warm salads
Especially useful when you want herb flavour to sit behind the food rather than dominate it.
Citrus with a softer edge.
Prawns · smoked salmon · citrus salads
A fragrant citrus finish that works beautifully with seafood and fresh salad flavours.
WHY THEY WORK SO WELL IN COOKING
Flavour is already waiting in the bottle.
The best infused oil is not a novelty. It earns a permanent place beside the stove.
Garlic, herbs and citrus are flavours cooks use all the time. Infusing them into extra virgin olive oil gives you another way to build those flavours into food — quickly, evenly and without turning every meal into a project.
Brush it over bread. Add it to a hot pan. Coat vegetables before roasting. Dress a salad. Finish seafood. Spoon it over tomatoes and mozzarella. Then taste before you add anything else.
THE SIMPLE RULE
Use the flavour where you would naturally use the ingredient.
Choose your infused oils
TASTE IT FOR YOURSELF
The fastest way to understand olive oil is to taste it.
Labels can explain extraction, origin and quality. Your palate tells you what the oil actually brings to food.
That is why olive-oil tasting is part of our cooking experiences. We taste, compare and then use the oils with the food we are making.
Once you notice freshness, fruitiness, bitterness, pepperiness and the way an infused oil changes a simple dish, choosing the right bottle becomes much easier.
Taste olive oil with us at a cooking experienceFROM OUR TABLE TO YOURS
Buy olive oil for flavour — then use it while it is fresh.
Choose our Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the everyday bottle on the table. Choose an infused oil when you want a herb, garlic or citrus note already in the pour.