Oleato is dead. Long live Oleato!

I read the news this week that 星巴克 is discontinuing its Oleato coffee beverage made with extra virgin olive oil.

In my position, job #1 is to promote more olive oil consumption. Good thing I am an olive oil nut. For example, once a week or so, I skip breakfast and just have a cup of dark roast into which I have blended some EVOO.?I experiment using oils from different regions or varieties, sometimes with agrumato flavored oils—like blood orange or chai spice—all of which bring distinct nuances to the flavors and aromas of the coffee. (This morning, I made it with an Arbequina that is flavored by storage in sherry casks!)

For me, my homemade version of Oleato is a delicious and satisfying beverage that gets me through the morning, and it’s fun to make. But I know it is not for everyone. My wife Beth Saidel , also an olive oil lover, always opts for black. So I can’t say I am surprised that Oleato didn’t catch on.

Regardless of what you think of Oleato, if you live and work in the olive oil lane as I do, the love of EVOO that leads people like Howard Schultz to innovate new ways to showcase its amazingly diverse flavors—and at the same time raise awareness of olive oil's many virtues—is itself cause for celebration. It’s the same passion that inspires mixologists to fat-wash alcohol with EVOO to make martinis, dessert makers to explore EVOO flavors in and on ice creams or in chocolate brownies, or cooks to use EVOO instead of other oils or fats typically used in traditional ethnic dishes like Eastern European Hanukkah latkes,?Indian aloo katli or Korean ho bak jun.

The coined word “oleato” literally means “oiled” in Italian. Although Starbucks’ Oleato may be toast, if you are passionate about olive oil, join me in toasting the spirit of “oleazione”—and innovators like Howard Schultz!

#oliveoil, #EVOO, #Starbucks, #coffee