# It takes an entire olive tree to produce one half liter bottle of olive oil! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785 "2014-01-26T22:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/21 "2014-01-27T19:03:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Some I can sip straight from the bottle :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/22 "2014-01-27T19:07:43Z")
Keeps the gears greased, don’t cha know. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/23 "2014-01-27T19:23:42Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I’m not saying taking a cupful, but a wee sip, maybe a teaspoon. I like doing that from time to time. But I love the taste of a good olive oil. Nothing to do with any health reasons, omega fatty acids, or anything like that. Any brand of olive oil I’ve never used before, that’s the first thing I do, so I know what it tastes like and then I could decide how I want to use it. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/24 "2014-01-27T19:56:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The implication was that people who cook with extra virgin olive oil don’t really know what they’re doing and are just using the most expensive ingredients without understanding them. In my case, I understand completely but simply don’t care. It is multi-purpose and saves me from having to shelf multiple different bottles and grades of oil and worrying about them spoiling. EV works perfectly well for most cooking without being either distracting or noticeable. For foods where it would obviously clash or overpower subtle flavors (brownies, french fries, light fish dishes, etc) then canola works instead. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/25 "2014-01-27T20:26:46Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > In my case, I understand completely but simply don’t care. It is multi-purpose and saves me from having to shelf multiple different bottles and grades of oil and worrying about them spoiling. > > EV works perfectly well for most cooking without being either distracting or noticeable. For foods where it would obviously clash or overpower subtle flavors (brownies, french fries, light fish dishes, etc) then canola works instead. All that. I use the stuff in blueberry muffins, for frying chicken, whatever, with no flavor issues. If I’m making a salad dressing or a dip I can grab it for that, too. Snobs gonna snob. Me, I’m just gonna enjoy my cooking. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/26 "2014-01-27T20:52:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not saying taking a cupful, but a wee sip, maybe a teaspoon. I like doing that from time to time. But I love the taste of a good olive oil. Nothing to do with any health reasons, omega fatty acids, or anything like that. Any brand of olive oil I’ve never used before, that’s the first thing I do, so I know what it tastes like and then I could decide how I want to use it. Give me a some really good extra virgin, a loaf of crusty bread to dip in the oil, and a nice chianti and I’m one happy man. If you really want to spoil me give me some barrel aged balsamic as well. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/27 "2014-01-28T05:38:13Z")
Back to the beginning: the OP says that it takes a whole tree to produce half a liter of oil - the guide when I visited Israel said one farmer could live off of one or two trees. This doesn’t add up. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/28 "2014-01-28T06:46:49Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > Back to the beginning: the OP says that it takes a whole tree to produce half a liter of oil - the guide when I visited Israel said one farmer could live off of one or two trees. This doesn’t add up. Yeah, [this cite](http://www.colavita.com/oliveoil5.htm#sthash.oBSaitSy.dpbs) from an olive oil producer says one large tree can produce 5 liters of olive oil. [This cite](http://blog.brian-fitzgerald.net/how-many-olives-to-make-a-litre-of-oil) says 4.2L for an average tree. [This Australian cite](http://www.olivebusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24:olive-balance-sheet&catid=4:processing-olives&Itemid=35) seems to say 11L per tree. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/29 "2014-01-28T14:54:34Z")
Do olives grow and ripen all at once, or do they sort of piecemeal it? Maybe one single harvest is worth half a liter, but there can be multiple (10?) harvests per tree? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785/30 "2014-01-28T16:54:12Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > Back to the beginning: the OP says that it takes a whole tree to produce half a liter of oil - the guide when I visited Israel said one farmer could live off of one or two trees. This doesn’t add up. Presumably it depends on the size of the tree? I own 30 pretty big trees in Italy which yield 70-80 litres of extra virgin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-takes-an-entire-olive-tree-to-produce-one-half-liter-bottle-of-olive-oil/679785.md?page=1)