# Olives: green or black? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928 "2011-12-03T04:54:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/1 "2011-12-03T04:54:50Z")
Well? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/2 "2011-12-03T04:58:04Z")
“None of the above” is my first choice and “green” is my last choice. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/3 "2011-12-03T05:03:59Z")
You need an “other”. Here’s why: The vast majority unpitted black olives are far superior to green, in particular Kalamata in brine. (Pitted olives are maybe good for a pizza or a martini but not much else). However the best olives I have ever tasted were green: unpitted Casteltrevano, stored in brine, served over ice, dark green, solid in texture, and lusciously aromatic. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/4 "2011-12-03T05:37:47Z")
Yeah, I can’t vote without an ‘other’ option. As a cooking ingrediant, black olives WIN. LOVE them on pizza, tacos, etc. But to just pull out of the jar to snack on, it’s green olives all the way… especially thoes great big queen olives stuffed with an almond… OMG, food of the gods I tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/5 "2011-12-03T06:14:25Z")
If I can’t snack from **jjim** ’s plate, I choose both, though why I insist on iodine-tasting black olives on my pizza, I don’t know. Gotta have green olives for tamales and black olives for your fingers! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/6 "2011-12-03T06:53:15Z")
Kalmata first choice. green stuffed with jalapeno and garlic a very close second choice. black are a kinda distant third ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/7 "2011-12-03T07:23:02Z")
Where is “both” or “other”? I like both kinds. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/8 "2011-12-03T07:39:47Z")
I used to like all olives, but for the last few years I’ve lost my taste for green ones. So I’m sticking to black. I do, however, keep a jar of pitted green olives in the refrigerator, because one of my cats loves them (the other one loves Cheerios). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/9 "2011-12-03T15:13:07Z")
This poll is akin to one saying “Cars: Ford or Chevy?” Of the two options provided, I prefer green. But there’s a good dozen better choices than green. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/10 "2011-12-03T15:18:27Z")
I wouldn’t say that I don’t like olives, but most olives I’ve had, the green or black varieties alike, generally just taste like an orb of salt, which is just unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/11 "2011-12-03T15:38:55Z")
I’ve seldom met an olive I didn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/12 "2011-12-03T15:50:06Z")
False dichotomy. I love all olives. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/13 "2011-12-03T15:58:06Z")
I like 'em all, too. One of my favorite olives I ever had: a black olive stuffed with salmon mousse, used as a garnish in a vodka martini. Awesome. Too bad the little joint that served it (Groucho’s on Rush Street in Chicago) didn’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/14 "2011-12-03T17:13:36Z")
If you’re talking about what is sold as olives in most supermarkets, the green is better than the black. If you’re talking about real olives that have been properly cured, then black is better than green. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/15 "2011-12-03T17:19:25Z")
Black olives are at the bottom for me, but how could you leave kalamata off the poll?? That said, a good picholine olive will win for me. (my mother tells me I have been eating olives since I was a year and a half old.) ---
**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:** [December 3, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/16 "2011-12-03T17:57:33Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > If you’re talking about what is sold as olives in most supermarkets, the green is better than the black. > > If you’re talking about real olives that have been properly cured, then black is better than green. I would actually go the other way around on that one. I used to think I hated green olives and could only tolerate black ones, until I got a sampling of properly cured green and black olives. I found the green far more interesting than most of the black olives I tasted. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/17 "2011-12-03T18:13:41Z")
I like the green ones better than the black. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/18 "2011-12-03T18:29:23Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/19 "2011-12-03T18:51:44Z")
It’s not if they’re green or black it’s if they’re good or not. There are awesome olives in both colours and also disgusting tasteless lumps in both colours. Choose wisely! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928/20 "2011-12-03T21:44:32Z")
I love olives of any color but nicely-cured, oily-salty black Kalamata olives have the edge. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-green-or-black/604928.md?page=2)