Walk into an olive oil store for the first time and the choices can be a little overwhelming. Extra virgin olive oil. Mild. Medium. Robust. Garlic. Basil. Butter. Tuscan Herb. Lemon. Smoked. Chili. Fused. Infused. Most people eventually ask us some version of the same question: “Which olive oil should I get?”

After years of helping people taste and choose olive oil at Rocky Mountain Olive Oil, we’ve learned that the answer usually has a lot less to do with what sounds impressive and a lot more to do with what someone is actually going to cook for dinner. But we wanted to know if our sales data told the same story. So we looked.

For this case study, we analyzed Rocky Mountain Olive Oil sales from January 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026, including purchases made through our Colorado stores and online shop. We looked at which olive oils customers purchased most often, which flavors consistently rose to the top and what those purchasing patterns tell us about the way people actually use olive oil at home.

And there was one thing that became clear pretty quickly: Versatility wins.

How We Analyzed What Our Customers Actually Buy

We reviewed more than three and a half years of RMOO sales data, covering January 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026. Rather than relying only on what we thought customers liked, we looked at actual purchasing behavior and compared it with what we've experienced helping customers taste olive oils in our stores.

For competitive reasons, we're not publishing individual product sales volumes or revenue. Instead, we're sharing rankings, relative performance and the purchasing patterns we found.

We also consolidated historical naming variations where appropriate. Over the years, some products have appeared in Shopify under slightly different titles even though they represent the same RMOO flavor. What emerged was a pretty interesting picture of what people actually want from olive oil.

Finding #1: Tuscan Herb Is Our Standout Flavored Olive Oil

There was no need for a photo finish on this one. Tuscan Herb Infused Olive Oil was the clear leader in our multi-year sales data. Garlic was also an exceptionally strong seller, but Tuscan Herb established a substantial lead over the rest of the flavored olive oil field.

That makes sense when we think about the conversations we have with customers. Tuscan Herb doesn't require much explanation. Pasta. Chicken. Vegetables. Potatoes. Pizza. Bread. Marinades. Soups. Eggs. It's an olive oil people can take home and start using that night. And that turned out to be an important theme throughout our data.

The products that rose to the top weren't necessarily the most unusual flavors. They were the ones that solved the “What am I going to do with this?” problem fastest.

Finding #2: Garlic Is Another Everyday Favorite

If Tuscan Herb showed us that versatility matters, Garlic Infused Olive Oil reinforced the point. Garlic ranked among our strongest olive oil sellers throughout the study period and was the next major standout behind Tuscan Herb in our sales analysis.

Again, we don't find that particularly surprising. Garlic is already part of the way people cook. Roasted vegetables. Pasta. Eggs. Potatoes. Chicken. Marinades. Bread dipping. Sauces. There isn't much of a learning curve.

Case Study: The “What Do I Do With It?” Customer

We see this customer all the time. They taste something they love and immediately ask: “What would I actually use this for?” Our answer is almost never one elaborate recipe. We give them five easy things.

Garlic? Roasted vegetables. Pasta. Eggs. Potatoes. Bread dipping.

Basil Infused Olive Oil? Tomatoes. Pasta. Pizza. Vinaigrette. Caprese.

Butter Infused Olive Oil? Potatoes. Popcorn. Eggs. Vegetables. Baking.

Once someone can picture a bottle living beside the stove instead of sitting untouched in the pantry, choosing becomes much easier. Our sales data suggests that customers aren't just saying they want versatile olive oils. They're buying them.

Finding #3: Familiar Flavors Dominate the Top of the List

Once we moved beyond Tuscan Herb and Garlic, another pattern appeared. Many of RMOO's strongest flavored olive oils during the study period were flavors people already understand how to cook with. Among the group that rose toward the top were:

• Lemon
• Baklouti Green Chile
• Butter
• Persian Lime
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Wild Mushroom & Sage

That is a fascinating mix because it isn't simply “Italian flavors win.” Citrus performs well. Heat performs well. Savory herb flavors perform well. But they share something important: customers can imagine the food before they buy the bottle.

Someone tasting Persian Lime Olive Oil can immediately imagine fish, chicken, tacos, rice or a vinaigrette. Someone tasting Baklouti Green Chili Fused Olive Oil starts thinking about eggs, tacos, vegetables, chili or grilled meat. Butter doesn't require much explanation at all. The flavor may change, but the purchasing pattern points toward the same conclusion: The easier an olive oil is to mentally connect with dinner, the easier it is to use again and again.

Finding #4: Flavored Olive Oil Can Be a Gateway to Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This finding comes less from a ranking and more from years of watching what happens at the tasting counter. Someone comes in because Garlic sounds good. Or Tuscan Herb. Or Basil.

They taste it. They understand it immediately. Then they start tasting everything else. Eventually the questions change. Why is that extra virgin olive oil peppery? What does robust mean? Why is this one grassy? What's the difference between these olive varieties? What does the harvest date mean? Suddenly someone who came in looking for garlic olive oil is comparing cultivars.

We love when that happens. Extra virgin olive oils such as Arbequina, Picual and Koroneiki also appear throughout our sales data, but EVOO buying behaves differently from flavored-oil buying because the individual oils available to us change with harvests, origins and seasons. That's an important distinction.

It would be misleading to compare a single rotating EVOO directly against a flavor such as Tuscan Herb that customers can purchase year after year. What the data does reinforce is that our customers buy both categories—and our experience in the stores tells us that flavored oils often give people an approachable way into the larger world of olive oil.

Finding #5: There Is No Single “Best” Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is one place where sales rankings can actually be misleading. RMOO's EVOO selection changes because we source fresh extra virgin olive oils from different cultivars, origins and harvests. A particular EVOO can't accumulate years of sales the way a permanent infused flavor can.

That's why we don't believe our data supports declaring one cultivar the “best.” What it does support is something we tell customers every day: The right EVOO depends on what you like and what you're cooking.

Some people love a grassy, peppery, robust olive oil. Others want something softer and fruitier. UC Davis identifies fruitiness, bitterness and pungency as positive sensory characteristics of extra virgin olive oil and recommends looking for harvest information when selecting an EVOO.

Freshness absolutely matters, too. (Hello, constantly rotating table of Extra Virgin Olive Oils at our shop!) Olive oil quality and shelf life are influenced by fruit quality, processing, storage and packaging, and we sometimes become heart breakers for this. People will come in a taste and buy a Barnea from Chile in the Winter, and when they come visit us to buy again int he Spring - poof! - it's gone. And instead a Cobrancosa from Portugal, a Picual from Spain and an Arbosana from California have taken its place. Our Extra Virgin table never looks the same, and that's a beautiful thing because it means you're getting the freshest olive oil we can get. 

When customers then ask us which EVOO is “best,” we have to pour at least 3 samples than point automatically to one bottle. 

Finding #6: More Distinctive Flavors Still Build Loyal Followings

The top of our sales data favors versatility, but that doesn't mean customers only buy familiar flavors. Quite the opposite. Wild Mushroom & Sage, Milanese Gremolata, Cilantro & Roasted Onion, Olive Wood Smoked and Madagascar Black Peppercorn all showed meaningful demand during our study period. That's where tasting becomes especially important.

Case Study: The Olive Oil You Wouldn't Have Picked From the Name

This happens constantly at the tasting counter. A customer isn't sure about a flavor. We convince them to try it. Then comes: “Ohhhh.” And immediately after that: “What would you put this on?” Once someone has their everyday bottles covered, more distinctive oils make sense because they aren't being asked to do everything.

Olive Wood Smoked Infused Olive Oil doesn't need to replace every olive oil in the kitchen. It just needs to be fantastic when you want smoke.

Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil doesn't have to be Garlic. It gets to be Milanese Gremolata.

Our data shows room in customers' kitchens for both.

Finding #7: The Real Winner Is the Bottle That Gets Used

This may be the most useful conclusion in the entire study. When we looked at which products repeatedly rose to the top, we didn't find a collection of obscure olive oils people save for special occasions. We found workhorses. Tuscan Herb. Garlic. Lemon. Butter. Basil. Rosemary. The bottles that make ordinary food better without making dinner harder. This is something we've been seeing from the other side of the tasting counter for years.

Customers don't necessarily need more recipes. Sometimes they need permission to stop making cooking complicated. A drizzle of Tuscan Herb on vegetables. Garlic in the skillet. Butter on popcorn. Basil over tomatoes. Lemon on fish. That's dinner. And that may explain more about our sales rankings than anything else.

What Our Sales Data Says About Popular Olive Oil Flavors

Based on RMOO purchasing data from January 2023 through August 2026, the clearest overall pattern wasn't simply one winning flavor. It was familiarity plus versatility.

Tuscan Herb stood clearly above the flavored-oil field. Garlic followed as another major customer favorite. Lemon, Baklouti Green Chile, Butter, Persian Lime and Basil were among the next group of especially strong performers, followed by other versatile herb and savory flavors including Rosemary and Wild Mushroom & Sage.

We aren't publishing unit counts or revenue because those are proprietary business figures. But the relative rankings are based on actual RMOO transaction data - not surveys, search volume or our personal guesses. And that's an important distinction. These are products people actually bought.

What Should You Look for When Buying Olive Oil?

After looking at the numbers and thinking about years of conversations at our tasting counter, our advice is pretty simple. Start with what you cook. If you roast vegetables several nights a week, buy something you love on vegetables. If your house eats pasta constantly, Garlic, Basil or Tuscan Herb might earn permanent counter space. If you grill a lot, something smoky, peppery or spicy may make more sense. And if you're choosing an EVOO, don't assume stronger automatically means better. Taste different cultivars and intensities when you have the opportunity.

UC Davis recommends considering harvest date and keeping olive oil away from heat and light because freshness and flavor decline over time and improper storage accelerates oxidation.  Most importantly, buy something you're actually going to use. The beautiful bottle hiding in the pantry isn't doing dinner any favors.

Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Olive Oil

What is the most popular infused olive oil at Rocky Mountain Olive Oil?

Based on RMOO sales data from January 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026, Tuscan Herb was our clear flavored-olive-oil sales leader, with Garlic another major customer favorite. These findings represent Rocky Mountain Olive Oil customers and should not be interpreted as nationwide olive oil sales data.

What are some of the most popular flavored olive oils?

In RMOO's multi-year sales analysis, Tuscan Herb and Garlic led the flavored olive oil category, while Lemon, Baklouti Green Chile, Butter, Persian Lime and Basil were among the next group of particularly strong performers.

What is the best olive oil for everyday cooking?

There isn't one olive oil that's best for everyone. Our customer sales patterns suggest that versatile flavors perform particularly well. Tuscan Herb, Garlic, Lemon, Butter and Basil are good examples because they work across many everyday foods.

What is the difference between fused and infused olive oil?

The primary difference is how the flavor is created. With fused olive oils, fresh ingredients are crushed with the olives during the milling process. Infused olive oils are flavored after the olive oil has been produced. We explain that distinction in much more detail in our guide to fused vs. infused olive oil.

Should extra virgin olive oil taste peppery?

It certainly can. Fruitiness, bitterness and pungency are recognized positive sensory attributes of extra virgin olive oil. Different cultivars and harvests can produce very different sensory profiles.

Is the most popular olive oil necessarily the best olive oil?

No. Sales popularity tells us what RMOO customers purchase most frequently; it doesn't establish that one olive oil is objectively better than another. Taste, freshness, intended use and personal preference all matter.

How should olive oil be stored?

Keep olive oil away from heat, light and excessive exposure to air. UC Davis notes that dark or opaque packaging helps limit light exposure and that oxygen also contributes to oxidation.

What We Learned From More Than Three Years of Olive Oil Sales

The most interesting thing about looking at our own data wasn't discovering that one particular bottle sold the most. It was seeing a pattern we've watched play out at the tasting counter for years show up in the numbers. People use olive oil when they understand what to do with it.

Once someone knows why an EVOO tastes peppery, what Garlic Infused Olive Oil can do to a sheet pan of vegetables, or why Tuscan Herb makes an easy weeknight dinner even easier, olive oil stops feeling like something special they need to save. It becomes an ingredient. That's really what we want. We don't want our olive oil sitting untouched in somebody's pantry because it seems too nice to use. We want the bottle beside the stove. We want fingerprints on it. We want it almost empty. Because the best olive oil in your kitchen is ultimately the one you love enough to actually cook with.

xoxo, Andi

About This Rocky Mountain Olive Oil Case Study

This case study analyzed aggregate Rocky Mountain Olive Oil Shopify sales data from January 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026, covering purchases through our Colorado retail business and online shop. Historical product-title variations were considered when interpreting individual flavors.

RMOO does not disclose individual product unit counts or revenue. Rankings and relative purchasing patterns presented here are based on internal sales data. They describe the purchasing behavior of Rocky Mountain Olive Oil customers and are not intended to represent all U.S. olive oil consumers.

External information about extra virgin olive oil quality, sensory characteristics, freshness and storage is supported by UC Davis olive oil research and consumer guidance.