FOR A CUSTOM COMBINATION OF OIL CANS CLICK HERE Shipping costs included. Delivery in 24-48h. The Arbequina variety olive oil stands out for its smoothness, while the Marteño (picual) or Lechín are more intense. How is extra virgin olive oil obtained? Extra virgin olive oil is 100% natural juice, which preserves the aroma, flavor, vitamins and all the properties of the olive, being the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is obtained. It comes directly from olives, when they are pressed, although it is a slightly more complicated process than squeezing an orange. When the olive reaches the mill, the first thing to do is to clean it, to separate it from impurities such as leaves and small branches that come off the tree at the same time as the fruit. Once the olive is clean, it is ready to be crushed in the mill, this crushing consists basically of four steps. Throughout the process, both the olive and the oil are always in contact with inert material (stainless steel) to prevent alterations. The first step is the grinding. In a mill, the olive is crushed to break the cell structures that contain the oil. Basically it is like putting the olive in a kitchen blender, but bigger. The result is the mass or olive paste that are crushed olives with a mixture of bone and skin pieces, oil and vegetation water. The next step is the mixing. In a mixer, the olive paste is well mixed to homogenize the mixture and promote the union of the small oil droplets into increasingly larger drops. It is important that the mixing time does not exceed 90 minutes, and the temperature of the paste does not exceed 27 or 28 ºC. Once mixed, the paste goes through centrifugation. In a decanter, the paste is centrifuged at high speed to separate the different components by difference in densities. In the cylindrical drum of the decanter, three concentric rings are formed with the different components. The pomace formed by the dry extract of the olive, bone and skin, with some moisture and a density around 1.2 gr/ml forms the outermost ring. The vegetation water has a slightly higher density than 1 gr/ml, due to its dissolved components, and forms the intermediate ring. The oil, with a density of 0.92 gr/ml forms the innermost ring. The last step is the filtration. To remove the last impurities, different systems are used for this last step depending on the mill. Vertical centrifuges, which centrifuge the oil again at high revolutions, and decanter batteries are the most used systems. Some also use stainless steel mesh filters. Once clean of moisture and impurities, it is ready to go to the cellar to be packaged.