Antica Olive Oil , Balsamic Vinegars and Spices

Attended the oil class with my husband. Was very informative and we enjoyed the tastings afterwards.

I’m so happy to have discovered this gem of a place in my neighborhood. The customer service is amazing, you can taste as much as you like and the selection is overwhelming so I pretty much try a few different things each time I’ve been. They always wrap the purchases prettily and include recipe ideas.
So far I’ve tried and purchased the Raspberry, Peach, Grapefruit, Strawberry, and Blueberry vinegars and Blood Orange & basil olive oils. I’ve already earned a free bottle in 4 visits to the shop.
It’s also a great place to get a gift. At Christmas, I purchased the small vinegar/​olive oil duos (only $ 10) and they also had beautiful hand painted dipping bowls from Turkey (which were also only $ 10) which made perfect gifts for foodie friends.
I make salad nearly every day and I will never purchase bottled salad dressing again, I’m truly spoiled.
If you rinse out your bottles they will refill them and take a $ 1 off the price but considering the quality of their product I think the prices are really affordable even compared to what you would pay in a grocery store for specialty olive oils and vinegars. They also have custom spices and hand-​made soaps.

What a great experience. They have all sorts of Olive Oil. We bought the Cinnamon Pear Balsamic. It is very good. They also have seasoning, soap and candles. Small store with a lot of product. The staff is very knowledgeable and courteous.

The store owner was so kind in sharing her extensive knowledge of all kinds of olive oils and vinegarettes. After asking a few questions, she began giving us tastes of some awesome flavors. Since I’m a researcher by nature, the next step is How Do I Do This At Home? Voila! Classes teaching how to combine & cook with some actual food tasting demos was right up my alley, TyVm!
Since I’ve finally finished chemo sessions (I’m fine now) and am actually getting my taste buds back (water used to taste like oil, and couldn’t taste kimchi at all) I was delighted when Yasmin gave me a drop of pear vinaigrette in a glass of water and it was totally delicious! Who knew? Yasmin did ^.^
I’m SO looking forward to the class. These woken-​up taste buds are acting like kids waiting on Santa.

Great place!!! The staff is very knowledgable and endless samples. I will definitely be back!

Saw store on way to juice bar. Glad I stopped in. They have wonderful selection of oils and vinegars. The lady there was very patient and answered questions. I told her I was looking for an oil and vinegar combo that would make me want to eat more salad. She quickly suggested a couple of combinations that fit together perfectly. Love the olive oil soap. Only complaint was that they don’t have any classes scheduled. Hopefully they will soon. Can’t wait to try on my salad!

This place is amazing! Came here for a tasting party that my friend won. The owners were very nice and educated us on the do’s and dont’s of olive oil. There were so many great flavors to try and choose from. I left with a few bottles of olive oils and balsamics. I will continue to refer friends and stock up on their quality products.

My friend took me there after she gave me a gift of vinegar & oil from Antica and I wanted to check out the place. Whoa! This store is awesome! The owner and her daughter are very kind & helpful and allowed us to sample a bunch of different oils and vinegars. They have amazing flavors, from chocolate to black cherry vinegar and lime oil to chipotle, all of them are so tasty! I came home with three bottles, in addition to the ones my friend gave me. I’m going to be eating a lot of yummy salads! I will definitely be back! The 6.7 oz bottles/​200 mL are $ 11, but if you get on their email list, they have specials. There are also gift sets and jams in the back.
BTW, there is free and easy to access parking in back of the building.

Oh my OLIVE OIL and BALSAMIC VINEGAR
Oh how I have come to LOVE me some OLIVE OIL AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR. I think I first fell in LOVE when I was living overseas in Greece. Just about everything I ate was cooked in olive oil because it’s one of the birth places of olive oil.
I was here with my wine tasting meet-​up group to do an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. WOOHOO! I didn’t even know this place existed and it is right up the street from me and pretty much right next door to a yoga studio I go to sometimes. Duh, talk about NOT paying attention to my surroundings!
I few years ago I started to make my own salad dressing using flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars because I figured if I CAN’T pronounce all the ingredients in the store bought dressing then it probably CAN’T be all that healthy for me and if I’m going to eat bunny food I might as well have a healthy dressing to go along with it.
My wine peeps and I were SUPER EXCITED to do this tasting. To keep with our groups theme of wine tasting our organizer brought a several bottles of various wines for us, as well as, cheese, crackers, and a light salad to munch on. We chatted and checked out all the different products around the store and before long it was time to start the olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting class.
There were a few tables set up for us and each person got 3 different olive oil and balsamic vinegars which were paired together for the tasting. The samples were placed on paper so we could write down what we tasted and take notes from the information given out in the class portion. After the informative session we all were able to go around and try any of the oils or balsamic in the store. A few of us even bought a few bottles as well. To top it ALL OFF there was a Unilocal DEAL you could buy which was $ 11 for $ 6 which basically means you can get a small bottle of balsamic vinegar for $ 6 or a large bottle for $ 15.
Did you know there are ONLY TWO times of year olive oil is harvested… Spring (Southern Hemisphere) and Fall (Northern Hemisphere). Another REALLY GOOD FACT to know is that olive oil ONLY has nutritional value within the FIRST 6 – 10 weeks the bottle is open. YES to read right ONLY 6 – 10 weeks! The longer the bottle is OPEN the LESS nutritional value it has. AND if that was NOT enough info for you a SEALED bottle of olive oil is GOOD for about 6 months if you’re looking for national value, but it NEVER REALLY goes bad it just doesn’t have the same nutritional value BUT it is STILL WAAAAY BETTER than its counter parts. So BASICALLY the SOONER you can consume the olive oil the BETTER!
I’ve tasted olive oil and balsamic vinegar before but having the class with information was UBER HELPFUL and INFORMATIVE. Jasmine our teacher and owner was AHHH-​MAZING and SUPER DUPER KNOWLEDGEABLE! IN fact EVERYONE that works there is KNOWLEDGEABLE they DO NOT just hire any yo-​yo off the street. Why is this important for you BECAUSE they can assist you in finding the right olive oil or balsamic vinegar for your needs and palate as well as suggest what would be GREAT for cooking.
They also have different spices to go along with the oils and vinegars to use for cooking with meat, fish or veggies, and they have a GREAT pairing pamphlet and some recipes as well! One UBER DELISH thing to try is reducing a YUMMY balsamic and using on top of ice cream if you’re an ice cream person. YUMMY! Or for a Yum, YUM, YUMMY appetizer you can get a bleu cheese and an espresso balsamic and pour a little on top and serves with crackers or bread. SUPER OUTSTANDING and FAN-​TAB-​ULOUS! You’ll be the HOSTESS with the MOST-​IST!
If you’re looking for something fun, different or just LOVE or want to get into olive oil and balsamic vinegars THIS IS YOUR PLACE! Come by with your NOT so smart phone and buy the Unilocal DEAL and try a bottle for ONLY $ 6 buck-​a-​roos!

I went to get olive oil (high grade) and I was amazed! They have all these different olive oils and balsamic vinegars that are awesome. Fresh spices too.
I will be back!!!

Having high quality, fresh olive oil will ruin you for life… In a good way. Once you are educated on olive oil and compare it with grocery store oil you will never go back. The oils here are so good I could drink them! I love the peppery California Arbeqino. I also love the aged balsamic (that’s how balsamic should taste!!!) and the white peach balsamic, yummm! I’m almost at my free bottle (yes, they have an awesome rewards program too!). I’m almost hesitant to give this review because I feel like it’s a hidden gem, but the owners are so great they deserve all of their success and then some!

Oh. My. Gosh! I went here last night for an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting and class that was taught by the owner. I learned soooo much about the olive oil industry and quality and then was able to taste EVERYTHING I wanted to. I was also sent home with some great recipes and unconventional use ideas. I bought a specialty balsamic elsewhere and spent $ 18 on a bottle that costs only $ 11 there ($ 10 if you bring back the bottles for refill). I honestly won’t be buying oil and vinegar anywhere again. Great service, great quality, great price.

Very helpful and courteous staff. The owner made an exception for me and my girlfriend during her class which goes to show who the admirable people are. She is extremely knowledgeable in her trade. We are definitely going back.

Love this place! lots of great gift ideas and all of the staff are friendly and informative…

My name is Karey R. and I have an Olive Oil addiction. Make that an Olive Oil/​Balsamic addiction. The Unilocal deal isn’t helping my addiction, as I just bought it and then ended up leaving with 2 more bottles. Seriously, if you have not come into Antica, you are missing out. This is what I buy and what I do with it:
Black Currant Balsamic: yeah baby yeah! I put a little of this on a nice steak. It’s so fantastic I want to use a very bad word to describe the experience, but I’m a lady so I won’t.
Butter Olive Oil and Truffle Salt: I put it on popcorn. Yeah… I do. You haven’t had popcorn this delicious, I guarantee it. You only need to drizzle the popcorn with the Olive Oil and then just a little bit of truffle salt. I’ve also been told that the truffle salt is good in a rub, although I haven’t tried it yet.
Garlic Olive Oil and Black Currant Balsamic: I pour some Garlic Olive Oil in a small dish with some Black Currant Balsamic in the center… then I take some fresh french bread and dab it in… Life. Changing. I think the 18 year balsamic would be good instead of the Black Currant, but I haven’t gotten that one yet.
Any of the regular olive oils and balsamic on fresh sweet tomatoes… mmmmmmm
So I’m probably going back soon, so I’ll see you there. I would definitely buy the Unilocal deal while they have it. You pay $ 6 and get an $ 11 voucher, which is pretty much a small bottle of olive oil or balsamic. They also have medium and large bottles. The large is $ 20. The small bottles are enough for me for a specialty oil like garlic, lemon or butter. I would also recommend getting a pour spout for it, they are $ 1 at the register. It’s nice for the bottle to be ready to go whenever you need it. If you wash your bottle when you are done with it and bring it in, you get a discount when you refill it. Also, when you make a purchase, they log it into the computer, when you get to 10 bottles, you get one free.

Had a great oil and balsamic tasting party. Very educational, very tasty, very fun time.

Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Class
My wife got an Amazon deal for $ 10 (normally $ 20) for a 1 ½ hour class on olive oil & balsamic vinegar which also included a 200 ml bottle of my choice ($ 11 value) not a bad deal right? Yes it was.
She bought the deal, but I had to take the class. I have to say, I was not looking forward to it and dragged it for as long as I could. The deal was set to expire, so off I went. Boy am I glad I went.
The class was very good, informative and interactive. We got to learn how olive oil is made and what to look for (and avoid) when buying olive oil.
We got to the tasting part of the class and that too was very good. Got to taste 3 olive oil & 3 balsamic. Then as a paired item to give it a different taste all together. Each item was discussed and explained. Super informative.
After the class, we were set free to taste the more than 40 different variety of olive oil & balsamic they had in the store to find the combination we would enjoy.
I got the following pairings
18 year aged Balsamic & Lemon Olive Oil — separately they are both awesome, specially the 18 yr aged balsamic. But together OMG.
Black Currant Balsamic & Organic Coratina-​Robust olive oil — the olive oil is the most bitter & peppery item I tasted (yuck), but matched with the black currant balsamic mellows it out and produces a super salad dressing. You’ve got to try this yourself.
Espresso Balsamic & Picual Olive Oil — that espresso balsamic is just so so good. Delicious. It was a perfect match to the Picual which was grassy & had peppery under tones.
Also grabbed a bottle of Fig Balsamic. This one is for me to dip my bread in. Yummy.
Some items I learned.
Olive Oil:
**Once open use between 3 to 10 weeks…1 year if not opened.
**look at the label (the back) look at the processed date, look for wording like «Refined Olive Oil» (put it back if you see it) & country of origin
**The more Bitter it is, the better it is for your body. More Polypeptide.
Balsamic Vinegar:
**The older the balsamic the sweeter it gets. The 18 year aged balsamic is a must have item.
**I did not like any of the white balsamic (personal preference/​taste I guess)
Note: we did not use any bread to taste (for the carb conscious folks out there) just straight olive oil & balsamic
Tip: take a sip of water between each tasting. Remember they have over 40 to taste. And take your time.
Take the class, you will be amazed at what you’ll learn. The 1 ½ hour flew by, I was there for over 2 hours tasting all their product. I highly recommend it. The owner Yasemin is so good, you won’t regret it.
I’ll definitely be back.

Antica Olive Oil sells high-​quality olive oils, balsamic vinegars and spices. I found them through an Amazon Local deal for an olive oil class. The deal was fantastic! you get a short educational class about what to look for in olive oils and a brief tasting of oils and vinegars. Then you get to sample to your heart’s content from the selection of oils and vinegars around the store.
The oils and vinegars were extremely high quality, full of flavor, both the natural flavor of the product and any other flavor that was combined with it. Included in the class price was a bottle of oil or vinegar. I found two that I especially liked, a maple balsamic vinegar and a blueberry ginger vinegar.
The owners treat you like family and royalty at the same time. They really know how to make you feel comfortable while showing you how good their product is. The prices are higher than going down to the local supermarket, but this is high quality. Taking into account the quality, the pricing is actually reasonable.

Antica Olive Oil was originally in Prep Kitchen Essentials down slightly south in Seal Beach. For the longest of time I thought Prep Kitchen Essentials WAS Antica, but when I found out they moved, I realized they were their own operation.
Antica is probably my favorite place to get olive oil and the best prices. I used to go down to WeOlive, but the prices added up after a while.
Antica is like any of your olive oil stores. They have a bunch of containers with olive oil and balsamic and you can do tastings and even bring in your own clean bottle. They have oils from all over the world, but I am more partial to supporting California oils.
[olive oils]
Generally speaking, treat olive oils like butter. If you heat them too long, then they will get bitter and the flavor notes will change. Whenever using olive oils you have to ask yourself two things
+ Will I use heat on it?
+ Will I use it as a finishing oil?
If you use heat on it (like cooking fish), ask questions like ‘what happens when heat is applied to this oil’? Because if this is the case you want to get extra virgin oil because you don’t have any impurities burning.
If you use an olive oil as a finishing oil you put it at the end of cooking and the flavor notes more or less stay the same. A little bit of heat is nice because the aromatics will kick up.
[tasting]
When you taste, I recommend sipping a little bit, but actually close your eyes. Try to articulate the following
+ how peppery is it?
+ how buttery is it?
+ how does it smell?
+ how olive-​y does it taste?
Here are some of my favorite olive oils.
[arbequina]
A workhouse oil with more of a slight buttery note and a slight pepperness. Mildly bold in the profile. Should be available in Feb/​March with the new harvest. I used this for low heat stir frys.
[manzanilla]
An oil that really smells and tastes like olives. Manzanilla isn’t good for stir frying, but is good for finishing a soup where you want to impart a slight olively taste.
Balsamics
[pomegrante balsamic]
A very sharp balsamic with a huge note of pomegrante. Note that if you mix balsamic and pomegrante juice (fresh from seeds), you get more of a diluted mixture. But their premade infusion is perfectly balanced where you don’t need to add any more lemon.
[juniper berry balsamic]
Another really nice balsamic with really floral notes of juniper berries.
Lastly in addition to oils here, an olive oil I find acceptable is the extra virgin olive oil at Costco in a single pack. It is not as good as the oils here, but I use it when I need a workhouse oil for cooking large batches of food.

I wrote a review for this place when it was at its old location, and nothing has changed, but a quick addendum never hurts. I love this place. The owner is fabulous and the products are amazing. If you’ve never tried aged balsamic vinegar (not the stuff you find at Ralph’s or Albertsons!) you need to get yourself over to Los Alamitos and pick up a few bottles. (right now I have four bottles going in my kitchen: the mandatory 18 yr. aged balsamic; the cherry infused balsamic; the fig infused balsamic; and a bottle of the Tuscan herb olive oil). If you feel overwhelmed, they can even make pairing suggestions! You might spend a bit more but even a few drops go a LONG way. I particularly like the vinegars on salads or grilled veggies, which make them taste divine!
I took an out of town friend there yesterday who asked «How are you ever going to use all of that?» to which I replied, «They’ll last a while, but trust me, not a drop will go to waste.» Speaking of which, make sure to hold on to your empty bottles! When you return for a refill, they clean them and give you a $ 1.00 discount. Also, after ten purchases as part of their loyalty program, they give a free bottle of whatever. Nice.
Delicious. Environmentally-​conscious. Inviting. Rewarding. That’s this place in a nutshell.