Coffee With Olive Oil Recipe

Starbucks recently announced a line of olive oil infused coffee beverages called the Oleato. These drinks are currently only available in select markets, but you can follow our recipes to make olive oil coffee drinks at home!

Many people were initially shocked at the idea of adding oil to coffee, but the idea is actually not new.  Fat reduces the acidity and bitterness of coffee. Non-dairy creamer, a product that many people are used to, is usually made from vegetable oil. And people have been adding butter, coconut oil and MCT oil to coffee for over 10 years to create "bulletproof" coffee. 

Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz was inspired to launch olive oil beverages when he observed people sipping shots of olive oil as an “uplifting ritual" on a trip to Sicily.  While adding olive oil to coffee is not common in Italy, the combination makes a lot of sense. Schultz describes how extra virgin olive oil enhances both hot and cold beverages -- “In both hot and cold coffee beverages, what it produced was an unexpected, velvety, buttery flavor that enhanced the coffee and lingers beautifully on the palate.”

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Olive Oil Coffee Recipes

We have been drinking olive oil coffee for some time now, and we shared our recipe to TikTok in 2022.  The key to making a delicious olive oil coffee drink is to make sure that the oil is well emulsified into your drink. Olive oil is incorporated into Starbucks' drinks through blending, frothing, steaming, or shaking.

Our recipe uses a blender to emulsify the olive oil with the coffee. To make an olive oil "cappuccino", simply blend 6oz of strong black coffee with 1.5 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a blender. Please exercise caution when blending hot drinks to avoid being burned with hot coffee!  Add sweetener if you like, but we like it without.

Is adding olive oil to coffee healthy?

Research has shown that both extra olive oil and black coffee can lower the risk of chronic diseases. But the real health benefits from the combination of olive oil and coffee may come from the polyphenols. Extra virgin olive oil and coffee are both rich in different plant-based polyphenols, which combat inflammation and have health benefits for your heart, brain, and cancer resistance. The nutrients in coffee are fat soluble, so adding oil to your coffee will help you absorb the antioxidants better than drinking it black.

Many news stories point out that adding olive oil to your coffee adds unnecessary calories, but it should be noted that consumption of olive oil is associated with weight loss when compared to other fats.  And if you are using the olive oil instead of other fatty ingredients (cream, milk, butter), you are merely replacing unhealthy fats with healthy fats; calorie for calorie, adding olive oil to your coffee is healthier than other sources of fat. In addition to complementing the flavor of coffee, olive oil can also boost coffee's appetite-suppressing qualities. A spoonful of extra virgin olive oil in your coffee will help you stay sated for longer. 

What Does Olive Oil Coffee Taste Like?

We tasted the oleato this past weekend at the Starbucks Reserve in New York City this past weekend, and we were impressed! The shop was full of people enjoying olive oil coffee drinks -- both hot and cold.  The barista reported that they made hundreds of oleatos that day.  Based on what we saw at Starbucks this past weekend, we predict that olive oil coffee will be a big hit.  CEO Schultz said, “ In over 40 years, I can't remember a moment in time where I've been more excited, more enthused that demonstrates the pride, the quality, the passion, the heritage and the craft of what Starbucks can do.”  

From an industry perspective, we are obviously very excited about any new food that includes olive oil, and we hope that olive oil coffee opens doors to people trying other beverages that are delicious with olive oil, such as olive oil hot cocoa, olive oil bloody mary, olive oil martini, olive oil smoothies, and olive oil energy drinks. Enjoy!