Ask Meema.

Tunisia is one of the largest olive oil producers in the world and has been growing olives for three thousand years. The catch is that most Tunisian oil leaves the country in bulk and is bottled elsewhere, under someone else's name. Ours does not. It is pressed and bottled in Tunisia and sold as what it is.

That is oleocanthal, a compound found in fresh olive oil. It is strongest in young oil pressed from green fruit, and it fades over the year. A peppery catch means the oil is fresh. No catch at all usually means it is old.

The olives are crushed once, without heat. Heat lifts the yield and flattens everything worth tasting, so we do not use it. There is no second press. What comes out the first time is what goes in the bottle.

Yes, and faster than people expect once it is open. Use it within a couple of months of opening, and within a year of the harvest. Olive oil is a fresh product, not a pantry fixture. It does not improve with age.

Somewhere cool and dark, with the cap on, away from the hob. Light and air are what turn good oil ordinary. The dark glass does half the work; the other half is not leaving it on a sunny windowsill.

Because you should finish it while it is still good. The bottle is 16.9 fl oz, or 500 ml. A five-litre tin is cheaper per ounce and considerably worse by the time you reach the bottom. We would rather you ran out.

A person who cooks most nights gets through six to twelve bottles a year, so roughly 100 to 200 fl oz. Buy for that, not for the shelf. The oil is best inside a year of the harvest, so a bigger stack is not better value.

December. There is one harvest a year and we sell that harvest until it runs out. When it runs out it is gone until the following December. We do not blend last year's oil into this year's to stretch it.

The olive variety. Chemlali is the most widely planted olive in Tunisia — small fruit, modest yield, and a milder, rounder oil than the sharper varieties grown further north. It is what grows in our grove, two hours south of Tunis.

Yes, for every batch we bring into the United States: free acidity, peroxide value, the date it was picked and the date it was bottled. Every batch, not just the first one. The first sheet goes up when the December harvest is pressed.

Within the United States, from January 2027. If you are somewhere else and you want a bottle, write to us and we will tell you honestly when we can get to you.