Evoolution

My favourite thing about Evoolution is that you can taste the oils and vinegars before you buy them. They have a large selection, and the staff is always ready to help you find a great pairing of vinegar and oil to go with whatever it is you’re cooking up! They even have a butter flavoured oil which I find to be a healthy and tasty alternative for making popcorn! There are tons of flavours from sweet to savoury, so there is something here for all taste palates.

This Evoolution carries the same products as the store located on 104 st.
Olive oils, white and dark vinegars, and other specialty oils are available here in multiple sizes (from ca. 60 mL to 750 mL). The prices are reasonable considering the products are very high quality, with most olive oils/​vinegars costing around $ 30 for a 750 mL bottle. Specialty oils (e.g., truffle oil) are often priced differently so be sure to check! There are cubes of bread and little containers available so you can try any product before purchasing. In addition to oil and vinegar, Evoolution carries specialty spices and salts, which can also be sampled before purchasing.
Their flavored white vinegars are so good that I drink some of them with club soda (e.g., Peach, Cara Cara Orange Vanilla). In general I love their products and a lot of them are really unique compared to what I can find in the grocery store or in other specialty stores.

Just as great as the original location on 104 Street, I absolutely love Evolution! Their oils and vinegars are amazing and can really make a difference in your home cooking!
Pick up a balsamic and olive oil to pair together for a fabulous salad (I hate salad, but this makes it better), or use them in your cooking!
A few of my faves:
Garlic infused olive oil — I use it on everything. Well, almost everything. Potatoes, marinating steaks, cooking meat in a skillet. My favourite use is probably on my grilled chicken wings. After I grill them, hot off the grill I toss them with some garlic olive oil, salt, and pepper. Seriously amazing.
White truffle oil — I really, really, really like this in my mashed potatoes. Also, great on popcorn.
Chipotle oil — I use this on salmon, along with Maple Smoke Salmon Rub (also sold here). I have made this for many people and everyone LOVES it.
Lemon Dill — man, my mouth is watering just typing this. Also great on potatoes, carrots, salmon.
Almond Oil — on my asparagus!
Basic Oil — on my zucchini
Okay, okay you get the point! Oh one last one! The Maple Balsamic… I drizzle it over my salmon after it’s cooked. Yummy! I’ve also reduced it to make a syrup.
Honestly, this place is well worth a visit, and pull out your wallet. You won’t regret it!

Evoolution is a speciality olive oil and balsamic vinegar store. Their original location is downtown on 104 Street, and they have a store inside The Enjoy Centre in St. Albert. This location is inside Southgate Mall. The great thing about Evoolution is that they have small bread samples that you can use to taste the different olive oils and vinegars (there are tongs to handle the bread samples). There are a lot of different olive oils and balsamic vinegars to try, including a variety of different flavoured ones, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to try them all (certainly don’t come here after eating dinner or lunch). One of the favourites I tried was a wild mushroom and sage olive oil. I used it in an omlette with sauted mushrooms, onions, and romano cheese and it was fantastic.
The prices here are quite a bit more than what you’d pay for a big jug of olive oil or for balsamic vinegar at the grocery store, but the olive oils and vinegars here are a high quality For the flavoured ones you just need a little bit in a recipe to add some new flavour. It’s definitely worth splurging on a couple of different types of olive oils and vinegars from Evoolution to add to your cooking. The store also has a small selection of spices from The Spice Merchant and some chocolates up front.
Aside from prices the only other downside is that this Evoolution is in a mall, and isn’t as big as some of the other locations (least not the one at The Enjoy Centre — I haven’t been to the one on 104 Street). The store is limited by mall hours, which means if Southgate is closed then so is Evoolution. It is nice though that Evoolution has a southside location. If you’re in the area definitely stop in to check this store out.