Benessere Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars

The product line is nearly identical to that of a store I frequented in Florida, which makes this place a go-​to. Their prices are bit more steep than what I’m accustomed to, but when you consider the quality and flavor these products add to your foods, it’s still worth it (particularly when cooking for clients).
I have one complaint; the customer service needs some looking after.
Our first time in, the store was empty but for one clerk and he seemed completely irritated that we’d entered the room. He couldn’t have been less approachable and when I spoke to him he acted we’d had a falling out I wasn’t aware of. The brief encounter with him was so irksome I had considered never coming back. Unfortunately I ran out of an infused oil I use regularly for my private chef client, and was forced to go back. The next time I was in, we had a pretty agreeable young woman and it’s a lucky thing because I was planning to just have my oils and vinegars shipped from FL after the off-​putting experience our first time in. Her affability made me consider giving this store a bit more of a chance.

I’ve needed to give a shout out to this incredible business for some time. Not only will they change the way you think about oil and vinegar… forever…they are unfailingly kind and generous. A stop into this store is like stopping by a friend’s house, who happens to sell incredible oil and vinegar. I have gifted many bottles from this store, and I now have friends and family all over the NW that email me, asking me when I am going to visit… so I can bring them more oil and vinegar. Now that I have discovered what good EVOO can be, I don’t know what I would do without Benessere!

Wow. I had no idea vinegar could taste this good. We couldn’t decide what the buy and the prices are actually fairly reasonable.

I went into the store this morning to get a replacement lid as mine broke off. The man made no apologies, said I could get it off with a cork screw (duh), gave me a new lid and asked if I came into town to do this. When I said yes, he said, well you have quite the life. I didn’t appreciate the insinuation. It just happens that a lid with something to hold onto is much easier for these older fingers to manage and since I was on the waterfront I decided to take care of this. Next time I will take his advice and stay away from downtown, go back to my oilerie in a Lake Oswego where they have screw tops and a better tasting product and better customer service. It doesn’t pay to judge other people’s decisions.

Love the large variety of vinegar and oils. Especially the grapefruit white vinegar and the Vermont maple vinegar! Best part is that they sell 5 dollar small bottles, which is great for carry on bags if you’re from out of town like us.

This was a quiet little shop that I happened to walk by. There were more varieties of infused olive oils and vinegars than any other shop I have ever seen. I ended up selecting an 18-​year aged balsamic and some great garlic-​infused olive oil. The shop will ship to you if you need to and the man who was working behind the counter was pretty knowledgeable and friendly.

It’s impossible not to love Benessere. Huge selection of vinegars and olive oils, and they let you (actually encourage you) to taste everything! Very friendly people, very unique and awesome place. All the friends I have sent there have come back raving about it too.

I have always assumed that extra virgin olive oil always trumps light olive oil, so always get the extra virgin olive oil. Balsamic vinegars are all created equal. Under these assumptions, the rule of thumb was to just always try to find the cheapest bottle available at the discount store. Stopping by Benessere enlightened primitive me. I left understanding what GOOD olive oil and balsamic vinegars are. And no, they are almost never the cheapest bottle available at my local discount store.
The staff are all very pleasant and patient in trying to explain to us what makes an olive oil good. They do not hound you while you try the wonderful and flavored assortment they have, so you can peruse without feeling pressured to buy something. Do buy something, though. Their oils and vinegars are really the good stuff and they are fairly reasonable (maybe more expensive than your grocery store olive oil, but didn’t we just discuss GOOD olive oil versus other olive oils?).
If you love to cook or just love good food, you really should make sure to go to Benessere.

For those of you who have not experienced the taste of a good balsamic vinegar, you are missing out. But you don’t have to travel to italy or shell out $ 40 for a small bottle in a box. Stop in here and for $ 13 you can get a bottle.
Sample as many as you want. I go for the traditional aged balsamic or the fig balsamic. They are great for making an easy salad dressing ((mix with oil, salt, pepper, and maybe some basil) or for dipping bread. Good on yogurt and ice cream too (seriously).
If you bring back the bottle you get a dollar off. They ship and carry olive oil also (i only get vinegar here). Makes a great gift and a bottle goes a long way.

I’m giving this place two stars instead of one because I have truly enjoyed the in-​person trips. The staff was great w my 8-​month old who drank his weight in blueberry vinegar. They are knowledgeable, friendly, and a great place to go for a gift.
However, when it came to my online, mail-​order delivery, I had the worst customer experience of my life ever. I had two unfortunate mix ups at the same time. Two friends were getting married and I wanted to send them some wonderful oil and vinegar gifts. One friend texted me the wrong address. I used an old address for the other friend. (Nice way to find out that I needed to change a setting on my phone that was replacing current information with old info from a laptop I don’t even use anymore.) So it was a bummer. The manager, Leland, took a situation that was a bummer and turned it into something humiliating and painful. He was really mean to me.
The basics of customer service are to offer sympathy and some kind of solution within your control. This didn’t happen. After several very mean emails, he told me they could offer a re-​order at 50% off. Why not lead with that?
Oil and vinegar places are a dime a dozen. The ONLY thing that sets them apart is customer service. If you like yourself and want to be treated well, I suggest you shop at any of the hundreds of other shops like this one, especially if you are sending someone a package.

Taste test and compare lots of flavorful olive oils from around the world. In the southern hemisphere olive oil is pressed in May-​June. In the northern hemisphere oil pressed in November-​Decembrer. I buy extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) here cuz I know when it was pressed – FRESH!
You do not really know how long an olive oil sits on a grocery store shelf and olive oil loses some potency and good health benefits, like antioxidants. Older oil can lose some flavor and become rancid too.
Benessere olive oil is independent laboratory tested. You get what you pay a little more for. And why not get the best essential fatty acids (EFA’s) you need for good health? Heads up! The California fresh-​press-​harvest is due to arrive in a couple of weeks. Go and taste! It’s organic too! EVOO = good taste + vitamins!
Tips: do not fry with olive oil cuz it has a low smoke point (coconut oil has a higher smoke point for frying). When edible oils are heated, hydrogenated or otherwise processed, they no longer have much nutritional value. Pure EVOO tastes great in many salad dressing concoctions and flavorful «pops» on popcorn.
And try some balsamic vinegars too!

This reminds me of a store I loved in Santa Cruz, that might be because the distributor for their products is in Oakland so maybe there are many stores like this but I will say this one had a better selection than the SC version.
I always stock up on the butter flavored (non dairy) olive oil which we use for popcorn and then my wife loves the fig balsamic. My only complaint is the guy working when I went in seemed kind of grumpy and clearly wasn’t loving life or the idea of being excited about the products (update, the lady working on my second visit was very nice and helpful). But it’s ok, I know what I like and you can just walk around to sample things on your own anyway so the product will sell itself as it’s good stuff!

Ok yeah, it seems very «Portlandia» to have a store dedicated to nothing but olive oil and vinegar, but this place is a gem!
Great oils that you can try before you buy, and nice knowledgeable people.
If you’re a big fan of «Extra Virginity», this is your spot, henceforth!

Our bags were packed and we had only a couple minutes more before we were off, so we stopped in the Benessere Olive OIl and Vinegar Shop.
I always want new products for my kitchen so I tried a few items before quickly selecting the Jalapeño White Balsamic Vinegar, the Grapefruit White Balsamic Vinegar, the Basil Olive Oil and the Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar.
I love them all, but love the Jalapeño one in my fresh pico de gallo and the Strawberry and Basil over a fresh tomato salad with cracked pepper. I love how these ingredients add to my recipes and will inspire me to try more.

Benessere offers a wide selection of over 40 different olive oils and balsamic vinegars from around the world in a «tasting room» environment. Customers are encouraged to taste and ask questions of the knowledgeable staff. Each container is clearly labeled and provides detailed flavor descriptions. Once you’ve decided (which is easier than it sounds), they will bottle up your selection for you.

who walks into a Olive oil and Vinegar store and drops 80 $plus… O yes, this girl does!
I never thought a day would come when I would find myself covering ice cream in fig vinegar, pouring truffle oils over my omelettes, and finishing mashed potatoes with this stuff… well those days have sure come and they are not leaving anytime soon This store is amazing, the staff are helpful and friendly, everyone is educated and willing to education you on their products. the amount of vinegar’s and oils is just crazy, each time we come back to refill our traditional Balsamic vinegar, and Olive oil we wind up leaving with something completely different every time, and each time we are excited to get home to experiment with the new flavors we have just purchased.
Do not be hesitant to come in –we have all been guilty of cooking with the cheap grocery store olive oil, and pouring that watering sour black liquid more refer to as Balsamic vinegar on our salads… but have no fear my child, open your mouth and embrace the new relationship you will start with good quality oils and vinegars at Benessere

I found my new favorite haunt — and the manager was a hoot.
Being married into an Italian family I have become a wine snob, coffee snob, a cheese snob, a pasta snob, shoe and hand bag snob, an olive oil snob, and a balsamic vinegar snob.
Pretty much in that order.
One of my favorite things in the world is balsamic vinegar. And I don’t like that spindly thin kind. I like mine on the smooth, milder side.
A few weeks ago I just happened to come across Benessere Olive Oils and when I walked in I asked if they had «good balsamic vinegar» I thought I’d had died and gone to balsamic vinegar heaven.
Utterly amazing.
I spoke to the manager who was a delightful guy, informative without making me feel like a complete dumbass. He even gave me a tip of two on the best methods of creating that lovely thick balsamic vinegar we love to drizzle on strawberries.
Prices were reasonable and their olive oil selection is incredible.
I just love this place, and plan to go there again, and again, and again!

I was first introduced to Benessere when I bought a deal through Living Social about a year ago. Now I’m hooked on their products. There is nowhere else that I have found a selection of oils and vinegars as impressive. Anyone that has an interest in cooking should go, immediately.
For the quality, the prices are very fair. Everything is available to try. They have flavors that I would have never imagined. It is a salad lovers paradise! I wish that they offered bread or something other than little plastic cups to try the products, but it does the job. They also offer a nice selection of high end salts.
I presently have their Arbequina olive oil, Herbs de Provence olive oil, white balsamic, and aged organic balsamic vinegars. I use them for dipping bread, pasta, or making my panzanella salad. They are hands down better than any I have had anywhere. If you bring back your empty bottle they give you a buck or two off on refills.
I really like the owner. He is helpful, but also lets you browse and try what you would like rather than hovering. One time I needed to make an exchange, and it couldn’t have been easier. That isn’t always the case with a small specialty store.
Their gift packs a great. They start at $ 10, depending on what you would like. The flavor combinations are endless! They are happy to customize if you don’t see what you would like on the shelf.
I appreciate that they offer several different sizes since oils can turn rancid fairly quickly. A little goes a long way, but I like to have several to choose from on hand. I don’t think I’ll be buying my oils and vinegars anywhere else.

I remember watching a documentary on how the Spanish appreciate olive oil, devoting entire stores to it where there are connoisseurs to guide you as to how to appraise the oil… grassy, nutty, etc. I figured that only in Europe would the craft be so well-honed…and then I walked into Benessere and was totally dumbfounded.
A place with incredible variety and containers with which you can smell and taste the product. Amazing and so hard to choose. Might have to come back weekly for one of each, but that’d probably take a whole year.
Nothing like it. Makes for great gifts and even better salads… or maybe even just shots? Delish.

Shut the front door!
INCREDIBLE. Why Vancouver doesn’t have something this amazing I just don’t understand…
Strolled in here while my husband was next door at Tartberry grabbing some frozen yogurt. I was in heaven! I love all the varieties and the ability to sample everything.
I ended up leaving with $ 60 worth of oils and vinegars:
— Butter EVOO (put this on non fat greek yogurt with stewed apples — that’s right… AMAZING)
— Lemon EVOO
— Fig balsamic
— Chocolate balsamic
— a small sample pack of blood orange EVOO and dark chocolate balsamic vinegar
So far, we’ve been putting this stuff on everything. Can’t get enough.
Thank god you can shop online. Pandora’s olive oil and vinegar box has been opened over here and I doubt I’ll be able to live without this stuff!