Ayvalık Olives
The prized oil olive of the Ayvalık and Edremit gulf: the same variety as the Adramytini of Lesbos.
The Ayvalık — also called the Edremit — is the prized oil olive of the north-western Aegean coast of Türkiye, around the Gulf of Edremit and the town of Ayvalık. It gives a soft, golden, aromatic oil, gentle and approachable. It is the very same cultivar grown directly across the strait on the Greek island of Lesvos as the Adramytini — a shared olive of two nations on one sea.
- Origin
- Ayvalık / Edremit, Aegean · Türkiye
- Also called
- Edremit
- Type
- Oil olive (some table)
- Colour
- Green to black
- Flavour (oil)
- Soft, golden, aromatic
- Twin
- Adramytini (Greece)
- Best for
- Gentle, aromatic oil
The shared olive of the Edremit gulf
The north Aegean coast of Türkiye is some of the country’s finest olive country, and the Ayvalık is its star — a soft, golden, aromatic oil that anchors the region’s reputation. Cross the narrow strait to Lesvos and the identical cultivar is Greek, called Adramytini. The same tree, the same sea, two flags: a neat lesson that the olive belongs to a region, not a border.
Turkish oil is far less known abroad than its quality deserves, so a named Ayvalık extra virgin is often excellent value. Look for the variety and the Edremit/Ayvalık origin, with a recent harvest date.