I'm an olive oil expert and these are the best on the high street - but can I spot my own in a blind taste test with Lidl, Tesco and more?

For a nation once raised on bad coffee in polystyrene cups, mediocre wine and cooking fats that could fur your arteries at 100 paces, we've come a long way. Recent decades have seen Brits develop an ever more refined palate; our appetite for bean-to-cup coffee, craft beers, fine wines and artisan chocolate now seemingly knows no bounds - and extra virgin olive oil is fast joining the list of products we're happy to pay through the nose for.

It's only taken us a millennium or more to catch up with our Mediterranean cousins, who've used little else but extra virgin 'liquid gold' - made when oil is crushed out of olives by hand or mechanical pressing shortly after they've been harvested - since around 4,000 BC. Picking up a bottle of the good stuff in your local supermarket hasn't been cheap in the last couple of years though - a double hit of the cost-of-living crisis and droughts in Spain, the world's biggest producer of olives, has made it an often painful purchase, with a supermarket bottle sometimes the wrong side of £10 for 500ml.

However, there was good news this week. A wet winter in Spain followed by a return of normal temperatures last spring has produced a higher-than-normal crop, which is set to see prices tumble. Wholesale prices for Spanish oil olive peaked in December - to £16 for two litres - but had more than halved by last month, figures from the International Olive Council show. So is our love affair with extra virgin about to begin in earnest? At Waitrose, middle England shoppers seemingly can't get enough of it.

Elinor Griffin, Oils & Vinegar Buyer, told MailOnline: 'Customers are increasingly appreciating the standalone flavour of olive oil, and therefore investing a little more in a bottle to ensure the very best quality. Sales of premium olive oil are up 16% in the past year at Waitrose.'. Game on! Mazen Assaf, aka The Olive Oil Guy, took our blind taste test challenge, rating 12 oils available online and in the supermarket, including his recently launched own brand.

Mazen, who grew up in Lebanon and judges extra virgin olive oils at competitions, tasted extra virgin oils from major supermarkets including Lidl, Aldi and Waitrose in our test. Launching his own brand range using Greek olives, Mazen (pictured at an olive farm) says it's important to use good quality extra virgin olive oil quickly, and to protect it from heat, light and chemicals which can alter the flavour.

Packed with heart-loving polyphenols - antioxidants, there's also been a rise in people enjoying a spoonful a day straight, in a bid to help preserve cardiac health and potentially stave off cancer. Greek brand Odysea's Good for You Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for example, is packed with polyphenols, containing a minimum 250mg per kilo of olive oil. Yacine Amor of the Artisan Olive Oil Company, which imports beautiful bottles from suppliers across Europe, with Italian, Spanish and Greek imports amongst the most popular, says many of their customers are buying for health.

He told us: 'Over the past couple of years, health conscious consumers want olive oils that combine flavour and health benefits. 'It reflects an increasing understanding that a cold extracted early harvest olive oil rich in polyphenols is a totally different product from a supermarket olive oil, which is often an anonymous blend produced with the aim of lowering its cost.'. THE RESULTS: COULD A SUPERMARKET TOPPLE AN ARTISAN SUPPLIER? WOULD OUR EXPERT SPOT HIS OWN - AND A NON EXTRA VIRGIN OIL?.

Each sample was served in a small plastic glass, with Mazen warming each of the oils on his palm before trying them, saying ‘it’s like swirling a wine to help get the aromas going…’. SAMPLE 1: M&S Collection Nocellara Del Belice Extra Virgin Olive Oil                      Price: £10 (500ml), ocado.com. THE OLIVE OIL GUY’S VERDICT: 'Pungency kick in the back of the throat, quite a pleasant fruitiness. It's light and fruity, with a nice peppery kick - it's fresh.'.

M&S Collection Nocellara Del Belice Extra Virgin Olive Oil, £10 (500ml), right: Odysea Kew Limited Edition Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, £22 (500ml). SAMPLE 2: Odysea Kew Limited Edition Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil                        Price: £22 (500ml), odysea.com. THE OLIVE OIL GUY’S VERDICT: 'A little bit cloudy to look at and not a very strong smell. You can probably cook with it - it feels like a nice option for a consumer, a sommelier might be harder to please - would be a bronze category in a competition.'.

SAMPLE 3: Tenuta Lamiotte Extra Virgin Olive Oil BIO                                                       Price: £25 (750ml), kingsfinefood.co.uk. THE OLIVE OIL GUY’S VERDICT: 'Again, the smell isn't very strong, the flavour is quite heavy on the palate. It's a little bit greasy, but that could be varietal because each variety will have a different flavour of oil. 'The flavour lingers and there's a little pepperiness after. Again, consumers will like it, experts might not be too moved by it.'.