Roland Foods Pitted Country Olive Mix, 4.4 lb

The olives themselves are of excellent quality. They are very salty. I rinse a few cups at a time in water and soak in water in a mason jar overnight before eating. This reduces the saltiness a lot. I just keep the rest of them in the brine until I want more.

9/10 I am going to order more and I just opened them. They are packaged well in the jar with a plastic strainer holding them under the brine so they stay good. I got over 11 8oz deli containers packed full. They are a bit saltier than something you’d get at the store but depending on what you are using them for you could soak them in water for a bit. I love that they have red pepper strips and garlic cloves in them as well. THESE WONT LAST LONG IN MY HOUSE!

Flavor wise, the very salty brine reminds me of the liquid pimento-stuffed olives are soaked in. I use them for olive bread, so I'll give a good rinse before using. And they're nice looking, big and fat, the pitting done without tearing so they'll look good on a charcuterie platter. I have to disagree with the purchasers who say you can leave them on the counter, though. We had them in a pantry by our cold back door at probably 60 degrees F, and within a month an unappetizing curd had developed on the surface of the brine and the bottom of the stopper. Probably harmless but not pleasant to deal with. And the gasket that wraps around the stopper had stretched on its own to the point it's now useless so the container will leak if not kept upright. Not at all unhappy with my purchase, but these are now going into the fridge.

These are so good. There's a good blend of olives, which is just what I was looking for. I like to put olives out with the appetizers when I'm hosting friends, and having a big jug helps me feel like I can snack on them without guilt! The olives are firm, and the brine is salty enough to preserve them safely without need for refrigeration.

I wanted to love these olives. I read the reviews over and over again before finally pulling the trigger. Aaaaand. No. Not good. Not completely inedible, but nothing I'll be buying again. Because I spent so long reading the other reviews, I can confirm a few things that popped up: the ingredients still list red wine vinegar, and the DRY (drained) weight is 4.4 pounds. The barrel itself weighs 6.5 pounds, before draining. Yes, I weighed it. There's no "seal" on this, and yes, technically anyone could have opened this at any point along its journey. I've looked at everyone's moldy olive pictures, and I'll definitely be storing this in my refrigerator. There's a strainer on the top, but I don't see a way to use it to pull up olives from the barrel; it just sits on top. Yes, they're abhorrently salty. I love abhorrently salty things, but this wasn't good. It drowned out the olive taste. I love olives, but somehow just couldn't enjoy these. Even the texture was odd. Some were a bit too stiff, and some were squishy. Just generally an unpredictable mixed bag. They're coated in a thin film of oil, with a slight vinegar bite. But mostly, salt. You will taste salt. Good things? There are other critters in here besides olives, including whole garlic cloves and big slices of red pepper. I might have fun adding those to some recipes, like omelettes and cheese balls. I won't waste 'em! There's also a truly generous amount of herbs/spices coating everything. It seems like every attempt was made to add flavor to these. But. Nope. Sorry y'all! I played the olive lottery and I lost!

My prejudice is pro-Greek olives. I’m on my second cauldron and can report that I’ve not tasted a better blend for the money. High quality with a value price tag.

I have purchased the Roland foods kalmata olives before and they were quite good. So I decided to purchase the mixed olives. These are pitted, but a lot of them are very cut up. These are not good for our presentation. My bigger proble is that the package arrived with dried brown brine around the top and in the threads of the screw off lid? As I removed everything I do believe the olives were sealed) they must have added nitrogen or something to the container because the bottom was bulged when I got it. When I open the container, the bulge on the bottom went away. I was fully expecting to find that the food was rotten, but it was not. However, the flavor is disgusting and these are salty beyond any food I’ve ever had in my life, and I was raised in the south and we salt everything. Since I do have 4 lbs. 6 oz. of these, I might try soaking in some water or something to salvage some of them, these are just totally inedible and nasty.

Waited for my second order to review these, to verify how long they stay good (going strong at four months in the original package & brine, accidentally left out overnight once but otherwise stored in the fridge) and consistency (second package seems exactly the same as my first). The olives have been in good shape, reasonably firm and whole, and tasty. The quality *and saltiness* is on par with an upscale supermarket's olive bar, but for close to half off the price. I don't think they're any more or less salty than I'd expect at a restaurant either, with tapas or charcuterie or in a Greek salad. Really not sure what all the "too salty" reviews are comparing to unless it's olives from a can, an entirely different (ugh!) animal. Regardless, as others have said, the brine is briny for a reason - salt is a preservative, it's there to prevent nasties from growing in the water and on your olives. If you replace the brine with plain water, don't expect these to keep for nearly as long unless you do something else to preserve them, like maybe freezing or canning most of them. My household goes through about a pound a month, and after four months the last olives were as good as the first. I just keep them in the original plastic mini-barrel and use a perforated serving spoon, which is now known as "the olive spoon," to dig them out.