Quick answer: Cold-pressed (extra virgin) avocado oil keeps more of the fruit's flavour, colour and minor compounds, and is best for finishing and gentle heat. Naturally refined avocado oil loses some of those, but gains a neutral taste and a much higher smoke point, around 270°C, which makes it the practical choice for tadka, frying and everyday Indian cooking. We make both because they do different jobs.
The question we get most
"Isn't cold-pressed healthier? Why would you refine it?"
It's a fair question, and a lot of brands answer it by picking a side. We'd rather show you the trade-off and let you choose. Same avocados, same orchards in Málaga, same mechanical pressing with no solvents. After pressing, the oil goes in two directions.
Drizzle: left as pressed
Drizzle is cold-pressed under 27°C and not refined. It keeps the avocado's green-gold colour, a soft buttery flavour and more of its naturally occurring minor compounds, the things that give extra virgin oils their character.
The catch is heat. Those same compounds and the fruit particles that carry flavour start breaking down sooner in a hot pan. Extra virgin avocado oil is happiest at gentle to moderate heat, and best of all poured over food after cooking.
Essential: naturally refined for heat
Essential is naturally refined after pressing, using physical steps only: filtration and centrifuging, a hot-water wash, steam and vacuum deodorisation, then controlled cooling and filtration. No chemicals, no solvents.
Here's the honest part: refining does reduce some minor compounds and most of the flavour. That's the point of it. What you get in exchange is a clean, neutral oil that stays stable at high heat. Its smoke point is around 270°C, well above the 180–200°C of a tadka or the 170–190°C of a kadai of puris.
What the lab reports show
From our current batch reports:
| Drizzle (cold-pressed) | Essential (naturally refined) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free fatty acids | 0.96% | 0.16% |
| Peroxide value | 8.74 meq/kg (Codex max for virgin oil: 15) | 1.5 meq/kg (Codex max for refined oil: 10) |
| Monounsaturated fat | 64.18 g/100 g | 64.44 g/100 g |
| Saturated fat | 22.76 g/100 g | 20.33 g/100 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 12.79 g/100 g | 15.08 g/100 g |
The fat profiles are very similar, as you'd expect from the same fruit. The differences are in what refining changes: Essential's lower free fatty acids and peroxide value, alongside its neutral taste and higher smoke point. Drizzle's higher figures are normal for an unrefined, cold-pressed oil and sit well within the limits for its grade. Check your own tin on Know Your Batch.
Side by side
| Drizzle (cold-pressed) | Essential (naturally refined) | |
|---|---|---|
| Process | Pressed under 27°C, unrefined | Pressed, then refined with physical steps only |
| Taste | Buttery, gently grassy | Neutral |
| Smoke point | Lower; gentle heat | Around 270°C |
| Minor compounds | More retained | Some reduced by refining |
| Best for | Hummus, salads, chutneys, raita, finishing dal | Tadka, sauté, roasting, deep-frying |
| Price (450 ml) | ₹1,899 | ₹1,799 |
Why most Indian cooking needs the naturally refined one
Think about where oil goes in your week. Morning tadka. A sabzi in a hot kadai. Parathas on the tawa. Pakoras when it rains. Almost all of it is high heat, and almost all of it is about the spices, not the oil. Using a flavourful cold-pressed oil there means paying for character you'll cook away, at temperatures it doesn't love.
How we use them at home
On a normal weekday, almost every time, I reach for Essential. It's neutral, it holds up to heat, and it has the high smoke point Indian cooking needs. It's what goes into our tadka, our sabzi and most of what we cook.
Drizzle, honestly, I use much less. Where it earns its place for me is homemade hummus: a good pour of Drizzle and you can taste the difference. That's exactly the kind of job it's made for.
That pattern isn't unusual. Essential has been our best-seller since launch.
So which do you need?
- Essential when the oil has to survive the pan: tempering, frying, roasting, everyday cooking.
- Drizzle when the oil is the last thing to touch the dish: hummus, dressings, dips, a finishing pour over dal.
- Magic, our spray of Essential, for the in-between: air fryer, tawa, greasing a tin.
Most kitchens end up with Essential as the everyday oil, and Drizzle as an optional finisher. Want both? The Avo Au-Pair pairs the two tins. Every tin also funds 10 mid-day meals through our partner, Annamrita Foundation.
Frequently asked questions
Is naturally refined avocado oil chemically processed?
Not ours. It's mechanically extracted and refined with physical steps only, no chemical solvents.
Can I cook with Drizzle?
Yes, at gentle to moderate heat. For tadka and frying, Essential is the better tool.
Does refined mean lower quality?
No. It means a different purpose. Quality shows in the batch report: freshness markers and an authentic fatty-acid profile.
Which one is for hummus and salads?
Drizzle. You'll actually taste it.
Keep reading
— Kalpesh, co-founder, The Avo Company