TESORO Olive Oil Review: Why It’s My 2025 Sensory Product of the Year

I am beyond excited to share that the TESORO Olive Oil by FEUDO DISISA was named Rooted & Refined Living's 2025 Sensory Experience 2025 Product of the Year.

Olive tree from the FEUDO DISISA estate.

I started exploring Italian Olive Oils from a struggle to find a good balsamic vinegar. The short version is I spoke with Louie from Extra Virgin Olio by Madge & Louie, a United States based importer of Italian Olive Oils and Vinegars. Through that conversation, he turned me on to a world of Italian Olive Oils that made everything taste better. The full story can be read at The Olive Oil Conversation That Transformed My Kitchen.

During the last few years, I tried many fantastic Italian Olive Oils from Madge and Louie's. The one that stood above the rest was TESORO. The Sicilian based FEDUO DISISA, which also has a line of award-winning wines, has something really special with TESORO and offers an unparalleled sensory experience. The first thing that you come in contact with is the sleek and elegant look of the black bottle with the gold lettering, giving it a premium feel. The taste is a smooth, complex flavor, with hints of artichoke, and a peppery finish. TESORO also has a great pairing versatility with pastas, caprese, meats and fish.

TESORO embodies what we strive for at Rooted & Refined Living. In a world increasingly shaped by technology and AI, people are craving more sensory based experiences.

To the Rooted & Refined Living customers, Madge and Louie's and I worked together to offer a special discount code of 10% off $150 or more (for new customers only) so you can have your own Olive Oil and Vinegar sensory experience (and maybe to stock up on TESORO). At checkout, use the code Rooted-Refined Living.

Also, for those in the US, I highly recommend reaching out to Louie to change the way you experience olive oils and if you are ever in Sicily, visit FEUDO DISISA for some olive oil and wine tasting. In fact, Louie, and his wife Tina may also offer Olive Oil tours in Italy and you may just get to stop by FEUDO DISISA.

As a point of reflection, I have been writing about products that elevate your sensory experience for the last 6 months. To date, I have published 10 stories, based on all products I personally use and love. All of these products are amazing in their own right. As I was deciding on the Product of the Year, TESORO stood out based on how it helped elevate our cooking experience across so many dishes including pastas, caprese, steaks and fish, just to name a few.

Buon appetito! Congrats again to FEUDO DISISA!

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The Rooted & Refined Living Standard: Unlike traditional review sites, my selection process for Product of the Year involves personal use of multiple Italian olive oils for 5 years of daily use. My family and I personally use TESORO on pastas, meats, caprese and my favorite, bread dipping. This award is a view into what we use at the Fiore dinner table (and most of the time kitchen counter).

Selection Process Transparency: FEUDO DISISA and Extra Virgin Olio by Madge & Louie did not have any input in this decision, nor was I compensated for this award selection. As shared on previous posts, some of the links are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

The Winter Jacket You’ll Actually Love: Cotopaxi Fuego Review

This story isn't for everyone, especially if you live in a warm weather climate like my friend Bob.

Actually, I may be wrong. If you live in a warm weather location but travel periodically to a cold weather destination, this story may actually be for you as well.

Me with my Cotopaxi Fuego winter jacket

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For clarification, I am going to use the word coat and jacket interchangeably in this article. I did research and there is a general difference (jackets are shorter and typically lighter weight), but it's not relevant to this story.

When I was a kid, I probably had one or two jackets/coats at most. One was a lightweight jacket for the fall and then a heavy coat for the winter. Then everything changed when I got married. Mary Beth's family, specifically her mother, loved coats. That also meant Mary Beth loved coats too and my closet of two was just not going to cut it.

Over the years, I think I have had every type of jacket and coat you can imagine. For purposes of this story, the focus will be on the winter coats. I had a trench coat and raincoat for work as that is what you did when you went into New York City for work in the winter. I also had a ski jacket which was big, puffy, and bulky.

As time went on, more and more jackets and coats filled our closets. I now have lightweight jackets for fall, rain, wind, and coats for cold, really cold, and really, really cold weather. A few years ago, I did donate my trench coat and raincoat as I just wasn't wearing them anymore (they also felt a bit old as felt like I was living in the 1960's on the show Mad Men).

Last year, I wanted to update my outerwear a bit and find a jacket that was warm and lightweight. The technology has improved over the years where I don't need to have a big heavy ski jacket but a nice looking lightweight down jacket. Basically, I wanted to feel like I was a part of this century.

I went shopping to try a bunch of brands on. I think I tried them all and found that the Cotopaxi Fuego Down Hooded Jacket was the right one for me. Outside of the jacket itself, I found that Cotopaxi's core values of sustainability were impressive. As well, they make sure their clothing factories adhere to the UN Global Compact and Principles of Responsible Business. As a disclaimer, Cotopaxi is not a small business but is on the smaller side of some of the more popular outerwear brands.

The jacket I picked is very comfortable, lightweight, and stylish. What more can you ask for. The thing I love most is its comfort and lightweight design and it is very warm for those cold Boston winter days.

Me again with my Cotopaxi Fuego jacket

Lastly, if you didn't know, Cotopaxi (koh-toh-PAHK-see) is one of the world's highest active volcanoes, located in Ecuador. If you are interested in discovering what Cotopaxi has to offer, check out the link below.

For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

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Ooni Pizza Oven Review: How It Solved My 30-Year Search for Great Pizza

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Game changing! That is the only way to describe the pizza when it’s made with the Ooni pizza oven.

Michael and I checking out the new pizza oven on our first day cooking. As you can see, we were both curious. You can also see the table Michael built in High School Wood Shop class.

I will get back to the Ooni in a bit as I first need to help set some context.

A Pizza Snob from New Jersey

When my wife first met me, she called me a pizza snob, and I have to agree. You see, I grew up in New Jersey and became accustomed to the New York style pizza. For the people who live in the New York/New Jersey area, you may have your favorite place to get your pizza from but in general, you will defend the New York style until the day you die. People from the New York area will scoff at the idea that someone likes pizza from Chicago, Detroit, or even New Haven, CT. To New York and New Jersey residents, there is no comparison, period.

Emma practicing her pizza throwing

I lived in New Jersey for almost 25 years and still visit on a regular basis as my mom and family are still there. Growing up, I used to have pizza a few times a week, especially as I got into middle school and high school where I could ride my bike down to the local pizza shop, Tony's Pizza. My friends and I would get a few slices each and every Friday was pizza night at our house. I still go to Tony's when I am home visiting my mom.

However, I moved to New England and my struggle to find good pizza was bewildering (especially because I really wasn't that far away- it's not like I moved across country). My first experience of non-New York style pizza was when I was in college in Rhode Island. Mary Beth, who was my girlfriend at the time (now wife) and I went out for pizza and I asked for a slice. The guy looked at me and stated, “no slides, we only sell a whole pizza”. It was at this time when I started to realize things were different and finding good pizza was going to be a lifelong challenge if I lived outside of the New York/New Jersey area. As they say, the struggle is real.

The Struggle to Find Great Pizza

For years, I went on a search for good pizza trying to find something that was at least comparable to what I grew up with. I was like a wondering nomad continuing to be disappointed in my efforts to find a place I would stack up, especially living 40 miles west of Boston. Over time, I started to find some restaurants that started offering Neapolitan style pizza, with my first experience in New York City and then a restaurant opened up near me in Worcester, MA called Volturno. Volturno was the first restaurant in Massachusetts to get certified in associazione verace pizza napoletana (apn) to guarantee the style of preparation and cooking that originated from Napoli, Italia. My family and I frequent Volturno often, not only for the great pizza and pasta, but the open-air atmosphere that it offers. However, when we are not going out for pizza, we now cook on our Ooni, which does a great job in replicating my experience going to Volturno with a Neapolitan style pizza.

My pizza going into the Ooni Pizza Oven. The metal launch peel is a requirement to slide the pizza in. A turning peel is also required to move it around so it doesn't burn in one spot.

Enter the Ooni Pizza Oven

Now, here is where I can say with 100% certainty that the pizza cooking in Ooni is Game Changing. For over 25 years, we have been using the same bread maker to make pizza dough (I know, I still haven’t ventured into making my dough by hand). The bread maker for us has been a great way to make multiple doughs with little effort. The bread maker and same recipe is our constant in this comparison.

As a gift when we were first married, someone gave us a really nice pizza stone which we used to cook our pizzas for many years. At some point about 10-15 years ago, we started cooking our pizzas on the grill. Same recipe from the same bread maker and the grilled pizza was 10 times better than the pizza stone. Cooking on the grill became our go to for pizza making for quite some time.

Finished product, about 90 seconds later. Even the slightly crispy/burnt parts of the crust taste really good.

A few years ago, Mary Beth gave me an Ooni pizza oven for my birthday and I was entering into a world I never knew existed. She solved the pizza problem I was trying to solve for 30 years.

I started to read and watch YouTube videos about the Ooni experience with the oven that gets up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit (482 degrees Celsius). I was impressed and couldn’t wait to get started. The problem was I didn’t have the proper tools and putting in dough into an oven that cooks in 60-90 seconds is unforgiving if you can’t get it out in time or can’t turn it quickly enough. My first day cooking on the Ooni wasn’t a success and most of the burned to a crisp pizza went into the garbage.

It wasn’t until I got the Ooni Pizza Peel and Ooni Pizza Turning Peel that I was able to control the cooking process. While I don’t consider myself an expert by any means, 9 out of every 10 pizzas I cook are impressive.

I wasn't kidding when I said it gets hot. This is pointed to the middle part of the stone inside the oven.

As a result, I now have the ability to compare the same bread maker dough recipe cooked on the pizza stone, grill, and now the Ooni. I can say with 100% certainty that the Ooni is hands down, the best option for cooking a restaurant quality Neapolitan pizza in the comfort of your own home.

Tools, Tips, and Pizza Nights

I have the Ooni Pro 16 which has since been discontinued. It is a multi-fuel oven that has an optional gas attachment. I have opted not to get the attachment and use a combination of wood and lump charcoal to cook my pizzas. They have so many great ovens now including electric ones if you live in an apartment. I was fortunate to have my son make me a pizza table that we use but Ooni also offers tables. To my surprise, I learned that Ooni pizza ovens can sit on top of a wood surface (in addition to metal and stone).

Since we have been using our Ooni pizza oven, we cook 9-12 pizzas at a time as we typically only bring it out when we have a crowd. To support 9-12 pizzas, we now have 3 individual wood pizza peels and just recently, a stacked pizza rack with 4 additional peels from Slyced. I also recommend getting an infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the stone.

Slyced Wooded Pizza Peel Rack holds 4 doughs ready for toppings to be added.

Lastly, for my birthday, I just received a cast iron Dual-Sided Grizzler Plate which similar to my experience cooking my first pizza. I am still getting used this new toy. In my first try, I cooked potatoes that cooked so fast, when I took them out, they were still cooking on the Grizzler. They were a bit crispier than I had hoped!

As you can tell I am passionate about my pizza. I hope you can elevate your sensory experience just the same.

Have you tried cooking your own pizza? What was your experience?

P.S. I had a few people ask me about Gluten Free flour so I asked the Ooni Facebook group. By a wide margin, they recommended Caputo Pizza Flour, Gluten Free flour.

Cover photo by Nik Owens

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For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Shop on Amazon- Ooni

Shop on Amazon- Pizza Rack

Shop on Amazon- KIZEN Infrared Thermometer

Shop on Amazon- Caputo Fioreglut Gluten Free Flour