Every oil we sell carries the same slightly awkward instruction: use it within three to six months of opening. Supermarket oil does not say that; a refined bottle will happily claim a year or more, and it is not lying. So the fair question is why ours has the shorter window — and whether that is a flaw we are dressing up as a virtue. The short window and the small batches are the same decision seen from two ends.
Refining buys shelf life. We don't buy it.
Industrial refining is a sequence of steps. Hexane solvent pulls more oil out of the seed than pressing can. Bleaching clay takes out the colour. High-pressure steam, at up to 250°C, takes out the smell.
What those steps also take out are the vitamin E, the antioxidants and the flavour compounds that were in the seed to begin with. And rarely said plainly: those are largely the same compounds that would eventually have gone off. A refined oil is stable because it has been stripped of nearly everything capable of changing.
We leave all five refining steps out — no solvent, no bleaching, no deodorising, no preservatives, no added colour. What we hand you still has the seed's character in it, and that is exactly why it is perishable. Unrefined oil goes off because the good parts are still there. We would rather say so than add a preservative and claim a longer life.
What "small batch" actually means here
For us it starts before the press. Seed arrives with stones, dust, husk and damaged kernels mixed through it, and it is cleaned and sorted before it goes near the gaana. That unglamorous step matters: damaged or mouldy seed makes bitter oil that spoils faster, so sorting decides much of what the bottle tastes like two months later.
Then the press turns slowly — slow rotation is the whole mechanism, because speed makes friction and friction makes heat. Kept slow, the oil stays below roughly 50°C throughout. It settles naturally, passes a simple filter, and is bottled.
Pressing this way yields less oil per kilogram than solvent extraction; some stays behind in the cake. Pressing small means pressing often. Bottles are not stacked in a warehouse waiting for demand — which is the only honest way to sell an oil with a three-to-six-month window.
What the clock is counting
The window starts when you open the bottle, not when we press it. Sealed, kept cool and dark, oil ages slowly. Opened, it meets the three things that age it: air, light and warmth.
Let us be straightforward about the end of that window: the oil does not become something dramatic on day 181. It goes flat, then sharp. The smell turns from groundnut or sesame towards something thin and faintly like old paint, and the taste picks up a bitter edge that shows in food before you notice it in the bottle. You will catch it with your nose long before any test would.
Which is why we sell a 15 L tin and then tell you to think twice
We stock 500 ml, 1 L, 5 L, a 5 L stainless steel can and a 15 L tin. The 15 L is priced at the same rate per litre as the 5 L, so the tin buys fewer deliveries and fewer refills — not a deeper discount. The real question is whether your kitchen finishes that much within three to six months of opening.
If you do take a tin, decant into a small working bottle and keep the tin sealed and out of the light; our storage guide covers this in detail. A household cooking daily in groundnut oil may clear 5 L comfortably; one buying three different oils for three jobs is usually better off with three smaller bottles. Buying less, more often, is the right answer more often than we would make money from admitting.
The part that costs us
None of this is efficient. Smaller batches mean pressing more often, lower yield, more handling, and stock that cannot be left to sit. It is a slower and costlier way to make oil, and a meaningful part of why cold pressed oil costs more than refined. We think it is the right trade — but the trade only works if we are honest about both halves, which is why that instruction is on the label.
Frequently asked questions
Does the three to six months start from pressing or from opening?
From opening. A sealed bottle kept cool and dark ages much more slowly. Once the cap has been off, the oil is meeting air, and that is what the window counts.
What if I am a little past six months?
Smell it. If it still smells like the seed it came from, it is fine. If it smells sharp, thin or faintly like paint, or tastes bitter in food, stop cooking with it. The window is a guide, not a cliff edge.
Does small batch pressing mean orders take longer?
No. Orders are packed in 2–3 business days. Free delivery takes 7–14 days, standard shipping is ₹49 (3–7 days) and express is ₹99 (1–3 days). Orders are prepaid. We deliver to every district in Karnataka, including Kalaburagi, and ship across India.
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