Up in the bushes....

     Sitting at my desk this morning, a local lobsterman strolls in to pick up his check. I've been in the business twenty plus years but what I was about to hear.... I didn't even understand.

Bret: " See you got a good chaaage of haaad shells"

Lobsterman: " Yuh, picked up thirty off a pair"

Bret: " You must be fishin up in the bushes"

Lobsterman: "Yuh, that's why they call em' sucka bugs. If you blow a line on yur boat yur out 4 or 5 days though"

 I'm nodding my head along with the conversation, but I'm thinking "WTF are they talking about?" After a short conversation with Bret after the lobsterman leaves I got a translation.

Bret:" I noticed you caught a lot more hard shells then normal last week."

Lobsterman:" Yes, I even caught 30 pounds in two traps in one spot"

Bret:" You must be fishing in tight against the shore"

Lobsterman:" Yes but that's why they call them sucka bugs - the lure of a good catch draws you in close to shore , but, when you're in less than 10 feet of water you run the risk of losing gear or trashing your boat."

Got it.

Glidden Points vs. ( a newcomer looking to bring it! )

    I buy a lot of oysters from a lot of different oyster farms. Every once in a while someone wants to challenge the king ( or in this case the queen ). This morning after listening to an excited oyster farmer extol the number of reasons his or her oysters were just as good if not better than the famed Glidden Points, I decided to take a look see...

    This was a little bit like the Manny Pacquiao - Floyd Mayweather fight. It didn't last long - and the winner was clear.
   As I slurped the Glidden it reminded me of that jovial moment as a kid when your mom took you to the beach for the first time. You run down the sand, splash through the waves, and dive into the first decent wave. Coming up for air, you realize you are  frigid and you've swallowed a bit of icy ocean water. Never the less, it's  glorious and the ocean water tasted like it was heaven sent. That's what I tasted this morning. The Glidden Point transported me back to a childhood memory of awesomeness.

   The challenger oyster was indeed a very good oyster and has come a long way through the years. I could eat them every day and be a happy camper.
     I often hear Glidden's glory spoke aloud from oyster connoisseurs. As a true American, I can grow skeptical when things are put too high on a pedistal. But damn.... Gliddens are one kick ass oyster.

A Big Fatty

   Oyster season is upon us. Those months with the letter "R" somewhere in the name.  For me, I like to eat oysters year round, however there is some truth to this saying. Pictured above is a big ol' fatty Whaleback from the Damariscotta river. It's nearly twice the size as it was two months ago and the meats fill the shell. 

  In the fall , oysters start packing on fat for the long winter just like bears do. The flavor profile changes along with the seasons as well. Just like kobe beef, more fat = more flavor.

Shuckapedia

Taylor Lobster Web - O - Mercial

Little Bitches...

   There's a controversy brewing in the oyster world. Should new oyster farms be named after the cove or river they are plucked from or should they be given an eye catching name that has nothing to do with the geography they are harvested near?
    For me, a bonafide #oystergeek, I love the crazy names like the Naked Cowboys, Moonstones, and even our own local New Hampshire oyster, Fat Dogs. Just recently, I found one that sets a new bar...Little Bitches. Little Bitches are put out by the Broadwater oyster company in Virginia.What was my first thought after seeing the oyster name Little Bitches? I have to try one of those.
     One of our best selling oysters is the Black Bear out of the Bagaduce river. This is a perfect example of how the name can make all the difference in the world. Both the Black Bears and Little Islands are both harvested out of the Bagaduce. They sell hand over fist. But... If you call them Bagaduce - they do not! ( Sound out the word Bag - a - duce and use your imagination )
   One of the coolest parts of my job this time of year is picking up the phone when a newly formed oyster farm calls wanting to sell us oysters. They need advice and what fun it is to collaborate on naming their farms. Recently we've entered into an agreement to distribute a new oyster out of Wells Maine. We talked for a while and he threw some names out at me. The first one was Kung - Fu Blondes! I was really surprised. At first, I thought, hmmm that may be going a bit overboard. So I quickly sent out about a dozen texts to some of the more oyster savvy chefs I deal with. Their response was unanimous. They all loved it. The next name on the list was for a different harvest site he had.  Pope's Creek Yetis. How imaginative is that. These oysters are only harvested from the icy waters of Wells Maine during the coldest months. You have to be half human and half yeti to accomplish this. The Kung - Fu Blondes have yet to be harvested, however, feast your eyes on the new Pope's Creek Yetis...

   Do you have a funky name idea for an oyster? Let's hear it!

2014 Great Bay Oyster Cheat Sheet

#oyster-snob

  I was talking to one of our customers the other day, giving her the low-down on the oysters that we have. I must have been going off on a tangent about good oysters vs bad oysters because suddenly I was shot with - " You're an oyster snob!" Woah... wait just a minute.
     At first, I'm thinking, what the heck do you mean I'm an oyster snob? Maybe I'm  too consumed with the oyster world and I need to get a life? As I pondered it the rest of the evening, I came to the conclusion that yes indeed, I am an oyster snob.

  So what is an oyster snob?

If you are constantly on a quest to find the perfect yin shaped oyster, 

you may be an oyster snob. 

If you won't eat an oyster from anywhere south of Connecticut,

you may be an oyster snob.  

If you hear the word Blue Point and hang up the phone,

you may be an oyster snob.   

If you will eat, but not really want to, an oyster from Canada

you may be an oyster snob.  

If you actually knew what I meant by yin shaped oyster,

you may be an oyster snob.  

If you claim Glidden Points to be the mother of all oysters,

you may be an oyster snob.  

If you roll your eyes watching someone grimace after slurping an oyster down,

 you may be an oyster snob.  

Ok...I think you get the drift.  I'll proudly wear the badge of oyster snob. Once you have worn the badge for a while, you may gain access to an even more exclusive club....

   

First sign of spring

     Drowning in a sea of snow. Looks like we're up for air now but tomorrow comes another storm. Then another ... and another...  (( The video looks blury but just push play - it's HD)

ENJOY!

Time to man up...

   Oysters...You either hate them or you love them. The haters are usually haters because they are afraid of the raw, squishy, live entity they are about to ingest. Those people are also known as pansies.
So here is proof that there is nothing to be afraid of.
     This is a video of a 5 year old girl in our Kittery retail store yesterday. Her mother tells Bret that the little girl loves oysters. Bret puts her to the test.
    If you have kids and they are anything like mine, a hundred dollar bill would still not entice them to try a raw oyster.  I have grown friends who are the same way. Time to man up haters!

Warning: A live Basket Island oyster was hurt in the making of this video.

I'm rich ! ! !

    Well maybe not super rich, but never the less, a nice little windfall. It may not be worth any money, but the experience will be put in my life experience bank forever.
     As many of you know, I eat oysters every day as a way of keeping connected to our oyster program. It allows me to look over our inventory or try an oyster I haven't had for a while. This morning I wanted to take a look at a new batch of Standard Shore Petites, one of my favorites. They've been sugary and fat the last month or so. So I randomly selected one and headed back to the office.  I grabbed my shucker, popped it open and down the hatch. Except this time I felt something. I thought it was a piece of the shell but when it landed in my hand - holy cow it was a pearl. 

Look to the future

    

      It's the time of year where most people are now getting their bills from their Christmas purchases. Hence the tumbleweeds are blowing through the streets and people are battening down the hatches. Now is a good time to let you know what we are working on here at Taylor Lobster.

    For starters, some of you may have noticed our salmon prices falling. This isn't because the market for salmon is faltering. It's because we are now a direct buyer of Chilean salmon from the source. Usually, salmon makes it way through a half a dozen middle men before it reaches the end user. We've managed to cut those people out.
     Salmon producers are particular about who they will do business with. Your company must be a top tier credit rated company. Taylor, is one of those companies.
     We are partnered with Patagnoia Sea Farms. Patagnoia is BAP Certified ( Best Aquaculture Practices), BRC certified, GlobalGap Certified, ISO certified, and ISF certified. That's a lot of certifications! You can be confident knowing you are buying the highest quality salmon when you buy from Taylor. In addition you are getting a cost effective product that will help you exceed your customer's expectations and increase your revenue. Ask me about our new case pricing as well. If you are a heavy volume user, we can help you with that.

    A lot of my time is spent sourcing oysters and expanding our oyster operation. Currently I am working on a Google map that will pinpoint where each farm is located that we represent. It will be uploaded to Shuckapedia.com, our oyster knowledge website, when it is ready. If you haven't been to shuckapedia.com, go check it out. It gives a synopsis of each of the oysters you buy from Taylor Lobster Company. There are a few new oysters on the horizon. Two new ones from Maine and one new one from New Hampshire. Those will be kept under wraps until we take first delivery this spring. It's very exciting.

 

  .

     We have also secured a direct buy with one of the finest shrimp companies in the United States. We have leveraged our buying power to bring you an extremely high quality shrimp at a reduced cost.  These are a high quality , white shrimp with a sweet flavor and noticeable snap. We are carrying peeled and deveined  tail on sizes 8-12 to 21-25 and tail off sizes 31-40 to 90-110. We offer secured contract pricing on all of our Censea shrimp, as well as a 10 case pricing structure. These pricing programs offer you a significant savings if you are able to store at least 100 pounds of frozen product comfortably.