6 Sources for Super-Fresh Mail-Order Oysters
Source fresh oysters for your next meal, cookout, or gathering by having them shipped to your doorstep. Here's where to order oysters online.
The best way to include oysters at your cookout? Have them shipped to your doorstep. If you get them direct from an oyster farm, you won’t need to wonder how long they’ve been sitting high and dry at the local grocery store. They’re in the ocean one day, and you’re slurping them down the next. Most farms require overnight shipping for obvious reasons, so buy as local as possible to keep the FedEx bill (and your carbon footprint) down.
Oyster whisperer Julie Qiu of In a Half Shell shares six of her favorite oyster sources from both coasts.
Fishers Island Oysters (Block Island Sound, New York)
“You can’t get any fresher when you live in New York City,” says Qiu, which is why Fishers Island supplies some of the city’s best restaurants. She loves the farm’s oysters for their crisp brininess and the company's message, aptly summed up in the hashtag motto #farmwithoutharm.
Pemaquid Oyster Company (Damariscotta, Maine)
Some of Qiu’s favorite oysters in the world come from the cold waters of coastal Maine. “Pemaquids are lovely, well-rounded oysters,” she says. You can purchase from the Maine Oyster Company.
Island Creek Oysters (Duxbury, Massachusetts)
Island Creek is a large oyster company, but one that does things right. Customer service and packaging are excellent. Shop Wellfleet, Crowes Pasture, and Island Creek oysters from Massachusetts as well as varieties from Canada and Maine.
Hama Hama (Lilliwaup, Washington)
Between their crisp and clean namesake oyster, their full-bodied Blue Pool, and their rich and sweet Sea Cow, Hama Hama offers a terrific mix of flavors, textures, and sizes.
Hog Island Oyster Co. (Marshall, California)
Try their Hog Island Sweetwater, described by Qiu as “a quintessential Pacific oyster.” The company offers very special holiday packs around Christmas.
Taylor Shellfish Farms (Shelton, Washington)
Taylor is the largest oyster producer in the Pacific Northwest and they consistently deliver quality mollusks. Kumamoto lovers, take note: Qiu thinks Taylor's are the best. You'll also find Olympia, Sumo Kumo, Taylor Pacific, and Virginica oysters, plus breading, shucked oyster meat, smoked dip, and baked and fried oyster kits.
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