Maine’s 9 Best Oysters & 5 Places To Find Them

I find it mysterious and wonderful! The same oyster species grown in different places taste different. When you eat oysters you taste the seaweeds and kelps that surround them, the minerals in the rock and mud they grow on, and the salt in the waters they breathe. You even taste the temperature they live in. How is that possible? You’ve got to taste it to believe it.

Today (2021), about 150 oyster farms in Maine, extending from York to Washington counties, raise over 11 million oysters per year for the white table cloth market (an industry worth over $8 million). The Damariscotta River estuary in Maine is the largest site for oyster growth. Most Maine oysters have strong, hard shells, plump full meats, and a beautiful briny sweet flavor of a cold fresh clean ocean.

Maine offers a savory adventure with an impressive variety of oysters to choose from.

 

Pemaquid Points burst zaftig and briny.

Winter Points remain firm with brothy umami.

Taunton Bays offer a complex minerality.

Belon Rivers glide coppery smooth.

Dodge Coves supply sweet and sour tanginess.

Bagaduce Rivers balance bouquets in small creamy packages.

Glidden Points achieve an unusually crisp density.

North Haven Islands have a hint of honey.

Gay Islands share a touch of sugar.

Find more at Oyster Finder.

 

Find the best selection in Portland at Eventide.

Find the best selection in Boothbay at Mine Oyster.

Find the best selection in Rockland at North Beacon.

Find the best selection in Rockport at 18 Central.

 

Follow the Maine Oyster Trail here.

 

Want them shipped to you? Try Maine Oysters Company.

 

Discover more Maine resources.

Join me during my Maine photography workshop.

The Luminous Endowments – Photography Grants


Luminous Endowment for Photographers from The Luminous Landscape on Vimeo.
The Luminous Endowment for Photographers is a charitable fund created by Michael Reichmann. The Endowment provides financial assistance through grants to deserving photographers and their projects – worldwide.
Michael Reichmann is the founder of the widely respected Luminous Landscape web site. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world’s largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
Through The Luminous Endowment Michael is now creating a global community of those who can give, along with those who will benefit from the generosity of others. It is hoped that the worldwide community of photographers, corporations, and other supporters of the art and craft of photography, will participate in generously endowing and furthering the goals of The Luminous Endowment for Photographers.
Grant jurors include John Paul  Caponigro, Joe Cornish, Eric Meola, Peter Cox, Mikkel Aaland, Ctein, Katrin Eismann, Alain Briot, Tim Wolcott, Sean Reid, William Neill, Andy Biggs, Nick Rains, and Ken Duncan.
Find out more about The Luminous Endowment here.
Meet the Jury Panel.
Get with Michael Reichman’s 400 page retrospective book with your donation today!