Keeping an Oyster Tasting Journal is a fun and easy way to begin your journey of transforming your general enthusiasm for oysters into expertise.

Immediately after deciding to pursue oyster connoisseurship, I created an Oyster Tasting Log. You can read my original notes from my first food blog, Peek & Eat. In addition to these descriptions, I also kept a meticulous spreadsheet of my ongoing oyster experiences, tasting notes, and overall impressions. Although data entry and analysis is much easier to do on the computer, you just can't replicate the tactile satisfaction of taking handwritten notes. Furthermore, tracking such complex data in a spreadsheet had its limitations. Those are a few of the reasons why 33 Books Co. creator Dave Selden and I collaborated on the pocket-sized 33 Oysters on the Half Shell Tasting Journal. Dave's ever-growing collection of simple, easy-to-use considered consumption tools allows anyone to improve their palate and recall.

While Dave's books are designed for users to jot down first impressions quickly, I admit that some of the data components in the 33 Oysters on the Half Shell Tasting Journal (such as cup depth, meat-to-shell ratio, and flavor wheel descriptors) might seem a bit foreign to the uninitiated.

I decided to write this guide to help you navigate through all of it! But before we dive into the journal, here are some fundamentals to set you up for success.

How to Taste Oysters

If you're not familiar with the practice of oyster tasting, check out my Oyster 101: Six Steps of Pro Oyster Tasting (Lesson 4).

It's important to NOT garnish raw oysters with accouterments—not even lemon—when you complete this journaling exercise.

Avoid taking a swig of wine, beer, or cocktail immediately before slurping as your beverage will affect your tastebuds and disrupt your ability to detect the subtle nuances of the oyster's natural flavor.

I would recommend ordering at least two if not three oysters of each variety that you sample. Oysters of the same kind may exhibit some variation in flavor in one sitting.

My palate gets overwhelmed by the salinity after two dozen, try to limit your tasting to four to six varieties.

The new 33 Oysters on the Half Shell Tasting Journal entry page

How to Record an Oyster Tasting Entry

Let’s take a look at the 33 Oysters on the Half Shell Tasting Journal entry page more closely.

Oyster Name / Species

The varietal name (listed as a brand or region) and species. I usually shorthand the species as “C. gigas” or “O. edulis” instead of writing out the full Latin name.

An example would be: Glidden Point / C. virginica

Growing Region

The body of water (the specific bay, sound, river, etc.) where the oyster is grown. Sometimes, the oyster name IS the growing region like Wellfleet or Eld Inlet. In many restaurants, information about the growing region may not be on the menu or known by the server. You might find a growing state like Washington or Virginia. In those cases, you could either Google the name of the oyster and 95% of the time, Oysterrater, Pangea Shellfish, or Chef’s Resources will have the answer for you. Be wary of places that only tell you that they’ve got “East Coast” or “West Coast” oysters… which is comparable to a place that simply pours “White” or “Red” wine.

Continuing the example from above for Glidden Point, the growing region would be Damariscotta River, Maine.

Producer

The individual oyster farmer or company who grew or harvested the oyster. Sometimes, the Oyster Name is the Producer (e.g., Whitestone). It’s also relatively easy to trace back the producer of trademarked brands such as Shigoku (Taylor Shellfish) or Naked Cowboy (Blue Island Shellfish).

Glidden Point is a brand and company name. So the producer is Glidden Point as well.

Price

The price per piece. If you're enjoying dollar happy hour [Related post: What You Don’t Know About Oyster Happy Hour Specials], I think it would still be helpful to jot down the retail price.

Sampled

Date and place of the tasting.

Rating

Your final impression of the oyster on the scale of 1 to 5 stars with 1 star = Blegh and 5 stars = WOW.

Notes

This is a free-form section where you can jot down anything you’d like! I usually add in a note about shucking quality, grow-out technique, and/or pairing information here.

Shell Size

A measure of the length of the shell, from Petite to Large. (Hint: There is a ruler on the top edge of the outer cover that you can use!) Did you know that there isn’t a national standard for such categories? East Coast growers categorize sizes slightly differently from West Coast growers, and it doesn’t even mean anything when it comes to selling Kumamotos or Olympias.

Cup Depth

The cup depth measures how much the bottom shell curves. Flatter-cupped oysters are like Belons, Olympias, and BeauSoleils. Deeper cupped oysters are like Shigoku, Kusshi, and El Chingon. Cup depth is a subjective measure and is heavily influenced by the number of oysters that you’ve eaten. Let’s just say that if the oyster is as deep as it is wide, then that’s a darn deep cup!

Texture Meter

In the original version of the journal, there were six textures. After getting some good user feedback, we decided to simplify it down to three main categories: Creamy, Soft, and Firm. Texture can be affected by shucking quality. A firm oyster can feel like you’re eating ribbons if it was massacred.

Meat to Shell Ratio

Meat to Shell Ratio is a measure that I am popularizing for oysters as a signifier of quality through the book and on social media. It measures how much oyster meat fills up the shell, and yes, you want oysters that fill up the shell! Oysters with a high meat to shell ratio (as close to 1:1 as possible) are visually stunning, pleasurable to eat, and cost-effective to transport. Quality-focused growers will ensure that their market oysters have a high meat-to-shell ratio. On the flip side, experienced shuckers are adept at presenting oysters that fill the cup.

Flavor Wheel

Here's where it gets exciting (and potentially confusing)! The flavor wheel is made of 16 attributes that describe flavor and mouthfeel. There are five rings around a center point, each identifying a level of intensity. If the oyster has medium-high salinity, you would color in the dot on the 4th most outer ring under Brine/Salinity. Once you’ve completed the wheel, connect all of the dots to create a flavor profile—kind of like a fingerprint. Refer to the example on the inside front cover of the book.

By no means is this flavor wheel comprehensive, but it highlights the major characteristics!

Brine/Salinity — ocean salinity is technically measured in parts-per-thousand. Here’s how I break it down for myself: Very low (<14 ppt), Low (15-19 ppt), Medium (20-24 ppt), Medium-high (25-29 ppt), and High (30+ ppt).
Umami — the fifth taste, meatiness, savoriness, deliciousness.
Bright/Tangy — a lively, crisp, or punchy brine often accentuated by oysters served at colder temperatures.
Fruity — citrus, berry, and tropical fruits.
Vegetal/Grassy — cucumber, melon, romaine lettuce, and fresh herbs.
Earthy — mushroom, moss, catfish, celery root, turnips.
Nutty — cashew, walnut, toasted pine nuts.
Seaweed — kelp, wakame, toasted nori.
Buttery — pleasant mouthfeel, cream-like, rich, luscious.
Smoky — Alderwood smoked sea salt, flint.
Metallic — zinc, copper, tannic, tinny.
Body — light-bodied oysters will be clean, simple, straightforward. Full-bodied oysters will have rich, complex flavors that linger.
Balance — harmony between the brine and oyster meat, where no single flavor note awkwardly sticks out.
Linger/Finish — a low number would connote a short and abrupt finish, whereas a high number would mean a long-lasting impression.
Sweet — the presence of glycogen gives an oyster a sweet flavor. Remember: chewing the oyster will help bring out even more sweetness!

One Oyster, Multiple Tasting Entries

I like to record tasting notes for varieties that I have previously tried and then compare the different entries for the same oyster. A simple way to link entries of the same oyster variety together is by employing a technique called Threading (a trick that I learned from Bullet Journaling). First, you need to number your pages. Now, let’s say that your Glidden Point tasting entries live on pages 2, 6, and 25. To “thread” this group, simply add the page number of the previous or next instance of that group next to the current page number. That way, when you want to reference all of your Glidden Point tasting notes, you don’t have to dig too hard for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there 33 oysters? Because there are 33 pages. ;)

Is there an app? Not at the moment. None of the oyster apps out there really allow you to keep track of the same attributes in this fashion. I still prefer good old fashioned handwriting!

Where can I buy this journal? Through the 33 Books website.

Can I sell these books? Sure you can! 33 Books Co does wholesale.

Can I brand these books with my restaurant or business? Yep, that’s possible too!

Use the ruler on the cover of the book to measure the length of your oysters!

I hope that you found this post to be useful! If you have any suggestions of how to make the journal or journaling process better, please leave a comment.

How to Use the 33 Oysters on the Half Shell Tasting Journal