Basic Profile

Origin
Willapa Bay, Washington, USA
Species
Crassostrea gigas (Pacific Oyster)
Classification
Farmed; single-producer brand
Farming Method
Floating bags that roll with the tide
Producer
Taylor Shellfish Farms
Visual Signature
Deep-cupped, smooth, tumbled Pacific oyster, 2.5 to 3.25 inches

Taylor Shellfish grows Fat Bastards in floating bags that roll with the tide.1 The oyster is a tumbled Shigoku allowed to keep growing: 2.5 to 3.25 inches against the Shigoku's 1.5 to 2.5, and about twice the volume.2

An oyster boat at the Port of Peninsula on Willapa Bay, Washington
An oyster boat at the Port of Peninsula on Willapa Bay, Washington. Photo: Chris Light / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What Tumbling Does at This Size

Each tide flips the bag, chips the thin new edge off the shell and forces the oyster to grow down into a cup instead of out into a fan. On a small oyster that gives a neat mouthful. On a large one it gives a deep shell holding a lot of liquor, which is the selling point: Taylor describes a "bright, savory punch with plenty of briny liquor".1

Fat Bastards come from Willapa Bay, on Washington's outer coast.2

Flavor Breakdown

First
The liquor. There is more of it than in most oysters, and it carries the salt of an ocean-fed bay.
Then
Firm meat, the work of a muscle that has been tumbled twice a day. Oysterater's listing notes firm flesh and brine in the middle of the range.2

What Makes Fat Bastard Unique

Tumbled oysters are usually sold small. This is the same method carried on until the oyster is a full two-bite size, with the deep cup intact.2

Order it if you like tumbled oysters but leave the table hungry. Same shape as a Shigoku, twice the oyster.

Should You Add Lemon?

Cautiously

Taste the liquor first. A few drops after that are fine.

Pairing Guide

1
Washington Chardonnay, unoaked

Body to match a large, meaty oyster.

2
Craft lager

Cold, with enough malt for the savory side.

OptimalPlain
AcceptableLemon or mignonette
AvoidCocktail sauce

Who Is This For?

Will love it
  • Shigoku and Kusshi fans who want more per shell
  • People who drink the liquor
Sources
  1. Taylor Shellfish Farms. "Our Shellfish." taylorshellfishfarms.com
  2. Oysterater. "Fat Bastard (WA) Oyster." oysterater.com
Tasting notes & flavor profile in the Oysterminds app →