A great celebration food, the meaty bivalve is just as delicious slurped with beer as it is with champagne. The flavor and texture of each of the five oysters species fluctuates by region and growing conditions. Much like the way vintner’s grow grape vines and understand the effect of water, sunshine, the mineral content and chalkiness of the soil, oyster growers notice a nuance of taste and texture of oyster meat depending on the salinity, type of algae growing and the minerals in the water. Significant rainfall, or oysters grown near freshwater, tend to taste less briny. East and West coast oysters, while equally delicious in their own right, also show shell and taste differences. Bigger, brinier, and with stronger mineral notes and chewier texture, East Coast oysters are flatter, often bigger, and rounded edges. Their West Coast cousins for the most part have deeper pockets and more jagged edges with fruit and seaweed nuanced flavors—melon and cucumber the most common flavors associated with these sweeter, less briny, and more creamy textured  mollusks.