What's your most flavorful Tomato???

What is that tomato variety that just Knocks your socks off with flavor???

I am trying Black Krim and Red Brandywine this year.
I hear Pink Brandywine is even better (I will try next year probably).

Thank You!!!

Marty

We grow mostly paste and sauce tomatos to put up for the year.  Our very favorites have been tied for the last 10 years. Pink Brandywine ( Suddath strain) and Cherokee purple. These are so very good, smokey flavor and umami...
 You can only eat so many fresh and those beefsteak type take too much cooking down for sauce. I have grown and tried over 100 varieties over the years... these two are soooo good.

Ralph Sluder wrote: We grow mostly paste and sauce tomatos to put up for the year.  Our very favorites have been tied for the last 10 years. Pink Brandywine ( Suddath strain) and Cherokee purple. These are so very good, smokey flavor and umami...
 You can only eat so many fresh and those beefsteak type take too much cooking down for sauce. I have grown and tried over 100 varieties over the years... these two are soooo good.

That is the second time I have heard someone mention the "Suddeth" strain of Pink Brandywine. I will have to look into it.

I have some Cherokee Purple seeds. I suppose I should try and grow some!

Thank you.

My absolute favorite is Cour D’Bouef, (not sure of the spelling on that, it doesn’t look right).  But a lot of the flavor is from the soil it is grown in and I’ve had some of those grown by someone else that were not so good.  Any of your heirloom are going to be incredible, and everyone is different in their likes and dislikes.  Try a lot before making up your mind,  For cherries, I prefer Mexican Midget.  

Ralph and Marty are equally correct in my opinion. Black Krim and paste tomatoes are so good dehydrated. Cherokee purple may be the best slicing tomato on the planet

Scott Stiller wrote:Ralph and Marty are equally correct in my opinion. Black Krim and paste tomatoes are so good dehydrated. Cherokee purple may be the best slicing tomato on the planet

Oh Man!!! Seeing that pic just reminded me that I now have a large food dehydrator I acquired during the holiday season. I can now grow even more tomatoes without being overrun.

Also, seeing that pic, I am now ready for Summer to get here!

Thank you.

Faye Streiff wrote:My absolute favorite is Cour D’Bouef, (not sure of the spelling on that, it doesn’t look right).  But a lot of the flavor is from the soil it is grown in and I’ve had some of those grown by someone else that were not so good.  Any of your heirloom are going to be incredible, and everyone is different in their likes and dislikes.  Try a lot before making up your mind,  For cherries, I prefer Mexican Midget.  

Any recommendation on soil types by chance?

I need to build a spread sheet/cheat sheet/bucket list for different veggies. lol

I have never heard of those two types. I shall look them up. Thank you.

I use the cheapest dehydrator Marty. The biggest surprise was how good paste tomatoes were.

I'd like to add Dester; a pink Beefsteak to the list. As soon as you slice it you know it's a winner. Full rich flavor!!! Large fruits over a pound resist cracking. I set out some seedlings late. As late as July 4th and they start producing in September with many large fruits when most plants are tapering off.

As a slicer I love Cherokee purple, as already lauded by others. For salads and pasta also really like the "principe borghese," which is marketed for drying.  It low-acid, low-water tomato, and bite-sized or a little bigger.  Cut in half and briefly sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and herbs it makes a great quick pasta sauce.  Also great in lettuce salads b/c you get a bright tomato flavor, but not the sogginess of juicier varieties.

John Indaburgh wrote:I'd like to add Dester; a pink Beefsteak to the list. As soon as you slice it you know it's a winner. Full rich flavor!!! Large fruits over a pound resist cracking. I set out some seedlings late. As late as July 4th and they start producing in September with many large fruits when most plants are tapering off.

That sounds like a good technique! I may have to give her a try this year. I had several holes in the garden last year that needed to be filled. This might be the way to do it.

Thank you!

Mk Neal wrote:As a slicer I love Cherokee purple, as already lauded by others. For salads and pasta also really like the "principe borghese," which is marketed for drying.  It low-acid, low-water tomato, and bite-sized or a little bigger.  Cut in half and briefly sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and herbs it makes a great quick pasta sauce.  Also great in lettuce salads b/c you get a bright tomato flavor, but not the sogginess of juicier varieties.

Oh man! That sounds like some great tomato uses right there. Makes me hungry thinking about it. lol

Thank you.

My favorite has always been Champion and dear hubby likes Celebrity.

We grew Cherokee Purple one year, it is a nice sandwich tomato though I did not feel it had much taste.

There may be a lot of factors that influence the taste of tomatoes.

I find that even random crummy bland commercial tomatoes get a much better flavor when dehydrated. I'm in the desert so I can just dry them on plates and trays on the roof. A tiny tip I would give, is that I prefer to cut them for dehydrating in halves, quarters, or radial pieces (like pieces of an orange) rather than flat slices. I start them drying stood carefully up with the skin side down to reduce sticking. Then after a day or two when they're not so juicy and have shrunk a bit, I push them together to make space for the next batch.

I bought way too many varieties of tomato seeds, but sadly have discovered that I seem to have some kind of wilt in the soil, maybe fusarium. Luckily I happened to have planted two hybrids in that spot that are resistant enough as well as delicious, Sungold and Estiva. So at least for that area of my garden (warmest spot, inside the greenhouse in winter, and exposed in summer), I guess I'll stick with hybrids for a while.

My favorite tasting tomatoes are the interspecies hybrids between domestic tomatoes and solanum pennelliii or solanum habrochaites. They have fruity flavors that people are describing as guava, melon, tropical, plum. Even sea urchin! Whatever that is. The high umami fruits are lovely.

Orange or yellow fruited tomatoes are winning every tasting panel award. No red fruited tomato has even come close.

Anne Miller wrote:My favorite has always been Champion and dear hubby likes Celebrity.

We grew Cherokee Purple one year, it is a nice sandwich tomato though I did not feel it had much taste.

There may be a lot of factors that influence the taste of tomatoes.

I have never had either of those types to my knowledge. I will look them up! Thank you.

Yes I have a feeling that both weather (water, temps, and sunlight) and soil have a large factor to play on flavor. From what I hear, tomatoes love a constant feed as well.

I am currently attempting to figure out how to maximize sun/air exposure per leaf, and this year will keep my plants well mulched with grass clippings for more consistent moisture. I have a feeling that everything may stack together to add to the flavor.

I really want to step up my tomato game!!! (flavor and production both) I will stick to some varieties for flavor and some for canning/drying.

I remember my grandparents tomatoes were insanely flavorful back in the day. All I can remember is that they watered them well... and kept the soil aerated well. They have passed now sadly. I don't even know what types they grew.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:My favorite tasting tomatoes are the interspecies hybrids between domestic tomatoes and solanum pennelliii or solanum habrochaites. They have fruity flavors that people are describing as guava, melon, tropical, plum. Even sea urchin! Whatever that is. The high umami fruits are lovely.

Orange or yellow fruited tomatoes are winning every tasting panel award. No red fruited tomato has even come close.

Well... that sounds more than interesting! Most of what you just said just went way over my head though to be honest. lol

Do you have any recommendations on where to go to read up on that? Are these types resistant to things like blight I will get here in my humid East coast region?

Thank you! I hope you have not opened up a Pandora's box though. lol

~Marty

Marty:

I've been received great reports about how well they grow in blight infested areas. Seeds are available from Experimental Farm Network. Anything from the promiscuous/panamorous lines would be good to trial.

I like all kinds, the red ones and the sweeter ones. One of my favorites to slice and eat fresh is Mr. Stripy. It is a big red/yellow tomato but it is rather unproductive, just a few nice fruits from very large vines. It is also quite tolerant to the wide range of disease in my garden. I like Cherokee purple but not as much as Mr. Stripy.

I have one I call Utah Red Bottom, similar in appearance and flavor to Mr. Stripy, it came from some of Joseph's seeds. My favorite red tomato ever for sauces and juice also came from Joseph's seeds, I call it Utah Heart. Also from Joseph's seeds is one I call Captain Crunch, it is way different from other tomatoes, makes tons of ping pong ball sized sweet yellow fruits. It suffers from blight late in the season and flavor and texture degrade, as the weather cools but by then I've eaten so many it don't matter. My mother used to make tomato preserves, I've thought about doing that with Captain Crunch, unlike hers I doubt I'd have to add sugar or at least very little.  

I have a big variety of current tomatoes (pimpinellifolium) crossed to some unknown variety. They mostly just grow volunteer and come in range of color and size. They are all very sweet, not as much so as Captain Crunch but they don't get diseases hardly at all.

Celebrity is a decent tomato I think, I have it in F3 or F4 generation and it has not done a lot of segregation, I wonder if it really was an F1 when I first got it. I grew a blight resistant hybrid called Plum Regal. Terrible flavor wise but I noticed fruits tended to dry somewhat just left on the vine. I dehybridized it over last several ears and like Celebrity it didn't segregate a whole lot. I've experimented with drying it in the sun and can't believe how good it is dried, soooo much better than fresh.

As far as trialing one that might be easily available I guess I'd recommend Mr. Stripy but like I said it isn't very productive.

Captain Crunch showed up as a volunteer the second year after planting Joseph's seeds in the back "survival of the fittest" garden, I guess it segregated from something. I'm pretty sure you'd find some very interesting and tasty things in any of Joseph's seeds.  

Mark Reed wrote: My mother used to make tomato preserves, I've thought about doing that with Captain Crunch, unlike hers I doubt I'd have to add sugar

Would you care to share a recipe? I would love to try that!

Mark Reed wrote:As far as trialing one that might be easily available I guess I'd recommend Mr. Stripy but like I said it isn't very productive.

I read in a thread about an unproductive squash, someone suggested that if you bruise the main stem with your thumb it will force the plant to flower more. Curious if this might work for masters as well?

Goodness, that was fifty years ago. As I recall it was just the tomatoes and sugar, cooked in a kittle and then hot bathed. I don't know the proportions, I'd say just to taste. Us kids picked and washed them for her. I think she cut the top off cause she didn't like the little green spot but other than that just pitched them in whole. They were a little cherry type tomato, similar to the ones I have now but not as sweet and not near as sweet as Captain Crunch.

Don't think there is much to be done with Mr. Stripy, it blooms abundantly but only a few set fruit and lots abort while very small. I think it's because it is a very old "heirloom" and just forgot how to produce. It helps a little if I remember to shake the flowers around a lot. I keep hoping to find a cross between it and something else but I leave that to the little micro-bees. Just don't have the patience and skill to do hand pollination of tomato flowers.

My favorite tomato variety is Stupice. It is fairly small like Early Girl, but it's a Czech heirloom variety.

Slightly off topic but...,
   Everyones taste are so different, that is true. I don't like sweet tomatoes, or low acid yellow tomatoes. Many people don't like the smoky umami flavors etc..
 Having said that I think there are many fruits that taste so different according to the region they are grown in. I have grown tomato varieties that I got from a friend much farther up north that were very good. When I grew them they were very average. (added to sauce tomatoes). I have given the same friend cuttings from my fig trees, his are not nearly as tasty... Humidity? Soil type or temperatures?  Maybe even daylight hours, I do not know. This thread just got me thinking about that.
    P.S. this does not apply to corn, corn is corn.  Yummy.

Purple tomatoes have been my favorite- this year I'm growing Paul Robeson and Vorlon as slicers, Black Cherry for salads.  I have some Japanese Black Trifele seeds left over from last year- a purple/green pear tomato, that was pretty tasty.  I've grown Cherokee Purple and Black Krim before and liked them both, too.  I don't think I've had a bad purple tomato yet, honestly.  


My grandmother prized her Mr. Stripey tomatoes, and I was glad someone mentioned it here.  It's a sentimental favorite- and awfully good.  I grow Barnes Mountain Yellow and like them - also not as prolific as some other varieties, but they seem pretty tough, and man they're good.  My tomatoes got hit pretty hard by hornworms and drought last year, and I'd still get a couple Barnes Mountain per vine.  

I bought Douchova (Douchoua?) tomato seed on a lark a couple years back- yellow tomatoes about the size of an egg, with a hollow body and the seeds all clustered near the stem, like a pepper.  I've stuffed them and thrown them on the grill, they make a great appetizer for backyard parties.  Get Stuffed is a newer variety (I think) with the same characteristics, a red/yellow bicolor, and I bought a packet of seed to try this year.  

I've done white tomesol in the past year, just for the novelty, and they were really good too.  Didn't seem to suffer from disease or bugs or cracking like some other varieties.  I think I'll start a few this year...

I found a picture of Captain Crunch. It was taken in October, after diseases and a couple of frosts had taken their toll but the fruits were still good. Looking at it I realize that there is more than one strain, some more yellow and some more orange but they all taste and grow about the same.

Mark Reed wrote:I found a picture of Captain Crunch. It was taken in October, after diseases and a couple of frosts had taken their toll but the fruits were still good. Looking at it I realize that there is more than one strain, some more yellow and some more orange but they all taste and grow about the same.

They look like they would taste good! Thank you.

Does anyone out there amend their soil (hole when planting) with tomato oriented fert, chelated iron, garden lime, and Epsom salt?

Here is a vid of a guy stating what the magnesium and sulfur in the Epsom salt do.





Iron is important for photosynthesis as well. Calcium is important for cell division. etc. etc.

I have a feeling the keeping the tomato plants (and other heavy feeders) spoon fed very well with the right stuff, increasing airflow, and sunlight uptake; will drastically increase both flavor and productivity.

My garden is new and I am still feeding the soil to increase the bioactivity and nutrient diversity, as well as it's ability to hold onto more water and air. Last year I added 6 yards of aged/spent mushroom compost mixed with aged horse manure... then topped off some of the beds with several layers of grass clippings. That soil looks amazing under there already! I may do the Ruth Stout thing and start burying kitchen scraps under the clippings.


I really need to dial in my skills on this subject. I am trying to step up my tomato game. lol
I hope this is the BEST tomato year ever! Also, I will do some Better Boy and Roma tomatoes on the side to get their high yield.

~Marty

I use several inches of compost mixed into hole with some eggshells (ran through a coffee grinder).  I add epsom salt every few weeks also with a spoonful of black-strap molasses added to a watering can as a foliar feed.  I also use hay. I put hay down 12-18 inches in fall and let it rot down and over the years, raise my soil level and keep my soil cooler.  It get very hot here.

Ralph Sluder wrote:I use several inches of compost mixed into hole with some eggshells (ran through a coffee grinder).  I add epsom salt every few weeks also with a spoonful of black-strap molasses added to a watering can as a foliar feed.  I also use hay. I put hay down 12-18 inches in fall and let it rot down and over the years, raise my soil level and keep my soil cooler.  It get very hot here.

I see that you are in South GA. It does get hot down there! I lived in Mobile, AL for a few years. Man I came home sweaty from working outside. lol

It sounds like I need to read up on black-strap molasses. I have used molasses in compost tea but never really read up on it. What does it introduce as a foliar feed? Does it also inspire certain microbes to grow on the leaf surface that keeps blight, powdery mildew, etc away?

I am glad to hear that you are having success with the hay! That makes sense that it keeps the soil a bit cooler. I will try using it around my tomatoes and cucumbers this year. My beds are raised and my soil is pitch black/was getting hot and drying out fast last Summer. I bet it will make the plants happy.

 I started adding it years ago because my grand-dad did. Since the invent of the world wide web, I have learned it has trace minerals and vitamins. From my personal observation adding it does increase numbers of fruit that actually set.
 A gallon last me several years so why not keep using it?

Not a tomato fan,  but was surprised to find that roasted, they are greatly improved!  (then stick blend them into a sauce, and freeze)   Also surprised by the yellow Galina... sweet, tasty, productive, hung on forever in the garden and on kitchen counter (but then I haven't tried a lot).  Also, Will Bonsall's 'Gardener's Sweetheart'.. red, tasty, smallish, productive.  These are both OP.

I'm glad to hear that Mr Stripey is a favorite of some people! I have a packet that was given to me by a visitor or somebody, and I didn't have much interest in trying it. Now I'm curious

Rebecca Norman wrote:I'm glad to hear that Mr Stripey is a favorite of some people! I have a packet that was given to me by a visitor or somebody, and I didn't have much interest in trying it. Now I'm curious

There is some confusion between Mr. Stripy and another tomato called Tigerella. Tigerella is a much smaller tomato with orange/red/yellow stripes that sets fruit in clusters, it is not nearly as good. I'm not 100% sure which is really which but my Mr. Stripy and the one I believe is really Mr. Stripy, is a large tomato with yellow/red coloring. I'm pretty sure that the one Cornel University refers to as Mr. Stripy is the same as the one I have. It is also on Cornel's list of heirlooms that have some blight resistance. Unfortunately, like I said, it isn't very productive but it is very, very good so if you have room for a large vine that is only going to make a few fruits it is well worth giving git a try.  

Pineapple, Cherokee Green, Berkeley Tie Dye Green, Girl Girl's Weird Thing, KBX.  I'm trying many new tomatoes this year, so hopefully I'll find some new favorites

For us some top ones are Black cherry, Black master and the orange AAA sweet solano.

Tigerella was called Mr Stripey in the UK where it originated.  When it was brought to the US we already had a Mr. Stripey which is the big bicolor tomato.  The US distributer renamed the tomato to Tigerella as soon as they found out but not before some seeds had been sold as Mr Stripey.... and so the huge confusion started.  I would say which is the real Mr Stripey depends on where you live... but most folks nowadays seem to call the saladette red with yellow stripes Tigerella and the big bicolor Mr. Stripey.  

I grew Tigerella last year and actually enjoyed it.  Mine had a nice tang to it.  It was highly productive and was my last tomato to die.   I have seeds for Mr Stripey and originally had it on my list for this year but it got displaced by Painted Lady a newer tomato from Wild Boar Farms.  But after seeing the comments on Mr Stripey here I may have to grow it just because.

It is odd but Cherokee Purple is really bland here.  And not just at my place but a friend on the other side of the state asked if I like it as hers were very bland and tasteless.  

Here are the ones I am going with this Spring.

I may try and hunt down some of those types I hear you folks talking about to plant later this Fall or next Spring.

Cherries...
Gardener's delight (Had the seed already)
SunGold - This thing wins lots of taste tests and is productive allegedly. Can't wait! I am planting a few of them. My wife will eat them all.

Heirloom...
Red Brandywine - Still on the hunt for some Pink Brandywine (Suddath strain).

Heirloom/Hybrid...
Better Boy - My brother swears by them so I will give them a try. They hold the record for most produced in a season and still have a great tomato taste allegedly.

Hybrid...
Florida 91 - Found these seeds but they were pricey. I am going to see if these still produce during that intensely hot/humid Summer we get here in my area. There is always a lag that other tomato types flowers go sterile when they get too hot or humid. These, however, will continue to produce allegedly. We shall see.



I was growing some Black Krim because I know they taste good. However, we kept having late frosts come through and those things had turned into giant monsters and I could no longer support them with light. So... they went to the compost heap and made room for several of the ones listed above.

Once some of my short-lived crops die back I plan to plop a few determinant tomato types into the ground mid-Summer. I will probably try and do a mess of Roma tomatoes so they all mature at the same time and I can try making some sauces and dried tomatoes for the first time.

Thank you Everyone for all of the wonderful responses thus far!!! I shall read up on these types you have mentioned. I really do want to step up my tomato game!!!

SunGold - This thing wins lots of taste tests and is productive allegedly.

Sun Golds & Yellow Pears are nearly unstoppable in my garden. They are early producers & keep on going until cold weather arrives. Insects & heat don't seem to bother them much. They both have good flavor. They volunteer easily the next year. Perhaps that's because they make so many tomatoes it's hard to keep up with harvesting them.

Most of my tomato seeds are the results of planting many different types of tomatoes together & saving the resulting seeds. I'd guess 100 or more varieties saved from several states with very different climates & soils over the course of 20-25 years. I aim more for survival of the fittest rather than taste. I save most of them by size & sometimes by color. Last year I tried adding some of Joseph's tomatoes to the mix but a late unexpected cold snap killed them all. Will try again this year with the remaining few seeds.

The only variety I try to keep pure is Cherokee Purple. Those are my favorite tomato flavor. Last year I noticed some Black Krim cherry crosses that looked like they might have some Cherokee Purple in them now. Looking forward to see if that trait reappears this year.

Marty you may want to check out https://heritageseedmarket.com.  It is a 3 breeders who have banded together to sell seed.  Bunny Hop grows her seeds in Florida so has a special list of heat and humidity varieties...  mostly heirlooms and older varieties but also lots of dwarfs and other types.  The site says it may take 10 to 15 days to process orders but my March 1st order today... so it may be too late for you to order seeds for use this year but I love how honest she is about her tomatoes... one is described as pretty but tasteless.  The other two growers are in different areas of the country a bit further north.