Tomatoes variety matters

When I first started growing tomatoes I did what most do and bought what was available. Once I started growing from seed I stuck to the same varieties. I just assumed I sucked at growing tomatoes. So many problems, so little fruit. Somewhere along my journey I learned not all tomato varieties do well everywhere. Well duh, of course they don't. I don't know why this never occurred to me. You would think the plants you buy from your local nursery will do well in your area, but sadly it's not always the case, matter of fact it's often not so. This small bit of knowledge was a game changer for me. I don't actually suck at growing tomatoes, I was just growing the wrong ones.
The last several years have proved this to me time and time again. I keep hearing this was a terrible year for tomatoes. No one had a good harvest...
This may not have been my best year, but I had lots of yummy tomatoes. I have been working on building amazing soil, and try to keep things watered. I didn't ignore my garden, but I wasn't really into it this year. It was more a habit, or a duty, then a joy. Sometimes it's like that. I feel this adds to the idea that the right variety for my climate is very important. We had a crummy summer, they got the bare minimum care, and still produced plenty of tomatoes.
People I know don't understand why I grow strange varieties of tomatoes. I try to share what I have learned, but most of the time I'm met with resistance. They don't want to grow a tomato they have never heard of, or starting seeds is to hard. Last year I thought this excuse was BS, but this year I totally struggled to grow from seed. Even in my worst seed starting experience tomatoes were one of the easiest, and I still managed to start enough for my garden. I also spent less than I would have buying seedlings. Let's not forget my tomatoes produced. Anyway I have to accept I can only help the people who want to be helped.
I live in N California zone 9B. So far I have 5 tomatoes on my must grow list.
Cherokee purple the only tomato on my list that pretty common (I forgot sweet 100 cherry tomato, probably the most well known) and can be bought locally. It's really the only large tomato I have had any luck with. They are large, produce like crazy, and taste great. My husband doesn't like the dark inside. He said it looks like rotten meat, and won't eat it. Strangely this year they were more red, and didn't have as much dark color, so that made him happy. For an abundance of tomatoes this is on the list.
Mountain magic This tomato is quite small. Larger than a cherry, but a lot smaller than a store bought tomato. The vine grows huge like a cherry, and produces in abundance. Everyone loves the flavor, and it cooks and eats great.
Blush Tight this is a smallish oblong shaped tomato that is yellow with reddish pink stripes. everyone loves the flavor of this tomato. If I remember correctly it was the first to produce and ripen. It's not a small vine, but not nearly as large as the others. It's given us an abundance of tomatoes.
Opalka this is a past tomato, that my husband enjoys eating, which is unusual I understand. It's normally a super producer, thought wasn't the best this year. Since it's been a great tomato the last 2 years, I will plant it again next year.
Sweet 100 I always plant one cherry tomato. They seem tougher and more vigorous than other tomatoes. Dependable, good, and productive.
The only new tomato I tried this year that I will try next year is heat master. It produced ok, was a small tomato, and had a good flavor. This wasn't a super start, but it was a strange summer, I wasn't very attentive, and maybe it wasn't in the best location. I still have seeds, so I will give it another shot.
I have a few that are starting to produce very well now, they really kicked into gear when we had some cooler weather. This tells me they probably aren't the tomatoes for me.
I would like to save seeds from my favorites, and give them a try. I always mean to, but rarely manage to actually do it. Maybe this is the year.  I think I couple of them are hybrids, and they are grown relatively close together, so who knows what I will get. It would be fun to see what happens.
If you grow a tomato that does very well in a hot dry climate, I would love to hear about it.  Or if you want to share your recommendations for different climate, I'm sure it would be helpful to other.
Thanks happy gardening.

I started out with Champions and they are still my favorite.

Right now hubby is going with Early Girl though he also likes Celebrity.

To me what matters is if folks want bush or vine tomatoes.

Our daughter only grows Cherry tomatoes and she likes something small.

One year we grew Cherokee Purples and they were great for burgers or sandwiches.

So I would say it depends ...

Ah tomatoes! Well, I have a bit of a story on that.

I foolishly started an indeterminate Mandarin Mini Princess in my hydroponics iDOO before I knew what "indeterminate" meant.  Yeah. I know. So, once I figured this thing was taking over, I transplanted it to a pot and it sulked heavily. It got to the point where it lost its crown and I figured it would die anyway. So, I transplanted it outdoors, and figured it would just die. Instead, it took off!

Well, okay then. I ended up with about a dozen mini orange tomatoes. And late season. I picked all and the rest are ripening in a bag because we're getting snow in a few days.

Currently, I have an orange hat tomato growing in my iDOO. And I started tomato seeds for more. But, there you go.

I also really like Super Sweet 100s and Cherokee Purples. They did not do anything for me after June this year but I was extremely neglectful and I probably don't have nice soil.  And it was incredibly hot late in the summer. I would still recommend them.

The other tomato that I would recommend that on a normal year actually does produce is the Juliet hybrid. Since it's a hybrid you obviously can't save seeds and get the exact same tomato, but it's always produced for me except for this year which once again was so hot!

I am also happy to hear any recommendations for any other variety that might do well. And I'm not even in California, but it seems like we're trending hotter or at least more extreme.

Edit: I forgot to say what the Juliet Hybrid even is!  It's a small Roma-looking tomato.  I've never tried to research the parents but suspect it was a larger cherry type crossed with a Roma.  It's (usually) prolific and is quite tasty fresh but can still be cooked.  It's just small so it would take a lot of them to make a sauce or something.  They tend to end up in tomato basil salad with feta around my house.

We all LOVE Cherokee Purple! Why they are not sold as starter plants or fruits in the store? The flavor is so rich and amazing. One has to grow his or her own and taste the vine ripe fruits to enjoy this marvelous variety. I have more tomato seeds than I have room for and every year the Cherokee purple is the keeper. It is also the hardest one to get perfect fruits. I usually get concentric cracks around the shoulder. The cracks make the fruits susceptible to mold so I have been taking the issue very seriously. What I found is that Cherokee purple needs higher level of calcium and boron constantly to produce crack-free fruits.  I put lots of organic matter in the soil but tend to get flood in spring and drought in summer so the nutrient flow isn't matching the plant's need. It's far more sensitive than other varieties. Anyway, I am looking at it as the hallmark veggie of fertile soil, and likely the tomato would be more nutrient dense as well. I am making progress improving my soil and hopefully next year I will have more and better harvest of tomatoes.