Your top 10 best tasting tomatoes

[maxjohnson]

I have to give Marianna's Peace another try. I tried it once in Florida but wasn't productive and has slightly woody core. I suspect it doesn't like that climate, same as Brandywine.

[o0sunsi0o]

Wisconsin you say. My list of favorites that I have grown in SE Wisconsin is longer than 10.

Brandywine
Dester
Cherokee Purple
Brandywine from Croatia
Elgin Pink
Stump of the World
Rebel Yell
Rose
Marianna's Peace
Daniel Burson
Black Krim
Terhune
Winsall
Polish C
Barlow Jap
Sakharnyi Pudviochok
Black Cherry
SunGold
SunSugar

Oh wow, you know your tomatoes! I lived 7 years in WI but that was before I got into gardening, b'gosh! ;D

"Dester" is definitely on my list for next year, hearing so many good things about it. Daniel Burson is another and Barlow Jap is one that I haven't seen mentioned for a while, but many people gave it rave reviews some years ago. Looking over your list there's the top tasting tomatoes. Rebel's Yell I don't know must about, but I trust your taste all ready, especially seeing Marianna's Peace there.

[o0sunsi0o]

I have to give Marianna's Peace another try. I tried it once in Florida but wasn't productive and has slightly woody core. I suspect it doesn't like that climate, same as Brandywine.

It's worth your time, it's such an outstanding tomato for taste. I'm in Central NY and your Ohio garden would be almost like mine.

[Yak54]

Oh wow, you know your tomatoes! I lived 7 years in WI but that was before I got into gardening, b'gosh! ;D

Yes she does ! A very knowledgeable tomato growing veteran with many years of experience growing many different varieties.

[MrPepperoncini]

Yusupovskyi S Fergany: Midseason RL, sweet, juicy, and can go head to head with any tomato when the umami develops.
Cancelmo Family Heirloom: RL, loves 10gal containers, easy to grow, lovely heart shape, delicious!
Belmonte: RL, large beefsteak tomato with yellow shoulders. Sweet/juicy and some years takes 1st place in my flavor tests. I grow from seeds saved from Calabria,Italy.
Casey's Pure Yellow/Lillian's Yellow Heirloom: Both are potato leaf and the two best tasting yellow tomato I have ever grown. Slight edge to Casey's for being a bit earlier.
KBX: PL, best tasting and looking orange tomato I have grown. Always on my grow list.
Paul Robeson: RL, I love this tomato but it takes too long in my garden and it can have "off years" in the flavor department.

Cherry Tomatoes:
Lucky Tiger: These taste sweet, complex and tropical to me. One of my favs and always on my grow list. RIP Fred Hempel, thank you for your hard work developing this gem!
Black Cherry: I have grown a bunch of darker coloured cherry tomatoes but these always come out on top.
Sweet Cream: bi-color orange/red veined elongated cherry tomatoes with a sweet taste. These are gorgeous crowd pleasers that can back it up in the flavor department.

[Tormahto]

I have to give Marianna's Peace another try. I tried it once in Florida but wasn't productive and has slightly woody core. I suspect it doesn't like that climate, same as Brandywine.

There is an imposter of MP going around. It has much rougher shoulders than the real deal.

[WoodSprite]

Over the last approx. 27 years, I've grown 106 different tomato varieties (mostly open-pollinated, a few hybrid) and have tasted others when my garden club did tomato taste comparisons several years. So far my favorites for flavor are:

Black From Tula
Black Krim
Margaret Curtain
Matina
Eva Purple Ball
Goose Creek
Juane Flamme**
Green Zebra
Moskvich
Gardener's Delight

I generally don't like yellow tomatoes and have tried about 15 kinds but I do love Azoychka. It doesn't make my top 10 list but is close.

Cherry: I do love Sungold but don't like how they split and no longer grow it.

Paste: Not as flavorful as "slicers" but if you are looking for a great paste tomato, try Cow's Tit. It's my favorite in that category. Excellent raw in pico de gallo, bruschetta, etc. as well as for making canned salsa, sauce and tomato soup.

**Note for Juane Flamme: The first few times I grew it, it had wonderful fruity flavor that I loved! However the last few times I grew it, from purchased plants and and seeds from different sources, I didn't like it. It lacked the fruitiness and sweetness even when I let them get really ripe. I wonder if the plants/seeds were no longer the original or if it was environmental changes. I'd love to grow the fruity flavored version again.

[WoodSprite]

Oops. Double post.

[bboomer]

Thanks!! I have limited space in which to grow. Cherokee Purple is a regular in my small patch. Black Krim did ok. Black Cherry is a favorite. However, I see Stump of the Earth as a common favorite with you and Tormato. On my list for next year.
Any "must try" recommendations for a small time gardener?
Ben

[bboomer]

BTW, my Black Cherry is almost 6 feet tall now. No ripe tomatoes though......

[MissS]

Thanks!! I have limited space in which to grow. Cherokee Purple is a regular in my small patch. Black Krim did ok. Black Cherry is a favorite. However, I see Stump of the Earth as a common favorite with you and Tormato. On my list for next year.
Any "must try" recommendations for a small time gardener?
Ben

Daniel Burson comes in third for flavor behind CP and Krim. The thing that makes this plalnt so great is that it not only tastes good but the production is very very high and it's on a rather small plant that stays 4-5' tall.

BTW it's Stump of the World not Stump of the Earth. Stump is not a small plant at all, so give it some room.

Have you tried growing any of the dwarfs yet? They all stay under 5'.

[bboomer]

I have a 20' x 20' plot and about half of that is for tomatoes. This is what I planted this year:
Mortgage Lifter (A family favorite which I wish was more productive)
Juliet Hybrid (Carries on when other "superior" varieties succumb to some disease. Grand kids love it.)
Violaceum Krypni-Rozo (failed)
BlackCherry (now over 5' tall!)
Cherokee Purple (3 or 4 doing well so far)
San Marzano (good but low production)
Siberian Velican (Good!)
Bolgaraskoe Chudo (Great taste! Determinate or indeterminate?)

Any recommendations? Thanks!

[Tormahto]

Thanks!! I have limited space in which to grow. Cherokee Purple is a regular in my small patch. Black Krim did ok. Black Cherry is a favorite. However, I see Stump of the Earth as a common favorite with you and Tormato. On my list for next year.
Any "must try" recommendations for a small time gardener?
Ben

What do you like, as far as tomato flavors go? Sweet? Balanced? Tart?

Traditional red "tomatoey? Fruity? Citrusy? Melony? Earthy? Herby? Astringenty?

[Seven Bends]

Bolgaraskoe Chudo (Great taste! Determinate or indeterminate?)

Any recommendations? Thanks!

Bolgarskoe Chudo is indeterminate (or at any rate, it's supposed to be, and mine is). I agree with you that it tastes great. Mine was very productive and healthy last year and seems to be repeating that this year.

If you like Bolgarskoe Chudo, I think you'll probably like Stump of the World, Terhune, Rebel Yell, and Polish (Elles/Ellis).

[bboomer]

Thanks!! I have limited space in which to grow. Cherokee Purple is a regular in my small patch. Black Krim did ok. Black Cherry is a favorite. However, I see Stump of the Earth as a common favorite with you and Tormato. On my list for next year.
Any "must try" recommendations for a small time gardener?
Ben

What do you like, as far as tomato flavors go? Sweet? Balanced? Tart?

Traditional red "tomatoey? Fruity? Citrusy? Melony? Earthy? Herby? Astringenty?

I love Cherokee Purple for its lush full spectrum taste. It oozes (no pun intended) tomato flavor. I will have to refresh my memory this season for Black Krim. It will only be the second time I try it. Black Cherry is awesome! It is sweeter and filled with more juice than Cherokee Purple but with the same full spectrum flavor. The only drawback, in my mind, is that the tomatoes are small. I think about that when the temperature and humidity are in the 90s, something that regularly happens in Wisconsin.
San Marzano is a very good single note tomato. It has less gel than most but balances sweetness and astringency well. If I can figure out how to make a pizza on the grill without burning the bottom I will use them for that purpose. Or freezing.
Juliet Hybrid is a kids favorite. It is a single note, tart grape tomato. My grand kids love it and that is reason enough to plant one or two of those monsters every year. They steer away from purple or black tomatoes. Too strange looking for them.
We also love Mortgage Lifter. It is a sit down and enjoy tomato experience, full of tomato flavor, balanced sweet and tart flavor, with a fruity aftertaste. I think herby might be a good description too. If it wasn't for a small but noticeable core, it would be perfect. I guess Mortgage Lifter is my gold standard. I just wish it was more productive. I will try Stump of the World next year and compare.

[Toomanymatoes]

Dester and Stump of the World are in my top 10. I see that many share that view so I will definitely be trying the others you listed. At this rate I am going to have 50 different pink beefsteak tomatoes next growing season!

I am surprised I didn't see any pink oxhearts listed (or I missed them). Many of my favorites are pink oxhearts. Can't really go wrong with any of them.

[Tormahto]

Over the last approx. 27 years, I've grown 106 different tomato varieties (mostly open-pollinated, a few hybrid) and have tasted others when my garden club did tomato taste comparisons several years. So far my favorites for flavor are:

Black From Tula
Black Krim
Margaret Curtain
Matina
Eva Purple Ball
Goose Creek
Juane Flamme**
Green Zebra
Moskvich
Gardener's Delight

I generally don't like yellow tomatoes and have tried about 15 kinds but I do love Azoychka. It doesn't make my top 10 list but is close.

Cherry: I do love Sungold but don't like how they split and no longer grow it.

Paste: Not as flavorful as "slicers" but if you are looking for a great paste tomato, try Cow's Tit. It's my favorite in that category. Excellent raw in pico de gallo, bruschetta, etc. as well as for making canned salsa, sauce and tomato soup.

**Note for Juane Flamme: The first few times I grew it, it had wonderful fruity flavor that I loved! However the last few times I grew it, from purchased plants and and seeds from different sources, I didn't like it. It lacked the fruitiness and sweetness even when I let them get really ripe. I wonder if the plants/seeds were no longer the original or if it was environmental changes. I'd love to grow the fruity flavored version again.

I grew Eva Purple Ball every year, until I tried Bulgarian Triumph.

[bboomer]

Dester and Stump of the World are in my top 10. I see that many share that view so I will definitely be trying the others you listed. At this rate I am going to have 50 different pink beefsteak tomatoes next growing season!

I am surprised I didn't see any pink oxhearts listed (or I missed them). Many of my favorites are pink oxhearts. Can't really go wrong with any of them.

Any recommends?

[bboomer]

Thanks!! I have limited space in which to grow. Cherokee Purple is a regular in my small patch. Black Krim did ok. Black Cherry is a favorite. However, I see Stump of the Earth as a common favorite with you and Tormato. On my list for next year.
Any "must try" recommendations for a small time gardener?
Ben

What do you like, as far as tomato flavors go? Sweet? Balanced? Tart?

Traditional red "tomatoey? Fruity? Citrusy? Melony? Earthy? Herby? Astringenty?

I love Cherokee Purple for its lush full spectrum taste. It oozes (no pun intended) tomato flavor. I will have to refresh my memory this season for Black Krim. It will only be the second time I try it. Black Cherry is awesome! It is sweeter and filled with more juice than Cherokee Purple but with the same full spectrum flavor. The only drawback, in my mind, is that the tomatoes are small. I think about that when the temperature and humidity are in the 90s, something that regularly happens in Wisconsin.
San Marzano is a very good single note tomato. It has less gel than most but balances sweetness and astringency well. If I can figure out how to make a pizza on the grill without burning the bottom I will use them for that purpose. Or freezing.
Juliet Hybrid is a kids favorite. It is a single note, tart grape tomato. My grand kids love it and that is reason enough to plant one or two of those monsters every year. They steer away from purple or black tomatoes. Too strange looking for them.
We also love Mortgage Lifter. It is a sit down and enjoy tomato experience, full of tomato flavor, balanced sweet and tart flavor, with a fruity aftertaste. I think herby might be a good description too. If it wasn't for a small but noticeable core, it would be perfect. I guess Mortgage Lifter is my gold standard. I just wish it was more productive. I will try Stump of the World next year and compare.

I forgot to mention mosquitos.....

[Labradors]

Bulgarian is very tasty AND it does fine in a cage - if only it ripened earlier.

WoodSprite it's Jaune Flammee (French, not Mexican LOL). I tried it once, but found it acidic. Perhaps I got an imposter!