2020 Virtual Tomato Tasting

[PlainJane]

Well, in some ways it was better than our usual sit-down afternoon event, but I missed seeing everyone’s immediate reactions and banter.
How:
I created a Facebook event for notes, pictures and laughs.
For local folks I made up boxes with the labeled tomatoes in fabric bags, kind of like party favors. I had various sizes of bags for bigger beefsteaks vs. saladettes vs. cherries.
For remote people I packed 2 smaller boxes within a larger box, about 12 lbs or so total shipping weight. To stay within budget I only shipped to 4 people - all on the East Coast.
I spread all the shipping and local deliveries out over 4 weeks starting end of May and coinciding with peak expected harvest. My goal was to get as many of the 25 varieties to as many people as possible; everybody had at least a dozen or more to try.

Tasting sheets went inside the boxes:

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Staged for first of the local deliveries:

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Away folks getting their goodies:

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Su was very excited about a KBX “as big as her head”.

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Some of the photos people posted. There were a lot of BLTs. It got a little competitive, lol:

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My favorite was Susan’s use of Copper River over salmon, cooked in parchment.

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And here were notes from our friend Nichole:

Atomic Fusion – 5 – mild, juicy, thick skin with a back anote of something herbal, pair well with savory dish
Atomic Sunset – 8 – clean sharp flavor, very bright
Carbon – 6 – sweet, not much to it
Clear Lake Heirloom – 3 – “meh”
Cooper River – 5 – loved the inside red/green coloring, mild flavor
Green Bee – 5 – thick skin, didn’t like as much as last year
Green Gables – 6 – nice green/yellow coloring, fresh and clean tasting
Indian Stripe PL – 6 – mild, juicy, liked it without salt better
KBX – 7 – hearty, full of flavor
Lucky Cross – 3 – “meh”
Pink Saphire – 3 – mild, juicy, not much flavor
Ron’s Carbon Copy – 9 – really liked the snacking size, deep color and sweet flavor
Wild Thyme Purple – 10 – loved the dark color and flavor. Floral notes in the back of your throat.

Wild Thyme Purple, Thorburn’s Terra-cotta, KBX, Daniel Burson, Ron’s Carbon Copy and Indian Stripe all received high marks.

Green Gables, Aker’s West Virginia, Copper River, Clear Lake Heirloom, Claude Brown’s Yellow Giant and Atomic Sunset were close runners up.

Most people either love Green Bee or ..... not. (Personally I love it.)

Since I had the growers privilege of tasting everything fresh off the vine my winner was Daniel Burson. Just out of top place - Wild Thyme Purple, Carbon and KBX.

[ddsack]

OMG, the food looks fantastic! Beautiful presentations, I want to taste every one! What a fun way to run your event, but the planning and coordination must have been challenging! Thanks for sharing the pictures and results.

[PlainJane]

Thank you [mention]ddsack[/mention], it was work, but fun work.

[Barb_FL]

Wow - I'm so impressed. You really outdid yourself. Was tester Nichole a local or were they mailed to her?

[PlainJane]

[mention]Barb_FL[/mention], thank you. Nichole is a local and has been a fixture at every tomato tasting and foodie dinner we’ve had.

[wildcat62]

Love it. Can hardly wait on ours to ripen. Great pic...

[PlainJane]

Thank you [mention]wildcat62[/mention]

[KathyDC]

That looks super fun. Well done!

[MissS]

Well PlainJane there seems to be nothing plain about you at all. You are remarkable. You managed to make this tomato tasting a huge hit in spite of the corona virus. Everyone seemed to have fun and make the virtual event something special thanks to your hard work and dedication.

To to top it off Daniel Burson won. I happen to be very fond of this tomato myself. It is a very good one indeed.

Well done!

[bower]

This is amazing... just love all the presentations which look delicious!! In a way, it's better than a 'just tomatoes' tasting, with everyone showing off the ways they enjoyed them.