Is this the best tasting tomato?

[Douglas14]

Hi, my name is Doug and I just registered here. I live in Minnesota and have been growing/trialing tomatoes for about 30 years. I've grown many varieties throughout the years(heirlooms,hybrids, and newer open pollinated varieties). I've recently grown a variety that may be the best tasting non-cherry tomato I've ever grown in my humble opinion. It's called Mountaineer Delight. My seed source for it is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange(my only relationship with this company is as a customer). I've found this tomato to be extremely flavorful, on the sweeter side. It looks like an unassuming medium-sized red tomato to me. I recall eating one last year, and wanting to devour every last part of it. I realize tomatoes can vary quite a bit in flavor from year to year, depending on growing conditions. But last year my Wes and Brandywine Sudduth tomatoes tasted watered down in flavor compared to that Mountaineer Delight tomato. I plan on growing 4 Mountaineer Delight plants this year, to see if this continues to be a standout tomato for me. Has anyone else here grown this variety?

[JRinPA]

Hey Doug, how's it goin', welcome to TJ.

I tried mountaineer delight last year. It was okay, better tomatoes than GGWT vine next to it. I thought it decent production, long lasting on the vine, good standard tasting, round tomato with a nice red color.

I had a personal taste off last year that I tried to conduct unbiasedly. As if that is possible! There were a few mentions of that tomato. Tomatoes were very late here, last year, with rough frosted damaged start to some. viewtopic.php?t=4717

Aug 14th"That Mountaineer Delight is actually a pretty meaty round red, not much juice, and gets redder than Big Beef. Taste was okay, just not the zip I like. So maybe a little flippant saying it is like a Big Beef. Big Beef would have been earlier and heavier production, but that MD is probably a better sandwich tomato."

sep 5 " The mountaineer delight are holding well on the vine, and most of them I have given away for sauce making. And amish paste as well. "
"If I grow some for sauce next year, Amish paste and mountaineer delight might have places. They stay ripe on the vine without rotting, something that costoluto genovese has never done for me."

Sep 19h "Mixed in with those are Mountain Magic and Amish Paste, which seem to fine holding up fine. Next in the row is GGWT (I didn't notice any) and then Rosovye Krupnye and Black From Tula. The two russian tomatoes are both still producing nice tomatoes.
On the other side is Stump, and I'm still picking these and they taste good. Sweet ozark orange - still picking, taste good. Then Cuostralee, still picking, still taste good."

FOUND A TYPO/ERROR It was Mountaineer Delight, not Mountain magic. Never grown that one. Mountaineer Delight were holding up fine on Sep 19! And quite a bit longer, if I remember correctly.

I will probably grow a few cages worth for sauce in my back yard. For my sandwich tomatoes, I single/double stem and they only get a small footprint, straight up the trellis. That is how I grew mountaineer delight last year. The production and fruit set were pretty good.

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

Taste is something that is subjective, and everyone can have their own opinion of what is the "best tasting" tomato, or anything, for that matter. And even if we find something we think might be the best we ever had, we'll still keep trying new ones, because we might find something better!

[Cole_Robbie]

I like having a favorite, and then every year a host of challengers for the title.

Everyone's tastes are different. I like red tomatoes in dry years, as I find it concentrates the flavor.

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us.

[Whwoz]

Welcome to the Junction from Down Under @Douglas14

[Shule]

Hi, my name is Doug and I just registered here. I live in Minnesota and have been growing/trialing tomatoes for about 30 years. I've grown many varieties throughout the years(heirlooms,hybrids, and newer open pollinated varieties). I've recently grown a variety that may be the best tasting non-cherry tomato I've ever grown in my humble opinion. It's called Mountaineer Delight. My seed source for it is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange(my only relationship with this company is as a customer). I've found this tomato to be extremely flavorful, on the sweeter side. It looks like an unassuming medium-sized red tomato to me. I recall eating one last year, and wanting to devour every last part of it. I realize tomatoes can vary quite a bit in flavor from year to year, depending on growing conditions. But last year my Wes and Brandywine Sudduth tomatoes tasted watered down in flavor compared to that Mountaineer Delight tomato. I plan on growing 4 Mountaineer Delight plants this year, to see if this continues to be a standout tomato for me. Has anyone else here grown this variety?

I haven't grown it, but it looks like a tomato I would want to grow; in addition to your review of the taste, it looks interesting as an open-pollinated indeterminate large red 77-day beefsteak with a nice disease-resistance profile and good hang-time (I think that's what they mean by 'fruit that holds well on the vine'). If you're looking for more people to grow it, feel free to save seeds and pass them around, or trade.

The disease resistance includes these things:
- Verticillium wilt
- Fusarium wilt
- Late blight
- Septoria leaf spot

All they need now is TSWV and nematodes (practically).

[Tormato]

Welcome to the forum.

In my opinion, with the right growing conditions (fairly rare), Brandywine Sudduth blows away every other variety, for intense balanced flavor, that I've grown (somewhere about 2,000 varieties). It's lucky to be 1 in 5 years for having the right conditions. A much less finicky tomato is Stump Of The World. Have you tried it?

[Paulf]

Stump and Sudduth are excellent choices but for consistently great tasting tomatoes I have veered off the beefsteak path and plant as many heart shaped varieties as possible. I have only tried around 4-500 varieties and almost all have been OP/heirlooms. I try the hybrids that try to match heirloom flavor without much success. As stated above, every year a different variety becomes my favorite of the year. There used to be up to forty varieties in the garden yearly but with my age increasing my work ethic wanes so that the numbers have been cut in half.

My advice is not to get in a rut growing the same tomatoes every year (yes, retain your historical favorites) but expand your choices. You will find some great tasters…and a few spitters as well. That is the fun. If only I had the time and space to catch up to Darrell.

[MissS]

Hello and welcome to the Junction.

If you ask 100 people from across the country what their favorite tomato is, you will get 90 different answers. People's taste bud's are all different. What one person enjoys, another can't tolerate. Soil and weather also play a factor in how things taste. A tomato grown in your garden can blow you away one year and then with different weather, can be blah the next.

I now have a list of about 20 favorite tomatoes. I only grow 1 or two of a tried and true variety and then the rest of my crop is new to me. This way I help to distribute seeds of little known gems and also grow my list of favorites.

So to answer your question, that may be the best tasting tomato for you but you also need to keep trying more. My guess is that if you do that, you will get a list of 20-30 favorites too.

[Yak54]

Welcome to TJ. After many years of growing tomatoes I have developed a list of about 15 varieties that I think are superior. And I grow 4 or 5 from that list every year along with 2-3 "new to me" varieties in the hope of expanding my list to 16 or 17. But in a given year the one that is "the best tasting" varies somewhat and it's really nice when one of the new ones makes my "grow every year" list.

[Yak54]

Paulf......So over the years what are your top 5 favorite hearts ?

[Frosti]

Welcome to the Junction! Mountaineer Delight hasn't been on my radar so far, so thanks for praising it, maybe I'll remember your post when it's time to select the varieties for next year's garden.

[Paulf]

Paulf......So over the years what are your top 5 favorite hearts ?

Right now we are in Des Moines watching a granddaughter playing in a big volleyball tourney. We should be home Sunday and I will give this one some thought. Stay tuned.

[Paulf]

Paulf......So over the years what are your top 5 favorite hearts ?

A huge can of worms you have opened! Of the several hundred of my favorites these are the varieties I would plant and grow every year in my garden...without hesitation. First by color, then narrowed down to my top five of all time. Several are very difficult to find and takes a little searching. This year several of these are germinating and several others are along with them some new to me. About a third this year are hearts.

Pink: Butter and Bull Heart, Kososvo, Eagle's Beak, Hungarian Heart, Joe's Pink Oxheart, Korol London, Portuguese Monster, Tsar Kolokol, Volovie Ukho

Red: Fish Lake Oxheart(often considered pink), Canadian Heart, Couers Valours, Ernesto, Sylvan Guame, Oleyar's German, Zore's Big Red

Yellow/Bi-color: Herman's Yellow, Orange Russian #117

Black: Cherokee Purple Heart, Brad's Black Heart

Twenty-five year top five starting with #1: Canadian Heart, Sylvan Guame, Butter and Bull Heart, Korol London, Hungarian Heart. One caveat: The top five does not include a variety that is a hit and miss variety. One year Orange Russian #117, a bi-color, is the very best, ever; the next year and maybe the next couple of years is close to a spitter. When it is on it is great. When the season is wrong...yuuk.

[Tormato]

Paulf......So over the years what are your top 5 favorite hearts ?

A huge can of worms you have opened! Of the several hundred of my favorites these are the varieties I would plant and grow every year in my garden...without hesitation. First by color, then narrowed down to my top five of all time. Several are very difficult to find and takes a little searching. This year several of these are germinating and several others are along with them some new to me. About a third this year are hearts.

Pink: Butter and Bull Heart, Kososvo, Eagle's Beak, Hungarian Heart, Joe's Pink Oxheart, Korol London, Portuguese Monster, Tsar Kolokol, Volovie Ukho

Red: Fish Lake Oxheart(often considered pink), Canadian Heart, Couers Valours, Ernesto, Sylvan Guame, Oleyar's German, Zore's Big Red

Yellow/Bi-color: Herman's Yellow, Orange Russian #117

Black: Cherokee Purple Heart, Brad's Black Heart

Twenty-five year top five starting with #1: Canadian Heart, Sylvan Guame, Butter and Bull Heart, Korol London, Hungarian Heart. One caveat: The top five does not include a variety that is a hit and miss variety. One year Orange Russian #117, a bi-color, is the very best, ever; the next year and maybe the next couple of years is close to a spitter. When it is on it is great. When the season is wrong...yuuk.

(often considered pink), Often Considered Pink, OFTEN CONSIDERED PINK! I've been searching for the supposed red one for about a decade.

Which is it, in your garden, red or pink?

[Paulf]

Pink but the guru, Tatianna lists it as pink/red, so who am I to differ? I do not care which it is…great tomato in my patch.

[Yak54]

Paul: Thanks for your kind reply ! I've grown 6 of those but you've given me some new ones to try out. Thanks for sharing your heart growing experience with us.

[JRinPA]

Hey @Douglas14 you still here?

@Paulf With OR117 I thought very similarly, some years great, others, just didn't do much.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

Following for future gardens .....