The Taste of Tomatoes

[worth1]

I have found the best tasting tomato flavors are first thing in the morning while or after drinking a very strong coffee before eating anything else.

No way! Really!

Will try that

I gather the coffee should be neat (no sugar and no milk - like the way I drink mine )

Seriously, it works and the flavors in the tomato come out big time.
I drink my coffee super strong 15 grams french roast to about cup of water and I put sugar in it.
It is also the best time of the day to eat chili.
In my opinion you have had all night for the taste buds and so on to get over all the attacks it has had during the day.

Is that first thing in the morning straight from the garden? I'll agree there, because those tomatoes will have cooled down from the prior days heat.

Yes right off the vine first thing in the morning just as the sun is about to come up over the horizon AKA dawn.
Don't even go in the house with it because it will ruin the flavor.

[TheDante]

True Black Brandywine should not be confused with Black Brandywine. The later was once described at T'ville as tasting like a sweaty horse. Be still my heart.

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! no way!

[worth1]

Copia tasted like a soured dish rag.

[TheDante]

yikes! I have seeds for both Purple Calabash and Copia and Green Copia and Dark Copia

[Tormahto]

@Nan6b

Early Girl F1 can be very acidic (but isn't always); it depends on the conditions. It can also be quite sweet. It can also be mild. It can also taste like chlorine. It hardly ever tastes the same! Nevertheless, some of its flavors are fairly unique. If you like unpredictable flavor, it's awesome. But one thing I love about it, is it pretty much always tastes great on burritos, and it's a good tomato for general audiences.

@Growing Coastal

I like most tomatoes, sweet, sour, potent, mild, balanced, unbalanced, and even bitter.

My preference is potently flavored sour tomatoes, though. Sour tomatoes that are also sweet are really good. I like most of my tomatoes potent, but there are some gentle ones I really like to eat. Texture is just as important as flavor, IMO. A nearly flavorless tomato can still be awesome if it feels good in your mouth.

Some can have very noticeable good flavor and be gentle at the same time, though.

The finest texture I've ever found in a tomato is one of my own discoveries, Seek-No-Further Love Apple.

It's in-between soft (most tomatoes) and hard.

[Tormahto]

yikes! I have seeds for both Purple Calabash and Copia and Green Copia and Dark Copia

You now have 1,996 varieties.

[Nan6b]

Don't take anyone else's word as gospel about the taste of a tomato. That being said, it seems more people hate the taste of Purple Calabash than any other tomato. Violet Jasper is another unpopular one.

[Growing Coastal]

Yes on the violet jasper. I could tolerate it but the grainy texture just isn't great. Was fine for cooking with the rest. Had to try the new variety once. And once was enough. One visitor actually started to gag on it.

I grew one low acid tomato this year that was the blandest tasting tomato ever. Marizol Bratka.

I prefer sweet tasting tomatoes with a little acidity and enjoy best the blacks I have tried, including dwarfs. The blacks I have grown seem to me to have more potential for complex flavours, the umami or savoury. Though people say no, I have tasted something like saltiness in the stem end of a Black Krim. Nice.

[TheDante]

yikes! I have seeds for both Purple Calabash and Copia and Green Copia and Dark Copia

You now have 1,996 varieties.

and a tad more

[TheDante]

Don't take anyone else's word as gospel about the taste of a tomato. That being said, it seems more people hate the taste of Purple Calabash than any other tomato. Violet Jasper is another unpopular one.

I won´t Nan.. thanks =) I will save the ´best´ for last!

another one/s to save the best for last - Violet Jasper and Marizol Bratka

[Shule]

[mention]Tormato[/mention]
Good to know. Is Aunt Ginny's Purple dark pink like Pruden's Purple?

[Tormahto]

And, I'll add, go in with CONFIDENCE. The tomato plants don't know you from Craig, or Carolyn, or Amy. Each of them had to start with much less information than you have.

Perhaps you can start slow, by letting us know what your germination and seedling set-up is like.

I'll let you know about one thing I do when starting a variety. When I have fresh seed and I only want one plant, I first select 3 to 4 mid-sized seeds from the pack. The small ones seem to have a lesser chance of germinating, and often have weak seedlings. The largest seed can have large leggy seedlings that can get too tall too quickly, and then collapse. The mid-sized ones usually have stocky mid-sized seedlings. If there are 1 or 2 weaklings, I cut them out quickly. I let the two strongest stockiest ones grow until I'm confident that my "skills"won't kill them.

Thanks again Tormato, for the words of encouragement and advice... slow is never my strength, ask my poor hubby... when she is on to something... watch out!

Growing 1 plant can be rather risky too, unless I am hung up on a particular variety and is dying to savour it´s fruit... I remembered I grew 2 Isis Candy plants this year and 1 grew halfway and developed some sick looking leaves on the main stem. That was the only sick plant I had out of the about 60 tomato plants I grew this year.

I think I might have to play it safe and grow at least 2 of each variety.

Ananas Noire was really really nice - was not overly sweet like Sungold F1

Amish paste was not elongated as described and more oblate and taste was meh, unsure if some are actually supposed to be oblate. I grew seeds from 3 different sources. Asked a friend and he too told me he was sorely disappointed by it.

Tormato, I best write more of my experience in my MUST GROW thread, as I am afraid I might run the risk of hijacking this thread. Thanks again for your feedback and advice, I am grateful. to be continued over at

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=187

I'm writing here, in response to your hang up.

In your first year of trialing a huge variety of tomatoes, I do not recommend growing two of everything. A very few select varieties, yes. You're going to find that you can wait another year to trial a variety (if that one plant doesn't make it). I'd guess you'd have many more "2fers" of varieties that will not taste great to you, rather than single plant varieties that, ummm, don't make it.

After year one, then plant 2 or more of your favorites.

[Tormahto]

@Tormato
Good to know. Is Aunt Ginny's Purple dark pink like Pruden's Purple?

I'd call AGP medium pink, with PP one of the darkest pinks (deep red interior) that I've tried.

[Tormahto]

Yes on the violet jasper. I could tolerate it but the grainy texture just isn't great. Was fine for cooking with the rest. Had to try the new variety once. And once was enough. One visitor actually started to gag on it.

I grew one low acid tomato this year that was the blandest tasting tomato ever. Marizol Bratka.

I prefer sweet tasting tomatoes with a little acidity and enjoy best the blacks I have tried, including dwarfs. The blacks I have grown seem to me to have more potential for complex flavours, the umami or savoury. Though people say no, I have tasted something like saltiness in the stem end of a Black Krim. Nice.

In my garden, in the right weather conditions, Marizol Bratka is one of the best tasting pinks I've tried. And I've tried many, many, many, hundreds of pink beefsteaks. For virtually ALL heirlooms, I believe there simply are not bland tasting tomato varieties, other than the infrequent times when they are not grown in good conditions.

As an example, in a year when I had 1/4" of rain the entire fruiting season, I ran an experiment with my favorite tomato, Aunt Ginny's Purple.

I had 2 plants about 6 - 7 feet apart. One was watered every 5 days, the other was watered every 2 1/2 days. The 5 day plant had amazingly tasty (9.95 rating, there is no 10) fruit averaging about 12 - 14 ounces, maybe 25 total, on a fairly sickly looking plant. The 2 1/2 day plant was massive, lush and green, fruit, about 40 of them, were about 18 -20 ounces, and were completely bland.

And, to get the absolute best tasting fruit out of all of the varieties I trial, there's a fine line between killing and not killing them by holding off on watering them. I've crossed the line just a couple of times.

[TheDante]

In your first year of trialing a huge variety of tomatoes, I do not recommend growing two of everything. A very few select varieties, yes. You're going to find that you can wait another year to trial a variety (if that one plant doesn't make it). I'd guess you'd have many more "2fers" of varieties that will not taste great to you, rather than single plant varieties that, ummm, don't make it.

After year one, then plant 2 or more of your favorites.

Ol´ Wise one Tormato , thank you so much for your well-thought out advice and from your vast experience of trialling tomatoes. You have most certainly provided me more clarity about how I should plan and decide on my 2020 list. You are so right. This thought process will allow me to grow a wider range of toms for sure and has definitely lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I am most indebted, thank you again.

[Tormahto]

Don't take anyone else's word as gospel about the taste of a tomato. That being said, it seems more people hate the taste of Purple Calabash than any other tomato. Violet Jasper is another unpopular one.

In the Secret Santa swap, to the one who said they never tasted a tomato they didn't like, guess what I'm sending?

[TheDante]

PURPLE CALABASH!!!

Thanks for the laughs! T.O.R.M.A.T.O.R - definitely living up to your name… the tormentor of toms!

[Nan6b]

Don't take anyone else's word as gospel about the taste of a tomato. That being said, it seems more people hate the taste of Purple Calabash than any other tomato. Violet Jasper is another unpopular one.

In the Secret Santa swap, to the one who said they never tasted a tomato they didn't like, guess what I'm sending?

Just wait till they grow it & thank you profusely!

[MrBig46]

It is really great to see all the different tomato varieties and their descriptions. And pictures a say a thousand words but can't describe the taste.

There is one thing I would like to see people include in their descriptions of the taste of their tomatoes and that is whether they are sweet, tart or balanced with both tastes in the one fruit.

After all, we grow tomatoes for their flavour and it is really hard to distinguish from 'tastes great' or 'good flavour' what to expect from a particular variety unless some other descriptors are used, as well. I had one visitor to my garden last year who tried a couple and hated the sweets. Likely I would not like what she grows as being too tart or just plain sour to me.

So, more words please when saying how they taste to you. It is important.

It is not easy to describe a tomato and it is even harder to describe its taste. On Tatianas TOMATObase I send pictures of tomatoes and their descriptions. I think that when it comes to assessing sweetness and acidity, it is enough to mention this for tomatoes with extraordinary sweetness (for example Sungold, Sweet aperitif, etc.) and also for extraordinary acidity (I can't remember, I haven't had anything like this lately) . Otherwise, I think that the taste rating as excellent, the best I have recently eaten, good or disgusting me is more telling. Someone else may have a different taste, but he has to check it himself by growing.
Vladimír

[MsCowpea]

Do you think the first few tomatoes are not as good as later ones? Just wondering.

The water issue is huge. Best tomato I ever had in my life was a dried farmed Early Girl bought at a grocery store in Berkeley , Ca. They had a big bin of them marked Early Girl, Dried Farmed. In Calif. they know what is what when it comes to tomatoes. There was some flavor compound, or concentrated something that was on steroids in that small tomato. I wish I could withhold water but my sandy soil drains too quickly. In no time, they wilt. And tomatoes in containers need water everyday.