The Taste of Tomatoes

[Growing Coastal]

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.

[Nan6b]

Sweet: Sungold,
A bit more sweet than tart: Dr. Carolyn, Dark Galaxy, Wild Tiger, Green Tiger,
Balanced: Post Office Spoonful, Dotson's Lebanese Heart, Black Krim, Tommy Toe, Butter Apple, Big Beef, Early Girl
Tart: Costoluto Genovese (raw),

[Shule]

[mention]Nan6b[/mention]

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.

[mention]Growing Coastal[/mention]

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.

[wildcat62]

I like an acidic tomato. Open to any suggestions.

[Tormahto]

It would take too long for me to to post a description.

Instead, do an internet search for "view single post - U2 a.k.a. Elbonian Mud Ball"

I hope it helps.

[Tormahto]

Aunt Gertie's Gold, Azoychka,...I'll stop at the A's.

[Shule]

[mention]wildcat62[/mention]

I don't know if the acidic quality in it is true-to-type or if it'll be acidic in your garden, but the tart PL Brandy Boy cross I had is one I'd recommend, if you want F3 seeds (free with an SASE; I'm out of stamps).

Silvery Fir Tree and Nineveh are well-known for being acidic (although Nineveh isn't terribly well-known on forums, in my experience). I've grown Silvery Fir Tree. It was acidic, and fairly early, but it wasn't my favorite for productiton or taste (in dry conditions). Taste wasn't bad, though—just not fancy. I plan to grow Nineveh next year. I'll probably try Silvery Fir Tree again another year.

I might recommend Missouri Pink Love Apple, if my fruit in 2016 was an indicator. My Mexican Yellow x Chapman F2 was fairly acidic, this year. At least, by the flavor, color and larger fruit size, I think Chapman was the pollinator.

If your soil is low on potassium, your fruits may be more acidic.

What I would love is an acidic, prolific, paste. I'll have to watch for interesting crosses.

There's a purple ribbed tomato that people say is sour, I think. I forgot what it was, though.

You might like Matina, Mountain Princess, New Yorker V, Manitoba, Burpee Gloriana, Thessaloniki, and Cuostralee. Although maybe they're not full on acidic, I'd call them tart.

Some people think Brandy Boy F1 is acidic.

[Shule]

Aunt Gertie's Gold, Azoychka,...I'll stop at the A's.

Yeah, Aunt Gertie's Gold is kind of sour (in a good way). I'm a little surprised by the fact.

[TheDante]

It would take too long for me to to post a description.

Instead, do an internet search for "view single post - U2 a.k.a. Elbonian Mud Ball"

I hope it helps.

hahahahahaha! Oh Tormato .. love your wicked humour! Thanks for the laugh! I will definitely steer clear of Elbonian Mud Ball.

Are Black tomatoes this bad or notorious? I have a fare few in my collection

[TheDante]

What does well-balanced actually mean? Bland?

Or neither sweet nor tart/acidic?

I grew Hillbilly and Dark Queen this year and I can´t exactly describe how they tasted. I can only think bland.

I wasn´t impressed.

Anyone grew either variety?

[MissS]

It would take too long for me to to post a description.

Instead, do an internet search for "view single post - U2 a.k.a. Elbonian Mud Ball"

I hope it helps.

hahahahahaha! Oh Tormato .. love your wicked humour! Thanks for the laugh! I will definitely steer clear of Elbonian Mud Ball.

Are Black tomatoes this bad or notorious? I have a fare few in my collection

Don't let that masked man taunt you. His taste bud's are flawed. Black tomatoes are some of my favorites.

[TheDante]

I will still definitely try Black toms ... thanks for the heads up Patti

[Nan6b]

Well-balanced means a couple of things, I guess. Mostly, you can taste" both tart & sweet". It doesn't mean "neither tart nor sweet." It doesn't hit you as a primarily sweet or primarily tart tomato.

[eyegrotom]

Taste of tomatoes is different with each individual here at our place something that I like and think it taste good my wife might not think the same.
As for hillbilly I grow it every year. As for black tomatoes I grow quite a few of them for example Brad's black heart, and Carbon are just a few of the ones I grow every year. New this year is Grandma Oliver's chocolate it will be back again next year

[TheDante]

How was the taste of Hillbilly for you? Was the taste consistent every year? I cannot remember if mine was RL or PL. Because I have gotten new seeds that are PL - I gather that the original Hillbilly is RL. Also have seeds for Royal Hillbilly. It is truly mind boggling with the names and their similarities.

I hesitate to say if my Hillbilly is the authentic variety because I have had bad experiences with tomatoes not turning out to be as described (e.g. Vintage Wine, Chocolate Stripes)

I read Tatiana´s and Hillbilly is described as deliciously sweet in a good year and can be bland in another year …

soooooooooo… that means I probably had a bad year this year! Dang!

[Nan6b]

I am tomato taste impaired in that I cannot taste all of the flavors in tomatoes. My mother & I tasted the same Big Beef tomato & I said, "So bland!" and she said, "Such great taste!" My sister's taste buds only go for Pass/Fail: it's either a good tasting tomato or not. And DH never met a tomato he didn't like. I'm thinking of growing Elbonian Mudball for him.
Nan

[TheDante]

your poor DH! (I have read your posts in TV too and I vaguely remember you calling him Dear Husband or something to that effect)

I guess every individual has their own unique taste buds

[eyegrotom]

How was the taste of Hillbilly for you? Was the taste consistent every year? I cannot remember if mine was RL or PL. Because I have gotten new seeds that are PL - I gather that the original Hillbilly is RL. Also have seeds for Royal Hillbilly. It is truly mind boggling with the names and their similarities.

I hesitate to say if my Hillbilly is the authentic variety because I have had bad experiences with tomatoes not turning out to be as described (e.g. Vintage Wine, Chocolate Stripes)

I read Tatiana´s and Hillbilly is described as deliciously sweet in a good year and can be bland in another year …

soooooooooo… that means I probably had a bad year this year! Dang!

Taste is a personal - individual thing there are some tomatoes that I like and the Wife might not.
Hillbilly is one that I grow every year it's one of the first on the list along with Box car Willie.
As for the Black Tomatoes there is always 5 or 6 on my list Beads Black Heart and Carbon to name a few. In New this year was Grandma Oliver's Chocolate it will be back next year. Mike

[eyegrotom]

How was the taste of Hillbilly for you? Was the taste consistent every year? I cannot remember if mine was RL or PL. Because I have gotten new seeds that are PL - I gather that the original Hillbilly is RL. Also have seeds for Royal Hillbilly. It is truly mind boggling with the names and their similarities.

I hesitate to say if my Hillbilly is the authentic variety because I have had bad experiences with tomatoes not turning out to be as described (e.g. Vintage Wine, Chocolate Stripes)

I read Tatiana´s and Hillbilly is described as deliciously sweet in a good year and can be bland in another year …

soooooooooo… that means I probably had a bad year this year! Dang!

Taste is a personal - individual thing there are some tomatoes that I like and the Wife might not.
Hillbilly is one that I grow every year it's one of the first on the list along with Box car Willie.
As for the Black Tomatoes there is always 5 or 6 on my list Beads Black Heart and Carbon to name a few. In New this year was Grandma Oliver's Chocolate it will be back next year. Mike

[Tormahto]

It would take too long for me to to post a description.

Instead, do an internet search for "view single post - U2 a.k.a. Elbonian Mud Ball"

I hope it helps.

hahahahahaha! Oh Tormato .. love your wicked humour! Thanks for the laugh! I will definitely steer clear of Elbonian Mud Ball.

Are Black tomatoes this bad or notorious? I have a fare few in my collection

Unfortunately, the humour is based on truth. That is what EMB tastes like to me, and is the best way I can describe it. When you hear of people talking about "earthy", "smokey" flavored black tomatoes, I'll just say, use caution. There are black tomatoes that I like, but they have a "cleaner" taste than most. It also can be where they're grown. People in the southern areas of the US appear to get better tasting black tomatoes than those farther north.

When you decide om which of your 2,000 you are going to grow next year, I really don't think most should be picked by variety name. Selecting tomatoes in many different colors, shapes, sizes, types, etc.. will hopefully give you the widest assortment of flavors to try. The key is how they taste in your garden to you. And, your weather can have a huge effect on the taste, from year to year.

Have you decided on how many plants you are going to grow next year? In my experience, growing 100 plants is not 10 times as hard as growing 10. It's much harder than 10 times, because of fatigue.