tastiest tomato varieties - your suggestions

[pigeonseed]

Hi all

I'm wondering about buying seeds from one of the more unusual 'heritage' varieties of tomato for next year - I've found sometimes home grown toms being a bit tasteless, and I wondered whether one of these older varieties might be nicer.

Does anyone have any they find especially tasty?

[Robert_Brenchley]

What have you grown before?

[pigeonseed]

I knew someone would ask that!

I know I've grown shirley - I think I might have had tumbling tom... I'm not sure about others. perhaps moneymaker one year.

I should have kept better records!

[thegreatgardener]

though I am not tomato taste snob. The varieties you listed so far are not known for great taste. Production yes, great taste no.
I would go with the following varieties big beef,beefsteak,brandywine( sudduth strain if you can get it) , sungold ,san marzano and Black Krim.
All are taste favorites of many people who like tomatoes but not overzealous about taste.

[Eristic]

Keep it simple.

Arora and gardener's delight

[littlebabybird]

gardener's delight,
they are the best i have ever tasted, but they are my first home grown ones (7 so far)

[tonybloke]

gardeners delight and marmande. best for flavour and good cropping rate[attachment=1] ;D ;D

[pigeonseed]

Thank you for suggestions - this is really interesting. I keep on reading about some of the big beefsteaks being tasty - it goes against what you expect, that the tastiest fruits would be small.

But I think I will definitely try a beefsteak next year. and a small one as well I think.

[Chris Graham]

Not heritage but what about Sungold?  They are my fav

[sunloving]

another vote for sungold and gardeners delight from me
Xsunloving

[meg_gordon]

Ailsa Craig are my favourites, and gardiners delight a close second.

Meg

[Biscombe]

I love love love love cherokee green! I will always grow it, it has a wonderful zesty flavor!

[adeymoo]

As noted on farming heroes programme last night - do not put tomatoes in the fridge, put them in the fruit bowl.

[Trevor_D]

Another fan of Sungold - a beautiful taste. Marmande is good, but I think that Costolutto Fiorentino is tastier (very similar in shape & size, but bigger yields as well). And no-one's yet mentioned Black Russian! Lovely taste & texture, although the fruit often splits.

What else? Auriga has a gorgeous taste. And to get the very first tomatoes of the season, go for Bloody Butcher - not the very tastiest, but it comes when nothing else home-grown is around, so is very much appreciated. (Just had a couple in my lunch-time sandwich!)

[Stevens706]

Growing Tigerella for the second year lovely taste and looks good

[Emagggie]

Last year I had some green grape tom seeds from some one here, (Biscombe?) they were beautiful. GD's always good too.

[antipodes]

The nice things about the beefy type toms are that the flesh is, well fleshy! very little pulp and seeds, just smooth juicy flesh, serve in big thick slices with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, coarse salt and pepper. They are also excellent grilled or fried, again in thick slices. Obviously they are not quite as sweet as a cherry tomato but they have really refreshing flavour usually.
of course not much good for kids that like to crunch into a whole sweet baby tomato!

I am growing Gartenperle cherries and the couple so far have been nice and fruity, they are very prolific from what I see! need a bit more sun yet though...

[valmarg]

We have grown a variety called Legend for the first time this year.  We got the seed from Simply Vegetables/Plants of Distinction.  The skins are a smidge on the thick side, but the taste is wonderful.  It is an heirloom/ bush/ beefsteak variety, and shall certainly be growing it again.  They are the first tomatoes we have harvested this year.

We also love Brandywine, Costoluto Fiorentino, Stupice, Bloody Burcher, Gardeners'  Delight. Mountain Pride, Olivade (for cooking), and without going out to the greenhouse to check the varieties, a couple of yellow fruited varieties.

We also bought a variety from Waitrose last year called Jack Hawkins.  We saved some seed, and shall be interested to see what they turn out like.

valmarg

[northener]

Another vote for Sungold closely followed by Tigerella and a nice yellow one Golden sunrise.

[Kea]

I bought a cherry tomato from Waitrose called conchita and it was so good my son who doesn't like tomatoes was pinching it from the fridge. I have kept some seed but home grown it would taste fantastic!