According to a trailer for the next issue of a gardening magazine, out of 18 varieties, the best tasting tomato is Sioux, followed by Matina and Orkado F1. Has anyone grown these varieties or even tasted them?
Do they taste better than Sungold?
I don't know Orkado but I would disagree with Sioux and Matina. It is funny but it seems to depend on who writes the review. Personally I would say Paul Robeson and for a F1 I would say Big Beef would stand a good chance. Black Cherry might rival Sungold in a tight race but I think Matts Wild Cherry would beat it.
There are many more I would put ahead of Matina.
XX Jeannine
Did they test Sungold?.... I'd agree re: Paul Robeson for open pollinated, and I was glad to see Black Chery turn up in a potluck tomato seed swap I was in cos lat time I had it it was lovely, relishing the chance I've got this year to test a lot of new varieties (or ones I've only trasted in isolation) against my personal faves....
chrisc
Its Sungold & Fantasio for me
I know I'm probably being a bit thick, but surely something that tastes delicious to one person might taste vile to another?
I personally think Sungold is the best tomato I've ever tasted but there must be people who think it's horrible.
Sungold is just too sweet for me! I prefer a bit more of an acidic bite, so Kenilworth is one of my favourites from last year...this year I'm trialing a lot of varieites I haven't grown before , plus my usual 'tried and tested' favourites...
I bought some Matina from a supermarket, still on the vine ones, they were lovely and I saved the seeds from the last tomato. I have 3 of those seeds growing atm.
We're a bit restricted here in obtaining Sungold seeds, but we do have some tomatoes that are quite tasty to us. I have a couple that I'm happy with, but like Squash64 has above, we all taste things slightly different to each other. It will be interesting to see what the readers of the garden magazine have to say about their winning selection.
Hey!! want some flavour of the year??
Never mind the media grow what suits you and 20 years later you wil be spoiled for choice
It`s not so much what to grow as what not to grow-MoneyMaker comes to mind??
Sungold and Black cherry for me... although I am partial to the green and white ones too... I personally don't think in terms of a "best" tomato as they can taste so different... :-\
Oh...well if would have to pick only one..Sun Belle for me...
No matter how full my greenhouse is I allways grow it and the fruit never leaves the greenhouse other than in my tummy and they are not to share... ;)
I've not grown any of those 3, although Matina is often reported to be the same as Tamina?, which is nice but not fantastic. I'm growing a couple of Sioux (thank you Jeannine) this year though.
I think my overall most favourite is Sungold, it is the one I would miss most if I did not grow it. I can't get on with Black cherry; it's just not that nice for me. Although considering the rave reviews it gets, perhaps worth me trying some seeds from somewhere else just in case.
This is really crap but we grew a yellow beefsteak variety a couple of years ago (can I remember the name? nooooo) and it was gorgeous. ;D I am also fond of the ukranian black tomatoes as a variety. Mmmm. We tend to grow a ton of different sorts depending on what I get at seed fairs/catches my fancy in the little catalogues. I would be a crap biologist! :D
Not having a GH we are limited to outdoor varieties, but in our south facing wind tunnel in the frozen north we really enjoyed Galina and Latah last year. Gardener's Delight had been wonderful in our previous garden, but struggled to ripen as well at our new des res.
I now have the full article in which they grew 19 classic or salad tomatoes, both indoors and outside. Best tasting was Sioux, best for growing indoors was Matina, best for growing outdoors was Orlado F1, worth considering was Red Zebra and Stupice.
Those that were rated poor or very poor for taste were, Ailisa Craig, Alicante, Battito, CumulusF1, Fantasio F1, Tango F1, Thalassa F1, Golden sunrise.
That leaves another 6 not named so presumably average.
Slightly puzzled by their use of the term "salad" tomatoes. My choice of a "salad" tomato would be a "cherry" type, such as Sungold, but they seem to consider the larger type of tomato to be a "salad" type.
I saw the article in Which?
What's the point of comparing new tomatoes with old ones that everyone knows aren't that great?
Which? usually do better - in every other comparison they mention and rate against previous winners (that would be Gardeners Delight and Sungold) but this time they didn't.
Would a car magazine compare a new supercar with a Triumph Spitfire rather than recent peers?
Weird.
The definition of a salad tomato seems to have changed.. it used to mean the middle size tom such as a Moneymaker , bigger than a cherry, smaller than a beefsteak and not a paste.
I agree with them about the poor tasting ones but am surprised to see Stupice not on that list. I find it has a great use as a very early tomato and therefore needs to be acknowledged but I think the taste is poor.
I am also surprised even more than Big Beef is not on the list for indoor growing as it has won many taste tests and has great yield in the greenhouse.
Still, mags are always interesting and bottom line is it's just an opinion. Sungold is still one of my favourites and would always grow it, even though there are some pushing it for taste now.
Taste is quite personal. Resistance to disease is quite a more interesting indicator!!!
I grew Tigerella, they are a bit stripey! And i found that they did have a tough skin but that made them a bit easier to store and keep, but that the flesh was very nice, and they are pretty juicy. But probably other people don't like them!
I know those big yellow beef steak ones, I am trying to grow them this year. here they call them Pineapple tomatoes :) They have quite a mild flavour in fact, not so "tomato-ey", but they are juicy and a good balance of sweet and savoury.
Gardener's delight are still a good all round cherry tomato though, aren't they?
What is best??
How many of us have grown/tasted every variety?
Grow what suits you and then be prepared to try something else.
My mission is to ask folks to try and not to grow that awful variety still seen in garden centres.
Quote from: Jeannine on April 02, 2010, 04:05:21
The definition of a salad tomato seems to have changed.. it used to mean the middle size tom such as a Moneymaker , bigger than a cherry, smaller than a beefsteak and not a paste.
I agree with them about the poor tasting ones but am surprised to see Stupice not on that list. I find it has a great use as a very early tomato and therefore needs to be acknowledged but I think the taste is poor.
I am also surprised even more than Big Beef is not on the list for indoor growing as it has won many taste tests and has great yield in the greenhouse.
Still, mags are always interesting and bottom line is it's just an opinion. Sungold is still one of my favourites and would always grow it, even though there are some pushing it for taste now.
The full article in Which? Gardening actually gave Stupice an honourable mention as the best early - in fact it got 4 stars for flavour the same as the 2nd choice.
It all makes less and less sense.
Having re-read the intro it is obvious that they meant to exclude cherry toms from the test.
This is crazy - the size of a tomato is largely irrelevant to its use. Maybe it wasn't when they were all equally tasteless, but now we use whatever tastes best.
In our salads, Sungold is halved, Gardeners Delight and/or Green Tiger are quartered and if they aren't available whatever is bigger is sliced and diced.
Cookers are a bit different but all the above are still excellent cooked.
Unfortunately magazines these days are written by journos shamming gardening rather than gardeners who can follow a style book...
Salads in the earlier days were a meal in themselves.. I remember the ham salad vividly, served at most funerals way back , a slice of ham, 2 or3 whole lettuce leaves, couple of whole spring onions and a tomato which was usually in slices same with cucumber, half a boiled egg if you were well off, bit of potato salad and of course the slad cream!! In fact I remember the day when I was a child and went to dinner with the family and some friends and a man ordered a dinner with salad on the side.. tossed he said.. oh I thought he was so posh!!
There's now't so good as an 'am salad after a good funeral!!
But I have promised my family if they do an 'am salad after me I shall haunt them !!
Sorry to go off topic.
XX Jeannine
I don't really know what the point of a 'best tasting' test is. First of all you have to limit the field of thousands to a mere few, ignore the effect growing conditions and watering have on taste.
Then, having selected a handful of tomatoes, presumably from different sources and thus grown under different conditions, you then leap into the subjective world of taste. Even if you ignore the variability of taste between individuals, you're still left with the issue of what is a tomato 'meant' to taste like. A question you cannot answer.
My grandparents always liked the firmer acidic tomatoes, while I prefer the complex fleshy tomatoes, such as Paul Robeson or Japanese Black Trifele, they're both valid tomato flavours and there are many more inbetween, ye many when tasting a to mato would simply discount it if it simply didn't taste like a tomato should taste in the mind.
As already mentioned, it would be better if they attempted to list the spitters so they can be avoided.
hi all,
The gardeners on our allotments tried many varieties of tomato over the last few seasons,and one that certainly stood out was Gardeners Delight that was kept on a "strict " organic feed of comfry water,and rainwater.
The taste was totally outstanding.
Regards,
Mark.
In defence of Matina aka Tamina, they are early and quite delicious on our soil. Earlier than Gardener's Delight. And a typical 4-5 slice tomato in size.
Sungold is loved by many because it is so sweet. Others love a tomato with a good sweetness/acidity balance aka 'depth' of flavour and Matina is in that group of tomatoes.
Gardener's Delight is getting more difficult to define. I bought a packet 25 years ago and got a freebie with a magazine recently and they are different. Both taste very good though. GD is an old variety, probably much re-selected by different seed companies to different criteria and now quite diverse as a result.
There are two Gardners Delight for sale nowadaya, and some seedsman sell both GD and GD Original, the tastes are quite different.XX Jeannine
It's all been said.
Given the huge variation in location, weather, in or outdoors, heat or not, treatment, individual preference & the fact that 1 of 3 toms off the same plant can be blah - how can one judge?
And Yellow V Red for arthritis? And were they kept in the fridge? And what did you eat them with?
Just try one or 2 new each year & keep an open mind.
If there WAS a 'best' - as all catalogues seem to suggest - someone would be in the money?
I'm all for taste tests personally - I know they work because Gardeners Delight and Sungold win them!
They are both almost immune to bad practice and bad weather because they really are the best.
Yes, there are some close behind - like Tigerella - and given a rich compost in full sun they will produce better toms compared to GD or SG on brick dust in the shade...
There is a bit of variation even on a level playing field - in some years GD are better and in others SG are better - and if there was another in the same class I'd grow it. I think Green Tiger is in the same class and in most years it's my favourite but I could still do with a fourth 'sure thing'.
I still hedge my bets with some outsiders like Black Cherry, Jester, Piccolino and Black Krim. If nothing else it's interesting how they respond to blight differently.
Not that I can make any recommendations - I thought one of the above was a useful 'canary in a coal mine' - a completely different dimension from resistance - but last year it was the last to show symptoms!
It would be nice to see stuff like this done scientifically.
It's just a pity that the journos who write about the trials call them 'best tomato" when they really mean "best non-cherry tomato".
It's even more annoying that the people who actually do the trials let them (journos are too keen on champagne and taxis to get their hands dirty).
Worst of all is that there's nobody to stop them doing trials in such a slipshod way that provides no baseline for comparison with previous ones.
Of course that's our job...
Think the comments about GD varying are quite right, have noticed this. I like Sungold too, also grew Jester - good tasting, skin toughish but I grow them hard ;D but they kept very well. Will grow again if I've got seed.
Grew Black cherry too, prolific but won't grow again as my lot wouldnt eat them - maybe we're a bit conservative - they wouldn't eat yellow ones when presented on their own either.
Usually am dead boring and stick to ones that seem to grow well outside here and get eaten - GD, Sungold, Marmande beefsteak, Roma plum, Incas plum.
Was quite impressed with Red Cluster Pear, a centiflor (sp?) type, has dozens and dozens of small fruits on, easy to grow outside with support, found them very good for snacking. They also kept well, on vines cut and hung in the shed until around Christmas.
I do love Sungold, and grow more and more Sungold plants every year as the flavour is epic! But I also fell head over heels with 'Purple Cherokee' last year, which has a beautiful sweet-smoky flavour - nice and wine-like. And I know this doesn't matter as much, but it was a real looker - huge pinky-purple fruit with these beautiful inky brushstrokes at the top. Lovely.
I'm a sucker for smoky tastes - that's why I grow Black Cherry and Black Krim.
I'm also really keen on other extra unusual tastes that chime nicely with the traditional flavour so I may try Purple Cherokee next year.
I'd recommend Green Tiger on the same basis - or maybe Highlander if it's the same - who knows?
Quote from: Vinlander on April 04, 2010, 23:49:19
I'd recommend Green Tiger on the same basis - or maybe Highlander if it's the same - who knows?
Just to confuse the name issue, I grew some tomatoes in 2008/9 from seed collected in Spain (Fruit from a Barcelona Market stall) and it had the name Cebrino. You guessed it - another look alike to Green Tiger.
If there WAS a 'best' - as all catalogues seem to suggest - someone would be in the money?
I still offer a few although I have yet to grow the `best` as I certainly do not make much from selling them.
We here are the ones who know-my mission is to try to convert the lost souls who pay 80p for a MoneyMaker plant :)