Tomato Tasting -- compare and share

[applestar]

Today's contestants weren't tasted together so some perception discrepancy can creep in, but we had Captain Lucky for lunch and Malakhitvaya Shkatulka (Malachite Box) for dinner

Captain Lucky - olive green and red blossom
end blush with yellow epi. Tricolor flesh.

Malakhitvaya Shkatulka -- Frosty green when
ripe with clear epi. Green throughout.

Captain Lucky was amazing! It had that full tomato flavor I'm always looking for -- sweet, tangy and mouth filling umami with lingering acid finish that makes you feel like every single one of your taste buds are experiencing a sensory overload.

I'm curious to see how Captain Lucky compares with Ananas Noire.
Definitely growing this one again next year. I also acquired Captain Lucky White seeds recently so they will be grown side-by-side.

With lunchtime memory of Captain Lucky still remaining, Malakhitvaya Shkatulka was already at an disadvantage. It had an interesting starting flavor that wasn't exactly sweet and wasn't exactly acid. It may be considered tangy not sour. But it lacked further sensory impression and seemed bland to me. But if you prefer non-acid, mild tomato, you might like this. I had it in a hamburger after the initial tasting and that was a mistake because I really couldn't taste it at all -- I could only get the mouthfeel of the tomato (at least it was not mushy or mealy). I think in the future, I'll use this one for fresh tomato pizza and bruschetta topping, which should make it look interesting with the totally green color, and it will benefit from the flavor intensification. I can picture red, yellow, orange, and green slices topping a pizza with some green and purple basil.

This was the first fruit I think. So I'll give it a benefit of the doubt though. But from last year's experience, my favorite green when ripe so far is Cherokee Green.

ETA -- you know, I just looked up Malakhitovaya Shkatulka again and it's supposed to have yellow epi and ripen to the classic GWR mustard yellow exterior with pea soup green flesh. But this one definitely had clear epi and green flesh. It was also definitely soft and ripe. So there' something odd going on. Best to not regard this tasting as typical of this variety.

[Juliuskitty]

Captain Lucky really was all that for me too. Gosh, how I love that tomato. It was only medium low in productivity, but worth it anyway. So now we know it does really well in both the north and the south.
Love this thread too Apple......

Just noticed, Aplestar, 2 more posts and you will be at 16000.

[Lindsaylew82]

We tasted and compared 5 tonight. They were rated in the order listed.

Orange Amana
Marglobe
Brown Berry
Sungold (we had an upset about this one)
Rutger.

JC- this one (Orange Amana) is winning against EVERY tomato we've tasted in the last 2 weeks from our garden! Haha! Our plant is WAY more stressed than your's though! I think it's giving us different flavor profiles. We are eating the quite ripe as well! They give us BIG tomato flavor with a touch of sweetness (or fruitiness maybe?) and then medium lingering acidity. I agree that salt brings out the acidity even more.

I don't love Sungold. I like more acid, and they just taste funky to me, almost rancid. Man likes!

Two weeks running, OA is the winner.

Black Krim and Black Prince are ripening, and almost ready for tasting. I liked their Ketchup-y tastes in previous years! Starting to get more green sausage, too!

[applestar]

(Putting Orange Amana/Amana Orange on my wishlist )

This morning I had a quick breakfast tasting of Amethyst Cream and Coyote.

Amethyst Cream has clear epi and its non-antho exterior is color-match to Coyote as it matures, but fun starts when the fruits get some sun as they develop the now familiar flower/star-shaped antho sunprint of the calyx on the stem-end Some of the upper trusses are reaching out into more sun and it will be interesting to see how dark those will get.

Special thanks to juliuskitty for sending me
the seeds to this one! :)

Coyote has clear epi and could/would be grouped with "white" tomatoes. It's a mini-cherry like Matt's Wild Cherry and looks great as mini version of regular size Snow White cherry. Just don't taste SW after Coyote.

Matt's Wild Cherry -- Coyote -- Snow White

Coyote is the number one cherry in my book. I really wondered whether Amethyst Cream was up to the challenge.... To give it a fair shot, I tasted Amethyst Cream first, and was really pleased by the sweetness and what I can only describe as fruit-like flavor. It didn't finish with acid but I think that would have been misplaced. It's pleasant flavor lasted on the taste buds and made you want to taste more.

I then tried Coyote which I always thought of as sweet, and was surprised to feel that it had more of the strong TOMATO flavor than Amethyst Cream. Rich and powerful and lingering. Yep still great tomato, but I took another bite of Amethyst Cream AFTER Coyote and it's unique sweet flavor still made an impression enough to stand next to Coyote.

My other mini cherry Matt's Wild was planted late and their first trusses are just starting to get to full size. That's the one I'd considered tangy with full tomato flavor compared to Coyote last year, so it will be interesting to compare when they are ready.

As much as I liked the matching shape and color combo of Coyote and Snow White, I think Amethyst Cream (not a perfect globe like the others) has bumped Snow White.

There is another mini cherry called Champagne Cherry that some people rate as equal to or even superior than Coyote. I'm promised some seeds this fall and will plan on growing them side-by-side with Coyote next summer

[Lindsaylew82]

(Putting Orange Amana/Amana Orange on my wishlist )

Fermenting seeds as we speak!

[digitS']

AppleStar, this morning DW, the neighbor, and I sampled the first 6 Coyote.

Fruity and sweet! Additional descriptive adjectives will have to wait until there are more Coyote ripe.

We appreciate the opportunity to enjoy this cherry tomato -- its earliness and flavor! Coyote is a welcome addition to the 2014 tomato patch .

Steve

[btrowe1]

Had a very early Beef steak today for lunch,Insides were dripping wet..So delicious..

Being in Upper NY, usually don't get them this early..

But oh so good...

[Lindsaylew82]

Well..... We had a little upset today!

We had Yellow Brandywine (our first slicer was YB) and Orange Amana today.

We both agree (for the first time this season) that Yellow Brandywine BEAT Orange Amana. Until tonight, the other way around. YB had a more acidic, round, full tomato finish, tonight. I was like "Ohmuhgah..." I think I may have groaned! I secretly wished that no one else was home, and I had this tomato all to myself. Three friends tried it and were wowing it.

Seeds saved.

I'm getting a head cold thanks to 20+ 3 year olds running amuck at my kid's birthday party. Just in time for taste comparisons for Black Krim, Black Sea Man, Black Prince, and Cherokee Purple. I'm highly disappointed.

[imafan26]

Only Black Cherry tomatoes
Not a very productive plant. It is tall with long internodes. Flavor was good a little smokey with a lingering acidic after bite.

[applestar]

Today, I had an interesting discovery.
I decided to cut open these two green bicolor and green when ripe fruits that looked very unappealing, and decide if they were in any way edible:

Fotgot to harvest Ananas Noire from 8/1
and Russet Mite damaged spotty Green Gail

As you can see, the Ananas Noire got a nasty looking water rot and this was no doubt from the rain two nights ago. I didn't get out to harvest yesterday so it had all day yesterday to spoil.

Green Gail is all spotty from serious russet mite infestation that swallowed up the lower trusses.

Now, I didn't take pictures of the cut up fruits, but I cut the Ananas Noire on the other side of the stem from the water rot at an angle that avoided getting into the seed chamber that would most likely be affected. To my surprise, the rest of the fruit was clean, and in fact underripe.

I proceeded to cut the Green Gail by first cutting off the entire top of the fruit stem area because that was all cracked. Then I carefully followed any cracks that extended down ( I usually peel those thickly). I then peeled the rest of the spotty skin. And it turned out that all those spots were not even "skin deep" -- they were only on the surface.

Flavor-wise, Ananas Noire had the crunchy underripe texture, but was slightly sweet and refreshing -- it REALLY reminded me of underripe green melon. Green Gail had the just the right ripe texture, and it probably was sweet, but it was highly acidic with the acid remaining stinging my tongue long after the piece was swallowed. My daughter didn't like it and preferred the crunchy Ananas Noire.

Even fresh, Green Gail made good accompaniment to pizza with the bready followup to counter the acid, so I suspect it would be good cooked or to add some acidity to waterbath preserved tomatoes. I have a 2nd fruit in good condition, so will be trying that one later probably compared with my not quite Malakhitovaya Shkatulka

[applestar]

Dinner tonight was accompanied by perfectly ripe red (yellow epi) Neves Azorian Red and pink (clear epi) Royal Hillbillie . Both beefsteak type.

Neves Azorian Red on 6-1/2" bread plate

Royal Hillbillie on 8-1/2" salad plate

As you can see, I wasn't thinking and put them on differently sized plates so the sense of scale is off, but Royal Hillbillie was much bigger (but I forgot to weigh it )

First impression of unsalted wedges -- they were both excellent! I couldn't decide which was better. They both had a sweet start, juicy mouth filling flavor, and tomatoey finish. Tried again with a bit of sea salt, and I *thought* Royal Hillbiliie was sweeter/milder.

DD on first taste, immediately declared RH the winner. "It tastes sweet."
DH had his as slices on two halves of a chicken salad sandwich, and he thought RH was tastier. Though he called it as "the bigger one is better."

...and it was true. I had them on two halves of a chicken salad sandwich, too, and the meatier RH had the better texture and eating experience. But I thought NAR stood up to the flavor competition and squeezed out more tomato flavor in the sandwich than the RH.

Very tough call.

[applestar]

Subject: Came home from the beach to some Grandma Oliver's Chocolate!

We ate our first two Grandma Oliver's Chocolate!
Scrumptious rich full tomato flavor, assertive with lingering acid tang. I knew this was going to be shouting TOMATO in my mouth because I have been smelling rich tomato paste every time I passed the tray of harvested tomatoes, and when I leaned over them and sniffed, I realized it was coming from the two ripe GOC

Definitely a returning keeper in my garden from now on.

We ate a smaller one, then cut up the bigger one because we had to have more!
Here's the bigger one, just under a pound

[Juliuskitty]

OH MY GOSH- that is so gorgeous. Jealous!

[Lindsaylew82]

I have chocolate stripe that's ripening on the counter! Super excited! It's a first timer here in our garden!!

[Juliuskitty]

I have chocolate stripe that's ripening on the counter! Super excited! It's a first timer here in our garden!!

Photo please.

[Lindsaylew82]

They are the bronzy ones on the back row to the right.

They're not particularly striped, at least not yet. They have a good blush on them, though.

[Lindsaylew82]

Chocolate Stripe. I don't really get the "stripe".



These were the only 3 on the plant! Now there are 3 more teeny ones up top.

[Juliuskitty]

Nice. Beautiful looking really.

[Lindsaylew82]

We ate the bottom one tonight. It ranks right up there with the yellow brandywine and Orange Anana! It's a keeper! We will get seeds tomorrow night and compare it to Cherokee Purple, and Black Krim!

I'm excited to get the opportunity for another bite!

[Lindsaylew82]

Clockwise from the top:
Chocolate Stripes
Black Krim
Black Sea Man.

They ranked:
Black Krim
Chocolate Stripes
Black Sea Man

Thus far, I'm probably not going to grow Black Sea Man again next year. I think it would do better in a much cooler climate. The taste is just blah for me. It's ranked in the bottom. I saved seeds though because it has a true black crown, and it looks interesting. I think it has taste potential in someone's northern garden...( hint! hint!)

Yesterday's Chocolate was so much better than tonight's chocolate. I was kind of let down. I was also mildly grouchy, from a really hot run, and my blood sugar was low. That might've been why the sweeter Black Krims were more desirable tonight.

I have been getting Sungold a plenty. They are getting more and more intensely flavored. Very sweet, with an acid finish. The more I eat them, the more I just adore them. Tonight's were like biting into a peach! Freakin fabulous!

[applestar]

Had the giant triple fused Wes last night

Had the giant triple fused Wes last night and two regular sized Wes that developed green shoulders this morning. I waited until the green shoulders had turned to dark yellow and there was almost soft give when held since Wes is said to be best eaten when somewhat overripe.
[...]

***** correction *****

I'm beginning to suspect that the green shouldered fruits I had this mrning are Amos Coli. If so, they had a more intense flavor and somewhat more open seed cavities than the Wes from last night.

We had fully ripened Wes and Soldacki tonight.

We had fully ripened Wes and Soldacki tonight.
It was a split decision between two judges -- DH and DD.... DD liked Wes better though she liked Soldacki as well, but DH preferred Soldacki for the sweeter flavor and declined to eat the less fully ripened upper half and shoulder portion of Wes. I think Wes has more of the full tomato flavor including the tangy finish, and agree that Soldacki presents with sweeter burst at first bite. It does not disappoint and carries through with strong finish though not as tangy as Wes.

~~~

As you can see, Wes is a returning favorite. We had a slightly overripe one and a smaller one that would have been considered fully ripe if it was any other tomato. (I forgot to take a picture of the smaller fruit)

Fully softened, ripe Wes

It was as good as we remembered it. The slightly overripe one had the better, rich flavor. The smaller fruit had a bit of green shoulder-turned-dark yellow. Both had lots of juice. I think I'll plant more of this variety next year and use for juice, sauce, etc.

[applestar]

Didn't take pictures but we had a repeat of Neves Azorian Red vs. pink (clear epi) Royal Hillbillie at lunch today.

Again, Royal Hillbillie received the first taste approval -- SWEET! Funny thing is I was trying to analyze the flavor profile and felt there was "something" missing in the RH and wondered if it was acidity, then after three pieces the built up acidity of the RH was burning my mouth! Very sweet, then a bit of a blank, then lingering acid.

When I tasted the NAR, I thought "salty!" -- that's what's missing from the RH. Compared to RH's sweetness, NAR was definitely "savory" with that classic tomato flavor and lingering acid finish. I would not say RH was inferior, because the sweetness was such a pleasure, and you don't exactly miss the saltiness, just that question "what am I NOT tasting in this tomato" and that is the tomato-ness.

I saw that even though DD initially insisted that she preferred the RH and happily ate the last piece that she had been saving for me when I insisted, she had finished the 4-5 1/2 wedges of NAR left in the plate when I checked later.

Older DD said if RH is sweet and acid and NAR is salty/tangy and acid, maybe crossing them would produce an offspring with full flavored fruit.

...for dinner we had THE BIG TERHUNE

The slices from the middle were bigger than the hamburgers or the the buns and we had 1/2 wedges from the bottom half and some pieces cut from around the shoulders. OMG

Let's just say we don't have to try to make that cross. It's already here. SWEET (check!) SALTY (check!) TANGY (check!) CLASSIC TOMATO FLAVOR (check!) LINGERING ACID (check!).
Oh so yum! Lots and lots of UMAMI

I am thinking next year, I'm just going to plant the favorites that have been identified so far.
I'm envisioning Terhune all along one side of a CRW panel trellis where I have 4 different varieties planted. From the beginning. I'll try to train them into espalier like form with side suckers trained at horizontal along the panel to maximize production as I conjectured in the Topping Tomato thread.

I had chatted about my "plan" while eating, and then I saw DH carefully saving the Terhune seeds but I told him he didn't have to save every single seed But he still tried to save a lot -- which as you may know is taking away from the full taste experience because a lot of the flavor is in the gel. In fact he told DD to finish the rest of the pieces but that *she* DIDN'T have to save the seeds because I had enough already. I did give him a strainer so he could strain out the seeds from all the gel/juice and drink it. I wonder how many plants I would have to grow to make enough Terhune tomato juice....

[Lindsaylew82]

I'm gonna have to try Terhune next year!

[applestar]

We tasted Maglia Rosa yesterday. It's an unusual looking pink striped, elongated cherry (like mini sausage) fruit with a point. I have it growing in a 3 gal container on the patio this summer.
This was my first year growing it and I really didn't know what to expect, but the plant is staying compact and the fruits are very sweet with a tangy after taste. Very yummy.

My parents who think tomatoes should be red and round liked it, and DD liked it for the sweetness. I'm glad I started this variety for my Winter Indoor Tomatoes along with my off-type Sweet n Neat Pink. I want to compare them for flavor.

I should have taken a picture when I had a wooden berry basketful of the fruits
...but the plant has some new fruit trusses growing, so we'll have more soon.

I was holding off of this review because I wanted to compare Maglia Rosa against Blush which is a similar looking elongated cherry with a point but yellow striped, but my Blush has been struggling with russet mite infestation and hasn't been able to produce a decent fruit to taste. I understand Blush tends to be a bigger plant though, and not as suited to small container growing. It seems be growing a new uninfested growth, so if I can, I'll post a comparison of the two later on.

[Juliuskitty]

Apple, what a fabulous description of Terhune. Because of you, it will be sown with the rest of my seeds TOMORROW!!! Yay! Can't wait, Can't wait,Can't wait!

[digitS']

Coyote cherries! I have decided I like these tiny guys.

Usually, I'm not delighted to pick 'n' pick 'n' pick and after 20 minutes still only have a handful. Tasting just one Coyote tomato, however, will give you an idea of what you are in for!

The tiny things have an incredible amount of flavor and sweetness. If you are one of those people who claim that Sungold is bland, you should give Coyote a try.

Steve

[applestar]

I'm so glad you liked them!

They are pretty early and are great hardy ramblers. I find just removing any septoria leaves does the trick to keep them healthy and they'll replace the lost leaves right away. Only issue I tend to have with them is that the tomato leafminer moth seems to PREFERENTIALLY infest Coyote leaves, so those too, get snipped off. It's possible the "wild"/currant foliage (distinct rounded seedling first true leaves) are closer to their native food.

They are great in cooler weather and seem to renew growth with vigor when fall weather arrives. I have tons of blossoms on mine right now.

What doesn't get eaten in a day or two, I take the calyx off and freeze like little marbles.

[digitS']

The person in this house who first saved a Coyote seed was DW.

I think it's really cute because she has never done that before. Oh, she's a gardener but saving tomato seed is my interest, AppleStar. In fact, there are lots of tomatoes she doesn't like.

I go into the kitchen and there is this seed in the window above the sink. This was about 6 weeks ago. I got it labeled and out on the deck where there is about 15% humidity every afternoon .

Steve

[Mr green]

Thanks for this thread! Have read it all and made some interesting finds.

Terhune sounds like an interesting variety, anyone grew it in the colder regions? Also Applestar did you grow Pink Brandywine? I read on Tatiana's tomato site that its suspected to be the same by some growers, would be cool to hear your input if you tried them both, you seem like the tomato connoisseur of this forum!

I do like sungold, but yellow tomatoes I have tried hase been to much flavorless like storebought tomatoes in general, however I count sungold as something in between being orange. So the Coyote Cherries sounds like something for me to try out! Sungold is my Fiancees favourites so far.

Usually you can just move on and try another kind of you don't like it. There was one that made me more dissapointed than anyother tho being so prolific and high yealding, Banana Legs its sweet but lacks everything else that makes a tomato a tomato.

[digitS']

Reading my responses in this thread makes me think that I could write a book on my tomato experiences titled, "Tossing Big Green Tomatoes."

Ripening on my counter isn't my favorite way to enjoy tomatoes. Maybe things have changed. My counter wasn't overburdened following the 2016 first frost. Still, I'm reluctant to make too much commitment based on one year with record breaking summer heat.

I've been tempted into growing Brandywine OTV, again. The 2013 season was the one and only time I have grown it. It is a "red Brandywine," actually - a Brandywine cross. It was a fine tomato but late September ripening means that I won't commit more garden space than one plant will require. Perhaps AppleStar and others with Brandywine experience will comment but my commitment cannot be with such late ripening fruit, Mr. Green.

Gary O Sena is a result of a deliberate Brandywine cross. My four, 2016 plants took full advantage of the unusual summer. I'll likely keep several of the Gary O Sena currently in my greenhouse, for this year's garden. It's becoming a standard for me .

I'm lucky that smaller, earlier tomato varieties please me. There have been other reasons for me to toss some of the big, late varieties. However, the longer they take to mature fruit, the greater the risk of problems.

Steve

[Lindsaylew82]

There will always be room for the beandywines in my garden. Yellow and pink are my favorites. this year we have red, yellow, and pink! I've found growing the plants to be a real pain in the hiney. They're finicky, and require pretty much constant attention. They're huge plants that have to be tied frequently, and they're really prone to fungus here. But I find them worth it after the first bite! Once I get the first big fruit, and the temp cool down from scalding hot, to just hot, they usually don't require much work. I've not found them to be any later ripening that most of the others. Yellow Brandywine was my first large tomato from the garden in 2014!

[Mr green]

Thanks both of you for your inputs on Brandywine, its on the list of consideration! Late ripening might be bad for me, but I have read people grown it in Sweden, so it may be done. For sure I wouldnt be likely to try more than one plant tho and see how it goes. Rather regret not sowing enough then regret sowing to many.

The Gary O Sena sounds interesting as well, hows the flesh mushy or more like crisp?
Link with pics of it if someoneelse gets interested: https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Gary%27O_Sena

[Lindsaylew82]

Our first tomatoes are always mushy. I think cooler weather during fruit formation causes it, but thats just my theory. There's no science or fact behind it. The earliest are just always mushy and mealy in texture here. Once they really start rolling in, the texture usually improves for most of the varieties we grow in our garden.

[imafan26]

My taste testers are the birds. If its good they will eat them. If they are are really good, they will eat them green.

[TexasGardenGirl]

It's amazing how many varieties of tomatoes exist that I've never heard of in my life! My dad just grew basic slicing tomatoes. Never knew what variety. I know anything from the grocery store or a restaurant is just plain blah. My grandma always said try one of her garden tomatoes and I'd change my tune but I never would. I was firm on the "eww raw tomatoes are gross" stance. As an adult I realized I don't like the slimy mushy texture of tomatoes. But now, reading this thread I kind of think I must not be trying good tomatoes. So, since it's a bit late in the year to try any of the fun varieties I've seen you guys mention (since the shipping on established plants would take too long and it's too late for seeds I think) Ill give them a go next year. I am gonna grow some tomatoes for sauce and salsa this year (if I can manage to keep darn tomatoes alive in this garden-I'm having junk luck). Thanks so much for this thread! I really want to try to change my opinion on tomatoes now!

[Lindsaylew82]

Apple, where did you pick up Terhune? Was that a Gixx tomato?

Of the 6 newest seedlings, it's the largest! Big plant?

[applestar]

Our fave! Terhune was picked up in a round robin trade, not originally from Gixx. It's not ultimately a big plant -- average indeterminate height of 6 ft or so, but it's a potato leaf which means it soaks up the light and usually is more vigorous as seedling. Some think it's a selection of Brandywine. In the south, some say the PL provides ample shade for the fruits and others have said more tendency to get foliage disease due to heavy foliage cover blocking air flow.

You are growing this from seeds I sent you a couple of years ago? I had a NOT Terhune last year grown from 2014 harvested seeds, so hopefully yours aren't crossed seeds.

[Lindsaylew82]

I am growing from your seed! All 6 kinds!

I've known PL plants to be finicky here... I still grow them though, because the few fruits we get from them are worth the constant attention I've known them to require here!

What did you get instead of Terhune? I'm excited!!!

I started 2 of the Coyote from shared seed! The early one does not have that native tomato foliage, like sweet pea, or MWC. So I started another one. Maybe it's just my growing conditions here? Idk. At any rate, there is a lot of excitement going on with new varieties we've never tried!

Did you ever find Orange Amana seed?

[applestar]

Ha. I just came back to this thread and realized I never answered your questions

The Terhune cross is still trying to grow -- we will see....

I want to say yes I got some Orange Amana seeds, but I have to admit I'm not positive and am too lazy to go check my tomato seeds collection. I hope I did.

...

I got DH to do an impromptu tasting -- in tomato parlance, "white" is the pale to lemon yellow tomato with clear skin/epi. Also, Faelan's First Snow is thought to be a Cherokee Purple sport with variegated foliage. There are some uncertainties about this provenance, but my saved seeds have produced fruits that are very similar to Cherokee Purple each time. There is a tasting and photo somewhere in this thread)

- Started by giving him a ripe Raymondo's Australian Mist -- white largish flattened cherry ... Ripe ones split innthe rinse bucket like Coyote does.
- Coyote is what I gave him to try next -- the small white cherries.
- then I gave him Matt's Wild Cherry to try

---

At this point, he rated them as

Coyote > Raymondo's Australian Mist > Matt's Wild Cherry

---

Then I gave him the white grape cherry MRxCF.F2.1F.P1 (my F2 cross of Maglia Rosa x Coyote+Faelan's First Snow #1F-P1) without telling him what it was-- and he placed it as better than all of the others

But I gave him a few more Coyote to make sure, and he decided Coyote was better after all.



His verdict

Coyote > MRxCF.F2.1F.P1 > Raymondo's Australian Mist > Matt's Wild Cherry

[applestar]

I've been trying to grow different varieties of white beefsteak tomatoes, looking for great flavor and a nice pink blossom end blush. Last year, White Beauty was promising -- one plant had a small pink blush... Not quite as extensive as I wanted. Productive, but medium size fruits. The fruits of the 2nd plant didn't get the blossom end blush, but had a better flavor, which was surprising, but presented me with a dilemma.

I had trouble growing the White Beauty seedlings this spring, but Great White grew very well -- although it suffered TRM infestation like all of my other seedlings, this is one of the survived-and-recovered plants -- and look at the gorgeous pink blush on its bottom when fully ripe ! The color extends into the interior flesh, too.


Now, I don't like "mild" flavored tomatoes. Very often, yellow and white tomatoes are "mild" all around, though good ones are saved by exceptional sweetness. Well, I want that tangy kick and lingering acid burn after good sweet front end and full-flavored middle.

This one was not as sweet in the beginning as I had hoped (but my expectations might have been skewed because I have been eating cherry tomatoes every day), but it had plenty --surprising amount-- of good strong tomato flavor and acid that lingered a bit -- not too much but enough to satisfy.