Tomato Tasting -- compare and share

[JayPoc]

There is a thread started by applestar just for this sort of thing just below...

[orgoveg]

I just saw the other thread. Can somebody move this into that one?

[applestar]

Done! Thanks for posting a great comparison of these popular varieties

[applestar]

MONOMAKH'S HAT

My Monomakh's Hat has been done for a couple of weeks now, but it was very productive.
Here's a picture of the upper truss -- lower truss was equally loaded:


I found the pink heart-shaped fruits to be thin skinned, meaty and well textured (not mealy or mushy), sweet but mild/not full flavored, lacking the acid afterburst that I actually like. Some huge fruits compared to other varieties that matured during the same timeframe early in the season. It did not keep well once fully ripe and needed to be eaten or processed right away.

I just discovered that the milder tomatoes taste great when cut up (peeled or not) and simply baked with a little salt and olive oil at 350°F for 15-20 min, garnished with chopped fresh basil and oregano at serving. I didn't get to eat MH this way, but I exepect it would be good. The result is sort of fresh stewed tomatoes -- lots of tasty clear broth in the bottom, flavor-concentrated warm tomato chunks to eat with a spoon.

[applestar]

Tonight, we started the tasting with a Grandma Viney's Yellow & Pink and a Nature's Riddle.

For some reason, today's Grandma Viney's was a dud. Not outstanding flavor at all, and Nature's Riddle was similarly unimpressive. DH refused to eat either of them after trying a piece from each. So they were unceremoniously dumped in a freezer bag marked "Yellow tomtoes" for future cooking.

I then offered an orange KBX (Kellogg's Breakfast Potatoleaf), which I thought was better, but he was not appeased and they also went in the freezer bag.

"No more yellows. Yellows are NO GOOD." was his pronouncement, but he did want to eat some GOOD tomatoes, so after some thought, I gave him a Stump of the World. This was received well -- "MUCH better" he said. Sweet and full flavored with a tangy finish. He reluctantly gave back the bowl which was full of spilled juice and seeds, since I told him that I was saving the seeds.

Then I tried giving him a Pineapple Pig -- a nearly white tomato. It was REALLY ripe which brought out the sweetness and almost melon-like fragrance and flavor. It also has that tangy acid afterbite that makes me think "pineapple" is well named. He really liked it and finished the whole plate.

Tonight's rating:

(1) Stump of the World
(2) Pineapple Pig

-- DH would only line up the last three as equally unimpressive --
I guess if I were to rate them in order, I would say
(3) KBX
(4) Grandma Viney's Yellow and Pink
(5) Nature's Riddle

I'll have to try these three again because I know at least GVYP and KBX could taste better. This was the first Nature's Riddle though.

[rainbowgardener]

I've never found a yellow tomato I particularly liked.

I just had a tomato sandwich for lunch with one of my Sophies Choice tomatoes, fresh off the vine and dead ripe. It was wonderful! I ate one slice of it plain for the flavor and then made sandwich with the rest. A bit tart (which is necessary for me, I don't like sweet tomatoes), with very rich tomato-ey flavor and aroma.

Sophie's Choice is definitely grow again. Dwarf tomato plant that produces full sized very flavorful tomatoes.

[mattie g]

I cut up an Eva Purple Ball this weekend to use as a topping on pizza. And while I'm not a raw tomato guy (in the least), I figured I'd try it just to see how it was. And to my surprise, it was really good! Slightly acidic, but certainly sweet - it was kind of what I feel like a tomato should taste when you look at it. And the ratio of meat to goo was very high!

Right now, based on production so far this season (and taste), I'm leaning towards having a few EPBs and Amish Pastes in my garden next year.

[digitS']

Never found a yellow that you liked, RG?!

. . . "No more yellows. Yellows are NO GOOD." was his pronouncement. . .

Well!! I think my tastes almost run to a "never found a tomato that I didn't like!" But, I can't go that far. If Applestar's DH didn't like yellows because they tend to be mild I would understand him not liking a white but - that didn't happen! Tastes - difficult to account for them . . .

Okay, I didn't have internet connection for much of the last few days but it wouldn't have made a lot of difference in tomato taste testing. I have very few tomatoes to taste! The first fruits ripening, like Casey's Pure Yellow & a few others, don't always bear much similarities to those that show up on the same plants later in the season. BTW - I found Casey's to be quite mild flavored but - very early! That, in itself, is a real plus in my garden. Here are some yellows & pinks I grew in 2012 and I've got several of them this year:


EG is just a standard-size Early Girl for size comparison.

I really like Woodle Orange but it wasn't "orange" in my garden! Still, I grew this little red tomato for several years but mostly because of qualities other than flavor. Dagma's Perfection fits in with the "non-flavor" factor group. Sure, it was tasty but very mild - great producer tho'! I've got the Perfection but not the Woodle this year.

No Tigerella either . . . I got kind of tired of the tuff skin . Really like the earliness.

Gary O Sena has a great flavor! I think of it as a "pink" tomato but it is classified otherwise by Tatiana (a purple). It has green shoulders until fully ripe. Gary O Sena is a little late for here, tho'. I have it again this year and I'm just hoping .

I grew Kellogg's Breakfast for the 2nd time in 2012 but the darn things are sooo late that they didn't get into that September 9th picture. I do have a red KB potato-leaf cross that I have real hopes for. Not only is it very early ~ already had one ripen ~ but they are very healthy plants! I may have one that needs a name if I can get it stabilized (several normal-leafed offspring from my 2011 saved seed).

There was also Earl of Edgecombe last year and again in 2013. That is one fine & flavorful tomato! Once again, tho', it runs late. I have it this year and I should have some fruit from it. It is such a nice tomato, I may be willing to harvest both Earl of Edgecombe & Gary O Sena as mostly green fruits, just before frost.

That isn't the way I'd like things to work out but there are a few that ripen early. I mean, I've had a steady supply of golden cherries from Sungold & SunSugar over the last 4 weeks. Just a few at a time but they are really gettin' goin' now! The first of the Dr. Carolyn cherries today. Some of the hybrid slicers are just loaded with green fruit! There might be another 8 weeks to my season so - I can be happy with that!

Steve

[JayPoc]

Ok...my first go at a taste test. We (me, my 8 year old son, and my 3 year old daughter) compared German Johnson, Cherokee Purple, Big Beef, and Prudens Purple.

The first three were all very tasty, and we all like the GJs the best. I prefer the Cherokee Purple over the Big Beef for second place, but it's close. The Prudens Purple have been very disappointing. They're quite pretty, but just very blah taste wise. Not much better than a typical out of season store bought tomato....

[applestar]

Thanks for posting your taste reviews. This is great! Now I have a few more to add to my list.
Do keep them coming -- I want to hear what everyone else is eating.

I'm really glad to hear Rainbowgardener liked the Sophie's Choice. I should compare that one with Manö and Kootenai, though Sophie's Choice is capable of producing larger fruits so that has to be considered. I wasn't going to plant it this winter because I have so many other varieties to try, but now I'm re-thinking that I want to start some so I will be able to compare their performances.

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.

[applestar]

Impromptu tomato tasting by my 2 yr old nephew -- a young tomato connoisseur
He is used to eating Matt's Wild Cherry from his Mom's container garden.

I showed him a wooden berry basket of cherry tomatoes I brought -- varieties that I knew they didn't have.

He immediately picked out the green shouldered "black" (actually mahogany brown colored) plum cherry -- a F4 stage grow out of Sinister Minister, and started to walk away to play, munching -- and made a sudden U-turn to come back and cram the remaining two Sinister Minister in the basket in his mouth. I was worried about him choking, but my SIL assured me he was well practiced in eating them and she was quite right.

When he didn't find any more, he tried an orange Sun Sugar F3 segregate, but he was not interested in taking another one.

So we infer that Sinister Minister F4 tasted superior to Sun Sugar F3.

...

My SIL tried a Coyote and gave me a surprised smile -- "This tastes GOOD! Sweet!"
I then offered her a Snow White and she made a face. "That one (Coyote) tastes better," she said. I told her that was because she had the Snow White immediately after Coyote, so she tried another Snow White after a taste bud break. She conceded that it WAS good but still not as good, and declared she was going to save all the little ones (Coyote) for her baby and she will eat the big ones (Snow White). A mother's love is a great thing.

Coyote tastes superior to Snow White.
(I think Coyote tastes sweeter and more intense, though Snow White when sampled independently of Coyote has wonderful flavors of its own.)

BTW Matt's Wild Cherry is not as sweet as Coyote but has a more tangy, lingering and mouthfilling flavor notes.

I posted more details about cherry tomato varieties I'm growing in another thread.

[applestar]

DH is complaining about tonight's tasting....

Casey's Pure Yellow -- our biggest 1 Lb 13 oz fully ripe

Jack'ss Yellow

Native Sun

DD:
(1) Jack'ss Yellow
(2) Casey's Pure Yellow
(3) Native Sun

DH:
(1) Native Sun
(2) Jack'ss Yellow
(3) Casey's Pure Yellow

I think Native Sun starts off with a pleasant taste experience, but is mild flavored in the finish and lacks the depth and lingering flavor notes of Jack'ss Yellow.

In any case, DH says "NO MORE YELLOWS" ...So I said to him that he liked one of them, and he complained that it hasn't ever come back. Lucky for him, there's another one ready to eat. I guess he can have that one tomorrow. -- He's right about the Pineapple Pig. I had one sliced on toasted garlic bread for lunch, and Pineapple Pig's intense flavors stood up to the strong flavors of the garlic bread and complemented it. Very YUM.

I think he might have liked Casey's Pure Yellow more if he had more of the pink bicolor blossom end. Due to the fused nature of the giant fruit, there was a considerable amount of white core in the upper portion that occurred at odd locations in weird configurations -- making it difficult to carve off them all successfully. DD who is becoming a tomato connoisseur in her own way had the chance to sample them first, and probably picked out most of the bottom half.

[imafan26]

Sungold yellow tended to crack when ripe. Had a bite when green, but very sweet ripe
Sunsugar very sweet cherry
Mojo sweet cherry
Brandywine- they don't get as large here but has a real old fashioned tomato flavor
Yellow pear- sour
Sugary- sweet cherry
Tumbling Tom- very productive for a hanging basket tomato. 24 inches long. Large cherry tomatoes, flesh is firm but not as sweet as other cherries
New Big Dwarf- Determinate. Lobed tomatoes in clusters. Firm, meaty and not acidic. The birds and slugs loved them I only got a few. They attacked the fruit even when it was green.

[applestar]

So, I cut open my mystery tomato that grew on a plant labeled Dwarf Emerald Giant (NDEG).

NOT Dwarf Emerald Giant

Seeing that it had yellow flesh with red bicolor like Grandma Viney's Yellow and Pink (GVYP), I cut one open to see how they compared. As you can see, this one has much more of the red bi-color throughout the flesh in the bottom half compared to mostly yellow fleshed GVYP with streaks of red:

Typical Grandma Viney's Yellow and Pink from my other plant

...then (of course) I tried tasting them to see if they tasted the same.

At first I thought they tasted similar, but it became apparent that NDEG was sweeter and had richer flavor than GVYP. I wondered if the flavor was coming from the red flesh, so I tried the reddest portion of GVYP, but it just didnt have the depth or tangy acidity of the other tomato. They both started out with relatively mild and fresh flavor with NDEG presenting a sweeter first taste, but as I ate more pieces, the acidity of the NDEG started to fill my mouth and overwhelm the mild GVYP. Both very juicy though NDEG was juicier overall and I liked the more assertive flavors better.

Rest of the family was at the movies so I had to freeze the rest, but the juice, gel and seeds left on the plate told an additional story:

Some of the NDEG gel was green

Compare with GVYP's yellow gel

One possibility is that this is a "pinker" segregate of Grandma Viney's Yellow and Pink that is sometimes mentioned. (As I mentioned in the other thread, I believe the reference to "pink" in the name comes from the clear epidermis/skin even though the flesh is red. In tomato color parlance, a "red" tomato has yellow tinted epidermis). I'm definitely saving the seeds separately.

[gixxerific]

Definitely not Emerald Giant. I hope those seeds aren't from me.

[applestar]

Definitely not Emerald Giant. I hope those seeds aren't from me.

You know I was moving those unlabeled micro blocks of seedlings around based on maps. It's entirely possible that I got them mixed up. Besides, it would be neat if this was a cross, though I suppose that's not too likely. If you want to know for sure, I'll check and see if I had Dwarf Emerald Giant seeds from another source, too, but really, don't feel bad even if somehow, the seed for this plant did come from your generous gift box of seeds.

[gixxerific]

No biggie I just pulled mine today. The made a good run.

[applestar]

Today's tasting was three pink beefsteak tomatoes: Soldacki, Stump of the World and Turhune.

Soldacki was served first -- this one was the last to be harvested with the majority of the leaves gone due to disease. Maybe that was why the first taste lacked the sweetness I remembered and expected. It started off very mild and I thought it might be a dud, then a tangy 2nd flavor lingered and lingered until it filled my mouth. But points taken off for the initial flavor. DH said it tasted really good after thorough salting.

Terhune was served next -- and I thought it was hands down fantastic. Very assertive flavor as soon as it touched the taste buds with complex flavor and enough tangy notes rolling around your mouth. DH's first reaction was that it was "sour" and Soldacki was better BECAUSE it was milder, but after salting it (he really likes to salt his tomatoes -- much more than I like ) he recanted and said Terhune was better.

Stump of the World was served last. It has a nice sweetness at first bite followed by complex tangy flavor. If it was served alone, I would consider it a great flavored tomato. But that's the point of comparing like this -- Tonight's Stump of the World definitely tasted better than tonight's Soldacki, but fell short of Terhune in sheer intensity and range of flavors.

(1) Terhune
(2) Stump of the World
(3) Soldacki (but was not as sweet as it should have been)

[Juliuskitty]

This is a great thread. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post these wonderful descriptions. I really like the photos too.

[applestar]

I thought about starting a new thread for this, but decided to just keep going with this year's comparisons. Feel free to post your own variety comparisons as you harvest and taste your tomatoes.

Do make note of the kind of tomato flavors you like since everyone's preferences are different. But as you post multiple comparisons, I think what you like will become apparent.

Note too that growing conditions changes the flavor, so a variety may taste better or worse from year to year or even through the season.

[applestar]

We had our first official family tomato tasting today -- Indian Zebra vs. Ananas Noire

Indian Zebra also known as Indian Stripes Burson's Strain
Some people consider this the REAL Cherokee Purple.
You can see the clear epi and the greenish interior flesh
that make it a purple.

Ananas Noire -- a tricolor variety with green/maroon/brown
skin bleeding into the subdermis, green and yellow flesh with
pink interior core.

image.jpg (45.2 KiB) Viewed 13215 times

Just from the looks alone, the Ananas Noire is off-putting, and DH initially refused to even try it. And even after trying, he insisted that the "red" one is better. (He'll learn -- by the end of the season last year, he was calling out tomato colors like an expert )

But both my daughter and I agreed that the Ananas Noire was superior in this tasting.

Indian Zebra didn't have the same full complex flavor. It was sweet but lacked something.
...but there are two more in the crate and more fruits developing outside, so we will try again soon.

[NancyJo]

this thread is very informative and I also love the pictures.

This year I planted my favorite Brandy wine, and 2 new to me variates Sicilian and Napoleon 10 fingers. I splurged this year and bought these seeds . So I will give a nice review on them when they are ripe , I'm hoping I will be sampling their fruits in 4 weeks .

[Gary350]

I have 3 kinds of tomatoes in my garden, Beef Steak, Celebrity and Roma.

Beef steak, big beef, beef master, jet star are my favorite tomatoes all seem to have identical flavor. They are a little bit sweeter, slightly less than average acid, about medium when it comes to juice with a very GOOD tomato flavor. Good tomato flavor is what I want. They are excellent is soup, salad, chili, stew, meat loaf, eat them raw, on salads, pizza, shish kabobs, Italian, pico de gallo, sandwiches, and more. Cooking seems to bring out more tomato flavor. They are excellent slicing tomatoes you can slice them thin and they will not fall apart.

Celebrity are higher acid, more juice than other tomote and very poor tomato flavor. Celebrity is a good tomato to mix with Roma for certain foods, celebrity adds more juice and more acid to the good Roma flavor.

Roma are low in juice, they seem to be low acid and they don't seem to have much flavor until you cook them in food. Cooking Roma brings out that good strong tomato flavor. I think Roma is the wrong tomato flavor for certain foods chili and some soups. Roma are good in, Italian, stew, pizza and extra good on shish kabobs.

Years ago I use to plant tiny red salad tomatoes but not anymore. They have a great flavor but time consuming to harvest and take up too much space for the small harvest they produce.

I have tried yellow tomatoes too but have not grown any in years. They have an interesting flavor but don't seem to be the correct flavor for any foods I cook or eat.

I grew German Johnson a few times they have a good flavor about the same as Beef Steak but plant production is very low about 65% less that other tomato plants.

I grew Cherokee Purple a few times but don't care for them. Flavor is not what I want in a tomato.

I have grown Brandy wine tomatoes a few times, they are good tomatoes too very similar to Beef Steak but not as sweet and not as much good tomato flavor.

[digitS']

I say that I like all tomato flavors but I really don't know. Because of a "challenging" tomato environment, there are quite a few heirlooms that I just won't be growing.

DW likes mild and that has pushed me into the world of tomatoes more than anything else. She likes the golden cherries and so do I (and a million other people ). Some folks say, "Oh, those cloying, candy-like things!" There's that subjective taste ...

Other than a handful of Sungolds, the only other tomato that has ripened in my garden is Kimberley. Well-behaved small plants, cute fruit - I'd describe the flavor as "pleasant." I can't really ask much more out of such an early tomato.

Kimberley is even showing up red & ripe before Bloody Butcher this year. I appreciate that one not only for its early ripening but for having quite a bit of tomato flavor for such an early, little guy.

The big red, tomato-flavored guys will be along soon along with those plants with the mild, yellow fruit to keep DW (& me) happy.

Steve
#3 and #4 Kimberley this season

IMG_20140724_052609.jpg (28.27 KiB) Viewed 13087 times

[/I]

[JC's Garden]

This is the first time I've grown heirlooms. I have 6 varieties, Super Souix, Purple Cherokee, Brandywine Pink, Amana Orange, San Marzano and Mrs Tucker's Grape. All I know about Mrs Tucker's is that I got them from my 66 year old buddy. His mother has been growing them all his life and saving seeds.
This tasting was with Amana Orange, Super Souix and Mrs Tucker's Grape.

The first tasted was the Amana. It was sweet with a mild tomato flavor and medium acid content. My first thought was "this taste like a grocery store tomato". I'll have to get better tomatoes off these plants before I consider growing them again.
The second was the Super Souix. Mildly sweet, med/high acid contentwith a strong tomato taste, tangy/nasal taste like it was almost over ripe, sort of a plumb taste. I've had better Souixs this year. I am saving seed off the better ones.
Last was Mrs Tucker's Grape. High acid content with a deep tomato flavor. It's flavor stuck with me much longer than the other two. Yep, I'm fermenting these seed as well.
Salted all.
The Amanda benefitted greatly, the Souix saw improvement and Mrs Tucker's didn't need the salt.
Next was the sandwich test. First without pepper, then with. In true Southern style, it was done with light bread and mayonnaise. Mrs Tucker's not included, of course.
The Amana Orange was a big disappointment, it was just too sweet and lacking in acidity. The Super Souix's flavor worked well with the mayonnaise but was missing some of the sweetness it needed to be a perfect Mater Samich.
I used both Super Souix and Amana Orange on the last sandwich and it was quite good. I got the flavor, tang, and sweetness I was looking for.

The overall winner was Mrs Tucker's. I had a few more as desert.

[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.