Great question, Dan, and I promise I won't start it with the phrase "it depends"! (though of course it does).
let's look at some examples from our early work.
Sneezy - Green Giant X Golden Dwarf Champion. Superb flavor X very good flavor. The F1 was excellent. The F2s ranged from very good to superb. Flavor was consistent from the start from the vast majority of the selections.
Sleepy - Stump of the World X Budai. Superb flavor X so so flavor. The F1 was so-so. The selections were all over the map. Rosella Purple (delicious) came out of Rosella Purple (pretty good) at around the 4th generation and stayed that way. Rosella Crimson (which can vary widely) to me still varies - we are out at the 8-10th generation and beyond.
Witty - Cherokee Green X Budai - Superb flavor X so-so flavor. The f1 was good to so-so. The selections are to me good but not great, the best being Sean's Yellow Dwarf, consistent right from the start - F3 or F4 - yet Kangaroo Paw Red not only varies in color, but flavor, out to the F8.
One additional comment - using sugar content (brix) as a marker for flavor may be risky, because tomato flavor is so complex and I suspect composed of many many trace elements - and, as you note with yourself, there is wide variation in how each of us perceive taste.
The answer perhaps? Use a small group of people to evaluate flavor from single plant selections during the season.
As we've discussed, I think that indeterminate vs dwarf genetics are so much simpler than the micro situation - as you are seeing complexity in plant habit, it is likely there is going to be complexity in inheritable flavors as well.
Just my two cents!
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Craig
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