I never tire of ranking tomatoes

[Tania]

barkeater, it's good you added the note about Mountain Princess - otherwise I was about to reconsider growing this one!

My ranking changes quite often, but from what I still remember the best were:

Black Krim, Sungold, Cherokee Purple, Earl's Faux, Brandy Boy Hyb, all hearts I grew (I like most of them, and the list is too long :wink: ), Caspian Pink was very good in 2004, but not so in 2005...

[nctomatoman]

gregg, I find your post interesting in its tone. Why do you think that the "lots of taste" people have hijacked anything? It is all about personal opinions. My view is, why settle for mediocrity when you can have excellence....but excellence is a personal thing.

but your list of questions is a real mix of apples and oranges that is really makes no clear point, to me anyway. Why equate fat vs thin to intense flavor vs mild? Fat is a physical characteristic, intense and mild are up to personal perception.

Why are you equating love of highly flavored things to a deep seated psychological issue? And you are making some interesting generalizations and connections - I love intense tomaotes, but also dislike some of the things you link with such an "issue" - can't stand big cars, bigger houses, more ads, racier movies, or jerky camera work - but yes, I love an intense Zinfandel or a ripe Brandywine.

Anyway - your post shows signs of being quite insecure of your love of mild/subtle things!

By the way- I tried Ultra Sweet years ago. Ho hum - for my wife and I, not worth eating, so not worth growing....but we don't think that anyone who loves it has any issues at all!!

[MsCowpea]

I also love those lists (especially the ones with the humorous notations that Bully and others have done).

If a highly-ranked tomato shows up in a lot of people's list it is certainly worth checking out. There are 100's and 100's of tomatoes in the catalogues and the descriptions make them all a #10--real grower's lists give you somewhere to start and you can experiment here and there with whatever else strikes your fancy.

Also if a tomato strikes a person as unbelievebly wonderful (like Ramapo for Barkeater and Cuostralee (sp?) for I believe if was Jersey John (but can't remember) it is fun to try that too.

For myself, I really don't rank them that precisely--I like Mantis' list above. I use Excellent, Pretty Good, Not Bad, and Disgusting (or Terrible).

[Earl]

I really don't like assigning a number to taste. I'd rather say it's a top ten, and some folks have said I have a 100 top 10s. LOL.

So what if your tastebuds are working better one day than they are the next? A 9.5 one day could be an 8.5 or 7.5 the next day, causing a bias towards it the next time you taste it.

[Miss_Mudcat]

Hi Y'all! Pretty new to the forum... came over via GW. Anyway, I'm very interested in ranking tomatoes, tho' I have little experience.

During my formative years growing up in MS, I didn't know the dif between hybrid and heirloom, so I ate more than my fair share of unknown tomatoes. Back then, a good tomato was one that could cover a piece of bread with a single slice. It had to be strongly acid for me to call it a home-grown tomato. So, now I compare everything with that taste sensation that I experienced from childhood onward.

I haven't grown very many varieties but I have grown some of the same ones in different locations: Alabama, Wisconsin and Indiana. The Delicious tomato (one of my favorites) and others that were WOWIE ZOWIE in flavor in AL were very sweet and lacked the acid flavor in my WI garden. Here in Indy, they are much zippier.

I'll be growing about 40 different varieties this year and taking notes!

Lisa

(P.S. I've heard that zinc deficiency in humans decreases our sense of taste. Perhaps we should all take more zinc before our taste tests are conducted?)

[TomatoDon]

We've done this here and elsewhere a million times, but I wish we could come up with a top 25 list of Heirlooms for newbies like me to pick from. I'm sorta keeping a list like that now, because even with only about a month of being on the tomato forums, the same varieties keep coming up over and over and over. All Heirlooms on my 2006 grow list come from that group.

We might have a little debate over the top 25, but I really believe there are around 25 strong varieties that everyone seems to like. I doubt there would be much debate picking a top 50. After 50, I think most of it is personal preference.

From what I've seen, I would (me, being the rank amateur here) have this as (what seems to be) the most popular 20 Heirloom tomatoes. (In no particular order other than an attempt to alphabetize.) I think C and C would classify a couple of these as hybrids, but hybrid or not, these are the names that keep coming up the most here and elsewhere. Maybe others can add a few more, to round out the top 25.

1. Aker's West Virginia (Red, 85 days)
2. Aunt Gertie's Gold
3. Aunt Ginny's Purple (Pink/Purple 75-85 days)
4. Big Beef (Red? 75 days)
5. Black From Tula
6. Brandy Boy (Pink, 75-80 days)
7. Brandywine (Sudduth) (Pink, 80 days)
8. Brandywine (Red) (Red, 80-90 days)
9. Brandywine (Yellow)
10. Carbon (Black, 80 days)
11. Cherokee Purple (Pink/Purple, 80 days)
12. Cuostralee (Red, 85 days)
13. Earl's Faux
14. Lucky Cross
15. Marianna'a Peace (Pink, 85 days)
16. Neves Azorean Red (Red, 80 days)
17. Omar's Lebonese
18. Stump of the World (Pink, 80 days)
19. Sungold.
20. Tidwell German

Other's that come up frequently are:

Aunt Ruby's German Green
Anna Russian
Arkansas Travelor
Box Car Willie
Jaune Flammee
Mortgage Lifter
Soldacki
Stupice
Tennessee Britches
Wes
Zogola

Other than these 30 or so varieties, it gets pretty random and sporadic, with favorites seeming to fit with geographic area and personal taste, literally and figuratively. And sometimes a variety seems to work well for a grower one year, but maybe not the next.

Some growers, especially the backyard tomato barons, are meticulous in their caging/staking/mulching, and then there's C, at the top of the list, who let her plants sprawl. And I know it has been brought up many times, but it's true that seasonal conditions, geographic location, care of plants, soil, nutriets, etc. all play a significant role in the final results--taste!

At least I'm now pretty well satisfied that I have an all-star team of about 30-40 varieties to pick from, from now on. I especially thank Carolyn, Craig, Suze, Fusion, KCTomato, Bully, JerseyJohn1, and others for helping me have such a pleasant and interesting entry into the world of Heirlooms, and giving me the kind of information I needed to at least make an educated guess on what to try first. My list keeps growing and growing, and now I may just go ahead and try at least three of all of the top 25.

Until now, I thought all you had to do was dig a hole and plant a Better Boy! I hope this list helps other newbies as well!

Don

[creister]

I agree with you Don. All I used to do, is go down to the feed store and get whatever they had. I, like you used the more frequently mentioned varieties to try last year. Cherokee Purple and Pruden's Purple were the best tasting tomatoes I've grown. Anyway, I like the lists as well, they give me a starting point. I also like to look at where people are growning to help me get an idea of what might grow well in my area of the world.

[TomatoDon]

Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more.

Some things do better in different areas. Geography plays a part. As do so many other things.

I guess I'm selfish, and have been trying to determine the best, tastiest, for my area. I keep hearing BW is basically a northern strain. But it is always at the top of the list for taste, so I'm taking my chances this year.

And I like what I refer to as a tart, acidic, salty tomato, and the bigger the better. My goal is to find the best this year. But I know it will take a lifetime to learn that.

I've asked a lot of questions here, and have gotten some very good answers. That's the only way to do it when you are learning.

Don

[veggiecanner]

These lists can throw you off too, if you let them. 2 years ago on various forums every one was all excited about Stupice. So I grew them. They were watery and cracked alot for me. But I gave them 2 years and now every one is saying how bad they are.
I do see my favorite here though WI55. It grew out the nicest best tasting tomatoes for me last year.
I also see Kellogs Breakfast. My garden must be weird cause the tomatoes from the 2 plants I grew were the worst I had ever eaten.
10. WI55
9. Big rainbow
8. Uncle Steves Plum
7. Some I got in a trade that were supposed to be White wonder but turned out to be the best tasting orange cherries I have ever had.
6, Lemon Boy- the only Hybryd that ever did anything in my garden.

[KCMO_Don]

I wonder if you got a sungold plant? YUM!!

[bully]

Yeah I would like to have a Tomatoville ranking thread.

Not an end all be all but just another tool for beginners to take a look at and an oulet for people to cast their vote.
something like the following:

after everyone votes on a 1-10 we tally it up and post the results.

126 member rated Azochka 7.50
211 members rated Black Krim 8
54 members rated Bloody Butcher 8.5

you get the idea, we would have to work out a few things..but that's the jist of it.

[jerseyjohn61]

Excellent idea Bully. Prehaps we can conduct
preseason and post season polls and compare
the results....JJ61

[TomatoDon]

Okay, bully, now how do you want to do this? I'll bet if we come up with a good set of rules that M will post a special area for it.

My criteria would be:

1. Taste
2. Geographic are where the plants do best.
3. Culture and ease of growing. Inherent troubles, etc.
4. Color.
5. Size.

I would suggest that we start with size and color categories. Then, almost as a footnote, we could suggest in which climes each does best. Remember, we have friends around the world, especially Australia.

Maybe we could do a list of the best tasting, less troublesome toms in categories of large, medium, and small. Maybe another list with colors as the heading. I'll guarantee you we can come up with the best 100 Heirlooms by the end of the week, if people participate.

Just knocking sparks off you. What do you think?

Don

[bully]

Poor M.... and the other mods...

I've been working them pretty hard on the idea.

My opinion?

I wouldn't get into all of the zones and size and shapes and colors and leaf type and heirloom or hybrid or anything else ...

Too much work and debate and consternation.

You are allowed to give a tomato any number you want from a 1 to 10 for whatever reason you want..I don't care if it's because you just like the name!!
maybe we throw out the lowest vote and the highest vote..just to limit the cranks.

Take Sun Gold.."it's too fruity".."it cracks too much"
Yeah? I bet that tomato lands right at the top..especially when you average in the votes of 200 some voters.

The list would be alphabetical and a tomato would have to reach a certain number of votes to make the list.

If we didn't take it to serious and just saw it for what it was..a glorified popularity contest...I think it would be pretty interesting.
I do think it would be a helpful tool and their would have to be disclaimers and what not.
I would put more stock into a ranking of my peers then ANY sappy 'tomato mag blurb' I have read

"An old fashioned tomatoey flavor that harkens the taster back to a time of yesteryear"..shut up

[TomatoDon]

did you just hit me in the head with a tomato?

D