Tomato Taste Test 2025

Gardeners Delight - first to ripen for me, but this year's plants (from a new packet of seed) are producing larger fruits than previously and the taste is a bit so-so (not dreadful, better than most supermarket tomatoes, but not what they used to be) so I guess I've got the more recent strain that people have been complaining about.

Blue Bayou - nice taste, colourful (purple-black skins on the sides where the sun hit them, red elsewhere and inside)

Maskotka - lovely taste but such an untidy sprawly habit. I have them in half an old water butt so they have room to hang down, and boy do they need it with the weight of the fruit. The fruit are bigger than I expected as well (it was labelled as a cherry type but they're quite big, maybe an inch diameter on average). I find cordons easier to manage.

Rosella (usually my favourite), Artisan Golden Bumblebee (new to me this year) not quite ripe enough to try yet but they look good. Yellow Pear is a bit behind them and Sakura (also new to me) not doing much yet.

 

Maddeline's Vine Candy. Very decent yellow cherry, plenty of punch and a bright, tart finish. Mine is a side shoot grown in quite a small pot and I'm quite impressed with the amount of fruit it has set.

 

I've been growing "Gardeners Ecstasy" as apposed to Gardeners Delight, have to say I can't tell any difference myself, both nice. My wife is impressed with the Sungolds, not my favourite, I prefer the good old Ailsa Craig and Moneymaker. Though British Breakfast is up there in the "not too sweet" type, they look like a cooker, but are just as nice with a sandwich.

 

Copper Currant. A triffid. Lots of fruit, lots of taste, saving lots of seed. A winner!

 

Where did you buy copper currant please @eatenbyweasels ? I can only see it from European suppliers. (Though I have heard the new agreement with the EU means we may be able to buy from them again)

 

I got them from a seller in Greece, discreetly packaged. I'm saving seeds so they will be available via the seed swap thread.

 

Merrygold F1 vs Gardeners Delight from a neighbours seeds



Merrygold is very firm for a cherry tomato, in a good way, having substantial clean (not mealy) flesh, with only a small bit of tomato gel. It is still juicy but not explode into liquid levels. Easy to cut.

Mild sweetness, good savoury flavour, some acidity, a little bit tart. I get a bit of that burny feeling with it.
Not the most flavourful tomato but still a lot better than shop ones. If it really is fully blight resistant ill grow it again for sure.

The gardeners delight is nice, about the same sweetness, but is more liquidy than merrygold which I dislike personally.
Merry is making some nice big trusses but is very tall, needs a very strong pole.

 

Rosada from my own saved seed fully ripe great taste don’t think the seeds are available now.

 

Inside:
Sungold F1. Classic, early, prolific.

Cherry rosella. Not as early as sun gold, but now more prolific. Early fruits not particularly good, they have hit their stride now with great depth of flavour for a cherry.

Banan kransnyi. Most productive and vigorous tomato variety I have grown, producing lots of torpedo shaped plum tomatoes. Firm, good flavour

Berner rose. Only produced three ripe so far early on, there's a lot more coming now through

Azoychka. Early and tasty for a yellow beefsteak. Producing a second round now

San marzano redorta . Massive BER problem, have thrown out all fruits so far. Won't grow again

Godorst sibiri. Early and good beefsteak, had to remove the plant as it got sickly

Bloody butcher. Early and good salad variety, had to remove as it got sickly.

Outside
Nagina F1, blight resistant, still producing loads of plums. Firm fleshed, fair flavour, best for cooking
Merrygold F1, blight resistant, still producing loads of large cherry/small salad toms. Firm fleshed, fair flavour

Can recommend both of those for outside blighty resistance.

 

This is Bananas Noire, a newbie from the USA. A chance cross between Ananas Noire and a cherry tomato. Probably F6. Lovely texture. Taste is mild but sweet, satisfying and interesting. My fruits were between 40 and 100g. It's a green-when-ripe type with a pretty red flush to the interior. Indeterminate. Seeds will be available on the seed swapping thread.

 

Elf Tears. Indeterminate . A very pretty shaded pink/red, slender little pear. Sweet flavour. A bit mild for me. Healthy, medium tall plant.

 

House tomato - first to fruit, not bad flavour. I usually grow these in pots and chuck out when tastier varieties come. They will go on a long time on a windowsill though.
Rosella - second to fruit, cropping well and should go on for a while yet I hope. Most of my friends and family like this cherry variety the best.
Sungold - usual good flavour but too sweet for some friends and family
Honeymoon - cropping well big fruit and lovely flavour.
Black Russian - nice smokey flavour, large fruit not so big as Honeymoon. fairly late to fruit and thin skinned so liable to split but well worth growing.

 

Another nice one. Amy's Sugar Gem. Indeterminate. Quite late to ripen but it has plenty of fruit colouring up now. It's low acid but still well-flavoured. Lovely texture and the skin is neither tough nor fragile. Mr Weasels approves.

 

Wow Cherry. Sloooow to ripen fully, but Ive finally tasted one at full ripeness. Lovely. Sweet, fruity and punchy. Long, lanky vine and the trusses are widely spaced, so it won't win any productivity prizes. That taste, though...