recommendations for sweet-tart tomatoey varieties?

venturabananas · April 6, 2019

I love any fruit with a nice sweet-tart balance, tomatoes included. Of the few dozen varieties I've grown, Rebel Yell, Spike, and Brandywine Sudduth are the best examples of sweet-tart varieties that also have that classic tomato flavor. What are some other varieties with that sort of flavor profile that are also productive?

Scooty · April 6, 2019

Are you looking for bold/intense? or more subtle? Cause you have something really tart and really sweet vs something subtly sweet and subtly sour.

venturabananas · April 6, 2019

Bold and intense. I've seen Spike described as having a bombastic flavor, and it's probably my favorite tasting tomato so far.

Scooty · April 6, 2019

Polish Ellis, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Sweet Scarlet come to mind

FarmerShawn · April 6, 2019

Check out Wes, a red heart with, for me, fantastic flavor.

wxcrawler · April 6, 2019

I'll second Aunt Ginny's Purple. It's one of my top 3 favorites.

Lee

jtjmartin · April 6, 2019

Red Barn is another with that classic tomato flavor.

Very happy to see Aunt Ginny's Purple on the list - I have a couple hardening off outside now!

Jeff

Tormato · April 6, 2019

Aunt Ginny's Purple is my favorite tomato, out of 1,000+ trialed. In my garden, with my taste buds, it is not a sweet/tart tomato. Labradors2, I believe, described it the best..."almost too sweet". To me, it has the richest flavor of the "sweet class" of tomatoes.

Wes, much more sweet than two others that I recommend...Donskoi and Russian #117. Remember, my garden, my taste buds, your mileage may vary.

Others that I recommend...Seek-No-Further Love Apple, and the most recommended of all... Stump of the World.

If you want to venture into tart/sweet, it would be Aunt Gertie's Gold. To me, a tart tomato, that finishes with a hint of sweetness.

FarmerShawn · April 6, 2019

I also love SNFLA, but class it as sweet/complex, in line with Brandywine. For tart/tangy, I like Jaune Flamee. Green Zebra is too tart for me.

Tormato · April 8, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I also love SNFLA, but class it as sweet/complex, in line with Brandywine. For tart/tangy, I like Jaune Flamee. Green Zebra is too tart for me.

Green Zebra, to me, is bitter/astringent, being much worse than the run-of-the-mill tart. It's these rare bitter/astringent tomatoes that rate a 1 on my scale of 1-10. True spitters.

The insipid (completely tasteless unless you make the mistake of chewing the skin too long), and the way too tart tomatoes rate a 2, for comparison.

A 3 would generally be a super market tomato in February.

A 4 would somehow be an extremely rare super market tomato in February that somehow had ideal growing and shipping conditions to make it my table, and them be subsequently drowned in salad dressing.

I'm too tired to do 5 to 10's.

Labradors2 · April 6, 2019

Haha! You remembered, Gary

. I was reading the recommendations and thinking WHAT? Aunt Ginny's had no tartness to me, it was very very sweet.

I do agree about Dwarf Sweet Scarlet though. I found that a little too tart for my taste when eaten raw, but I thought it was sublime when cooked.

I wish I could remember the flavor profile of Spike (which I grew last year). I liked it, but I liked Taste better. It's right up there with my all time favourites, Little Lucky and Blush.

Linda

Scooty · April 6, 2019

I'd trust Tormato and Labradors2 before I would trust my own taste buds.

I also forgot the original post requested balanced sweet and tart. AGP is just intense to me. It's not candy sweet (at least to me), but it is very bold with regard to sweetness.

Also second Tormato's pick Seek No Further Love Apple.

zipcode · April 6, 2019

The sweet/tart balance can be fairly strongly influenced by fertilizer, high K and Ca will generally lead to high acidity. Of course, depending on the variety that balance has a limit.
My favourites for balanced that don't feel sweet or acidic are generally GWRs. Aunt Gertie I would describe as aggressively acidic in my conditions (which seek to enhance the flavour to the maximum).

PaulF · April 6, 2019

While I enjoy sweet tomatoes more than balanced there have been a few that have made me second guess:
Believe-It-Or-Not, Canadian Heart, Grandpa Willie, Italian Giant, Nepal, Old Brooks (my favorite tangy), Terhune and Watermelon Beefsteak I would consider sweet/tart grown in my Nebraska garden

venturabananas · April 7, 2019

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd love to see what other folks think, too.

I think the way I grow my plants, in containers, the tomatoes tend to be very sweet, sweeter than when I've grown them in ground, and I need a bit of zing to balance that. But I do also like a complex, full bodied taste. FarmerShawn mentioned Jaune Flamme, which I like a lot, but it doesn't have that complex, full bodied taste to me.

April 6, 2019	#5
FarmerShawn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,001	Check out Wes, a red heart with, for me, fantastic flavor. __________________ "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers

April 6, 2019	#9
FarmerShawn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,001	I also love SNFLA, but class it as sweet/complex, in line with Brandywine. For tart/tangy, I like Jaune Flamee. Green Zebra is too tart for me. __________________ "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers

April 6, 2019	#14
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,296	While I enjoy sweet tomatoes more than balanced there have been a few that have made me second guess: Believe-It-Or-Not, Canadian Heart, Grandpa Willie, Italian Giant, Nepal, Old Brooks (my favorite tangy), Terhune and Watermelon Beefsteak I would consider sweet/tart grown in my Nebraska garden __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

April 6, 2019	#1
venturabananas Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ventura, CA Posts: 142	recommendations for sweet-tart tomatoey varieties? I love any fruit with a nice sweet-tart balance, tomatoes included. Of the few dozen varieties I've grown, Rebel Yell, Spike, and Brandywine Sudduth are the best examples of sweet-tart varieties that also have that classic tomato flavor. What are some other varieties with that sort of flavor profile that are also productive?

April 6, 2019	#2
Scooty Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Chicago-land & SO-cal Posts: 583	Are you looking for bold/intense? or more subtle? Cause you have something really tart and really sweet vs something subtly sweet and subtly sour.

April 6, 2019	#6
wxcrawler Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 115	I'll second Aunt Ginny's Purple. It's one of my top 3 favorites. Lee

April 6, 2019	#7
jtjmartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b Posts: 1,110	Red Barn is another with that classic tomato flavor. Very happy to see Aunt Ginny's Purple on the list - I have a couple hardening off outside now! Jeff

April 6, 2019	#8
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,971	Aunt Ginny's Purple is my favorite tomato, out of 1,000+ trialed. In my garden, with my taste buds, it is not a sweet/tart tomato. Labradors2, I believe, described it the best..."almost too sweet". To me, it has the richest flavor of the "sweet class" of tomatoes. Wes, much more sweet than two others that I recommend...Donskoi and Russian #117. Remember, my garden, my taste buds, your mileage may vary. Others that I recommend...Seek-No-Further Love Apple, and the most recommended of all... Stump of the World. If you want to venture into tart/sweet, it would be Aunt Gertie's Gold. To me, a tart tomato, that finishes with a hint of sweetness.

April 6, 2019	#11
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,896	Haha! You remembered, Gary . I was reading the recommendations and thinking WHAT? Aunt Ginny's had no tartness to me, it was very very sweet. I do agree about Dwarf Sweet Scarlet though. I found that a little too tart for my taste when eaten raw, but I thought it was sublime when cooked. I wish I could remember the flavor profile of Spike (which I grew last year). I liked it, but I liked Taste better. It's right up there with my all time favourites, Little Lucky and Blush. Linda

April 6, 2019	#13
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	The sweet/tart balance can be fairly strongly influenced by fertilizer, high K and Ca will generally lead to high acidity. Of course, depending on the variety that balance has a limit. My favourites for balanced that don't feel sweet or acidic are generally GWRs. Aunt Gertie I would describe as aggressively acidic in my conditions (which seek to enhance the flavour to the maximum).

April 7, 2019	#15
venturabananas Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ventura, CA Posts: 142	Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd love to see what other folks think, too. I think the way I grow my plants, in containers, the tomatoes tend to be very sweet, sweeter than when I've grown them in ground, and I need a bit of zing to balance that. But I do also like a complex, full bodied taste. FarmerShawn mentioned Jaune Flamme, which I like a lot, but it doesn't have that complex, full bodied taste to me.