In the large tomato taste test the #1 rankings went to Aker's West Virginia, Mr. Stripey, Amish paste, and San Marzano redorta. Those last two are our two paste types, but it's not the first time they've bested the slicing types for straight, fresh flavor. Second and third place rankings this year also went to German Johnson, Illini star (our earliest red tomato), and Cherokee purple. All five samplers ranked the Aker's West Virginia in the top three this year. Amish paste was ranked in the top three by four samplers and was just barely edged out with the fifth.
In the small tomato taste test the #1 rankings went to our orange cherry, our pink cherry, and a small red salad/plum tomato bred from our pink cherry (which took three of the five #1 rankings.) Second and third place rankings also went to the black cherry, and Thai pink (which won the most #1 votes in our overall test last year).
The tomatoes are definitely slowing down a bunch now, but you might still find another chance to try our taste test winners this year, and we certainly plan to grow all the winners again next year. We'd especially encourage you to try some of the different colors and odd shapes (like the San Marzano redorta, which we grow more of than any other variety because its nearly solid flesh which makes it our favorite for salsa and sauce and canning and about any cooked use, as well as a fresh eating tomato as the blind taste tests show) and odd sizes (like the two-bite-sized Thai pink and sweet red plum.)
