What varieties of Heirloom tomatos are strong in acid? My parents used to grow Rutgers, Roma, Marglobe, and others that they don't remember now. They like the acid taste, not sweet.
Would Black Krim, Azoychka, or Cherokee Purple fit the bill? I was also thinking about Box Car Willie, Opalka, and Stupice.

I'm not worried about color.

*****

of those heirloom varieties tested there's not much difference in actual pH as in acidity although many folks still refer to low acid and high acid varieties, which really isn't the case.

I know what you mean, though, and would perhaps use strong tasting, or sharp tasting, or something similar.

The possibilities you mention above I don't see as being strong tasting with the possible exception of Azchoyka.

Ones I might suggest could include:

Tigerella ( the original one, small red with gold jagged stripes

Tangella
Silvery Fir Tree
Earl of Edgecombe
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Gold Ball
Picardy
Sandpoint
Prue
Green Gage

... for starters. I can rank them according to my tastes if you want me to.

Carolyn

Yes. I meant strong and sharp taste. While I prefer sweet and juicy, they prefer a more tart taste. I'm not sure what they mean exactly because when they were growing them years ago, I hated tomatos. lol. Now I don't know what a tomato should taste like. (Store-bought tomato junkie). I keep reading the descriptions in the Seed catalogs for clues until my vision is blurred and my head aches, but to no avail.

I will try Azoychka. And maybe Aunt Gerties Gold. Silvery Fir Tree and Aunt Ruby's Green were also possibilities.

I was thinking of, Wapsinicon Peach, and Dr. Wyche Yellow, also. (The last two my mother and I both enjoyed at the Tasting at the SSE Heritage Farm if that helps narrow it any.) I will certainly grow Rutgers and Roma for them.

I have never heard of the others. I will look into them.

I do realize taste is subjective, but any way to narrow the huge list of varieties would be helpful. I would appreciate it if you would rank them.
Thank you kindly, Shilohyn

The most acidic tomato I ever had was purple calabash. I was lured in by it's beautiful color and gorgous fluted, ruffled shape... and it was what I would describe - astringent.

Tom-

and it was what I would describe - astringent.

*****

Fur sure. LOL and if you liked it grow Noir des Cosebeauf which aside from being one of the most beautiful toamtoes I've ever grown has that same strong astringent taste.

I don't like either of those varieties re taste, and they;'re the only two that I know of that do have a hint of purple to them.

To me Sandpoint was also astringent and it's one of just a few spitters that I've grown. Glenn Drowns at Sandhill go back and forth on Sandpoint; he likes it as a very early small red and tells me to coat it in chocolate and it might taste better to me. LOL

The other really astringent one for me is the original Tigerella/mr Stripey bred in England, not the large gold/red bicolor with the same name, the original one being a small red with the gold jagged stripes, the one that splits if you look at it sideways. LOL

Carolyn

I too like the old fashioned tangy taste which is why I go for Supersonic but Jetstar would also be good. Of course, these are hybrids, not OP.
Opalka is not juicy and any of the yellow/gold varieties seem to me to be less tangy/sweeter.
Lunch today was a sliced up Supersonic with cucumber slices and some no-fat soda crackers to soak up the juice. Got to enjoy them before frost arrives - any day now.

Quote:
I will try Azoychka. And maybe Aunt Gerties Gold. Silvery Fir Tree and Aunt Ruby's Green were also possibilities.

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I didn't find Aunt Ruby's German Green to be "tart" at all, the ones we grew this year have been very sweet and "fruity". I don't know, though, if that's how they're supposed to taste?

and any of the yellow/gold varieties seem to me to be less tangy/sweeter.

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Then it's clear to me you haven't grown Aunt Gertie's Gold, which you MUST do. LOL

Send me your home address at cmale@aol.com and I'll send you a few seeds. What I won't send is my private cache of Moreton Hybrid seeds b'c I only have 10 seeds left. LOL

Not a general offer folks. Sorry.

And I agree that Aunt Ruby's German Green is sweet as are almost all the green when ripes. Shilohyn, grow Aunt Gertie's Gold instead of Dr. Wyche, trust me on that. And Wapsinicon Peach shouldn't be tart either and is one of several fuzzy coated varieties such as Nectarine and Peach Blow Sutton, etc

Carolyn

I think I'll try 4 varieties for my parents:

Tangy and tart:
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Azoychka
and two that they used to grow:
Rutgers
Roma

And 4 for me:
Sweet, or Sweet and tangy both:

Black Krim
Opalka
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Sweet Millions Cherry

I really appreciate the help in narrowing down the choices. I'm going to clipboard these suggestions and save them. Thank you.
Shilohyn

Red Penna
Silvery Fir Tree

Oldroser;
Do the hybrids taste as good as the older heirlooms? I've tried Super Fantastic and Sweet 100 but I wasnt impressed with the taste. I did start quite late this season, though. We had terrible rains during the period that they were growing so I don't know if these are representative.
I went to the tomatotaste at the SSE farms this year. Most of the tomatos tasted rather bland except Striped Roman, Dr. Wyche, and Waspinicon Peach. Someone said, though, that with all the rain that any tomato would be bland. True?

Korney;
Silvery Fir Tree sounds interesting too. But what is Red Penna? Is there a source for it?

Do the colors really make a difference in taste?

(Lol, by this time next year I'll be up to my neck in seeds, all competing for a handful of planters...)

Korney;
Silvery Fir Tree sounds interesting too. But what is Red Penna? Is there a source for it?

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I'm sure Mark will answer you but I jusut wanted to say that indeed the fruits of Silvery Fir tree are on the atrong side, so I agree with that one, but I see Red Penna quite differently/

it's one that I suggest all the time, a large red ind beefsteak, but I don't see it as having a strong taste at all. So much for personal taste differences or differences in how the tomatoes are grown, the soil, the amensments used and the weather in any given season. it's available at Sandhill Preservation and perhaps other places, I didn't check others.

*****

Do the colors really make a difference in taste?

The only difference between a pink and a red fruit is the color of the thin epidermis; if it's yellow the fruit is red and if it's clear the fruit is pink. The interior flesh of both is about the same and tastes can be very different for the 100's upon hundreds of pink and red fruited varieties ranging for quite mild to sharp tasting, depending on the specific variety.

As for yellows/gold and whites, I do think that most, but not all, have a milder taste. Same with oranges/

Green when ripes and so called blacks stand alone.

Carolyn

Not an heirloom, actually a recent hybrid, but Burpee's Fourth of July is a very tart, salad type tomato. It has a great flavor, but is definitely acidic. I just made some tomato juice with a big bucket of them, and it's so acidic I really can't stand to drink it, but it will be fine to cook with.
As the name suggests, the plant is extremely early, and very productive. The fruits are about golf-ball sized or a little larger, and often ripen in clusters of 4 or 5 -- home grown "stem tomatos" like the fancy Dutch grown ones in the grocery store.

I will second (and third) Aunt Gerties and Silvery Fir Tree for acidic flavor. Generally, Blacks and Pinks won't give you that tang. The old commercial canning types like Rutgers, Old Brooks, Wisconsin 55, etc., will also work.

Forget Jet Star, that actually does have less acid than most.

I'll give another vote for Aunt Gertie's Gold. An excellent meaty beefsteak, with a nice acid bite IMO.

"RED PENNA--A great tasting red in the 14-20oz range, with a nice acidy old fashioned bite."

Is anyone familiar with Druzba? I see it in many catalogs.

PS Love the suggestions. I'm still working on my lists. Thank you.

The most acid flavoured tomato I have ever experianced in my life -was a shocker called (Alfresco) which was an outdoor bush tomato developed by Unwins at Cambridge in the UK, about fifteen years or more ago, it was appalling and was like sucking a lemon, the reason they developed it was that it would ripen outside in the cold english climate and set fruit without any problem, but it didn't last long as a variety because most people couldn't stand the taste, you could almost top up your car battery with the juice,

Is anyone familiar with Druzba? I see it in many catalogs.

*****

Yes, I'm very familiar with Druzba since it was received in a huge trade with a Frenchman back in 1992. The USDA also carried it as Drushba and I compared the two and they were identical.

There is a town in the Ukraine called Druzhba but Norbert, the Frenchman, Ided it as being Bulgarian in origin.

I've grown it many times and it's one fine variety, which is why I think you see it mentioned in many catalogs, and it does have great balanced taste, but compared to the many varieties already mentioned here that are strong tasting or sharp, I certainly would not put Druzba in that category.

That's my taste perception, but others may perceive it differently, which is true for every single variety grown for all the reasons I and others have pointed out many times here at GW. ( smile)

Carolyn

There are some seed catalogs out there describing Druzba as acid-y. It's not.

Druzba is fine for a number of reasons, but it's not particularly special as to taste, and not acidy. The nice thing about Druzba is that the plants are EXTREMELY hardy. All my plants were blown away this summer by disease, but both of the Druzbas managed to survive, hang in there, and keep producing. For taste, there is nothing that spectacular about it, neither good nor bad. Better than a store-bought tomato. And the tomatoes are round, red and attractive without strange heirloom navel holes on the bottom.

The most acidy tomato I have grown so far was Marianna's Peace.

I'm starting to wonder if it's just hit and miss when picking the line-up for next year...I've looked into all of these so far and I am steadily expanding my list and assigning large planters and limited spots for next year.
I like what I've been reading about Druzba, too.

I'm not sure that I'm looking for anything even close to battery acid, lol. But my taste buds are sure different from my parents.

I keep hearing about Marianna's Peace, too. I can't find a source for it anywhere. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

I keep hearing about Marianna's Peace, too. I can't find a source for it anywhere. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

*****

There are very divergent views about Marianna's Peace. And there appear to be two forms of it circulating, one that has ribbed shoulders and one that doesn't.

There are many places that sell seed for it, as you asked.

It was originally introduced at Tomatofest.com for something like, I can't remember, maybe $4/seed or something like that, and I don't know what Gary is charging for it now.

But there are many places that sell the seeds at more normal, regular prices and two of those places I know of off hand without doing a Google search, are Tomatogrowers.com and Sandhillpreservation.com

Carolyn