For tomato lovers and home gardeners alike, cherry tomatoes are a delightful addition to any vegetable patch. These small, snack-sized fruits offer a burst of flavor and a rainbow of colors that can elevate your culinary experiences. This comprehensive guide explores the best-tasting cherry tomatoes to grow in your home garden, from heirloom varieties to hybrid tomatoes, each with a unique flavor profile and characteristics.
Why Grow Cherry Tomatoes?
Cherry tomatoes have become increasingly popular among gardeners for several compelling reasons:
- Flavor: Cherry tomatoes are renowned for their sweet juiciness and complex flavors. Many varieties rival even the best standard tomatoes in taste, offering a concentrated burst of tomato essence in each bite.
- Productivity: These prolific producers often yield more fruit per plant than larger tomato varieties, ensuring a constant supply throughout the growing season. A single cherry tomato plant can produce hundreds of fruits over several months.
- Versatility: Their snack size makes them perfect for eating straight off the vine, adding to salads, or incorporating into various dishes. From pasta sauces to grilled skewers, cherry tomatoes can enhance a wide range of recipes.
- Nutritional value: Like all tomatoes, cherry varieties are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re an excellent source of vitamin C, potassium, and lycopene, which has been linked to various health benefits including reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
- Extended harvest: Cherry tomatoes typically have a longer fruiting season than standard tomatoes, providing gardeners with an extended harvest period. Many varieties will continue producing until the first frost.
- Colorful varieties: From deep reds to sunny yellows, and even striped or purple varieties, cherry tomatoes visually appeal to the garden and the plate. This diversity allows for creative culinary presentations and vibrant garden displays.
- Space-efficient: For gardeners with limited space, cherry tomatoes can be an excellent choice. Many varieties can be grown in containers or hanging baskets, making them suitable for balconies, patios, or small urban gardens.
- Early harvests: Cherry tomatoes often ripen faster than larger varieties, providing early-season harvests that can satisfy tomato cravings while waiting for larger fruits to mature.
- Kid-friendly: The small size and sweet flavor of cherry tomatoes make them appealing to children, potentially encouraging healthier eating habits and an interest in gardening.
- Preservation options: While delicious and fresh, cherry tomatoes can also be preserved through methods like sun-drying, freezing, or pickling, allowing you to enjoy your harvest year-round.
Growing cherry tomatoes in your home garden allows you to experience the intense flavor and sweet juiciness that store-bought varieties often lack. Plus, the satisfaction of nurturing these plants from seedling to harvest is unmatched for gardening enthusiasts.
What is a Brix Rating?
Before diving into specific varieties, it’s essential to understand the Brix rating, a crucial factor in determining the sweetness of cherry tomatoes. Brix is a measure of the dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratio of a liquid. In the context of tomatoes, it indicates the fruit’s sweetness level.
The Brix scale was originally developed for the wine and sugar industries but has since been adopted in horticulture to measure the sweetness of fruits and vegetables. For tomatoes:
- A Brix rating of 0-4 is considered low sweetness
- 4-6 is average
- 6-8 is good
- 8-10 is excellent
- The above 10 are exceptional
Most cherry tomatoes fall within the 5-12 Brix range, with some exceptional varieties scoring even higher. While sweetness isn’t the only factor in a tomato’s overall flavor profile, it’s an important consideration for many tomato enthusiasts.
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It’s worth noting that Brix ratings can be influenced by various factors including:
- Growing conditions (soil quality, sunlight, water)
- Climate
- Harvest time
- Plant stress levels
Therefore, the same variety of tomatoes might have slightly different Brix ratings depending on where and how it’s grown. Home gardeners can often achieve higher Brix ratings than commercial growers due to more attentive care and the ability to harvest at peak ripeness.
Now, let’s explore some of the best-tasting cherry tomatoes you can grow in your home garden:
Black Cherry
Black Cherry tomatoes are a favorite among tomato lovers for their rich, complex flavors and unique coloration.
Details:
- Brix: 9
- Type: Heirloom
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These heirloom cherry tomatoes offer a perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess, with a distinct smoky quality that leans towards umami. Their skin ranges from medium to deep mahogany, with dark green shoulders around the stem. The flesh is firm and juicy, providing a satisfying pop when bitten into.
Black Cherry tomatoes grow in attractive medium-length trusses, making them a visually appealing addition to any garden. Their complex flavor profile makes them versatile in the kitchen, excellent for fresh eating, salads, or even making uniquely flavored tomato paste.
The indeterminate growth habit means these plants will continue to grow and produce fruit throughout the season, requiring sturdy support. They’re known for their vigorous growth and high yield, making them a favorite among gardeners who appreciate both quantity and quality.
Black Cherry tomatoes are also noted for their good resistance to cracking, a common issue with many cherry tomato varieties. This characteristic, combined with their robust flavor, makes them an excellent choice for both novice and experienced gardeners.
Blondkopfchen
Originating from Germany, Blondkopfchen (meaning “little blonde-headed girl”) is a small, heirloom variety that offers a delightful fruity flavor.
Details:
- Brix: 8
- Type: Heirloom
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These yellow cherry tomatoes are known for their mild, sweet flavor with a hint of citrusy tang. Unlike some yellow tomatoes that can be bland due to low acidity, Blondkopfchens offer a satisfying taste experience.
The tomatoes grow in unkempt clusters on medium-tall plants, producing small, slightly oblong fruits with thin, delicate skin. Their soft and juicy flesh provides a burst of flavor in every bite, making them perfect for salads or as a colorful garnish.
Blondkopfchen plants are known for their exceptional productivity, often producing hundreds of fruits per plant throughout the growing season. This makes them an excellent choice for gardeners looking to maximize their yield in a limited space.
The fruits are resistant to cracking and can hang on the vine for extended periods without losing quality, allowing for less frequent harvesting if desired. Their sweet flavor tends to intensify as they ripen, so leaving them on the vine a bit longer can result in even tastier fruits.
These tomatoes are also known for their good disease resistance, particularly to late blight, making them a reliable choice for organic gardeners or those in areas prone to tomato diseases.
Green Envy
For those seeking a unique addition to their cherry tomato collection, Green Envy offers both visual interest and delightful flavor.
Details:
- Brix: 8
- Type: Hybrid
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These bright green cherry tomatoes maintain their color even when ripe, making them stand out in the garden and on the plate. Green Envy tomatoes offer a sweet and fruity flavor with a hint of tartness, balanced by a gentle sweetness and lower acidity compared to other varieties.
Slightly smaller than typical cherry tomatoes, Green Envy resembles a grape tomato in shape. Their firm texture provides a satisfying crunch, while the flesh remains tender and easy to chew. The vivid green color, due to the presence of chlorophyll, adds a unique visual element to dishes and makes them perfect for creating colorful tomato salads.
Green Envy plants are relatively compact for indeterminate varieties, making them suitable for container gardening or smaller spaces. They’re known for their heavy yields and extended harvest period, often producing fruit until frost.
These tomatoes are excellent for fresh eating, but their firm texture also makes them ideal for grilling or roasting. Their unique color can add an unexpected twist to traditional tomato dishes, making them a favorite among chefs and home cooks looking to experiment with presentation.
Matt’s Wild Cherry
For tomato enthusiasts seeking an intense flavor experience, Matt’s Wild Cherry offers a unique and robust taste profile.
Details:
- Brix: 9
- Type: Wild (cultivated from a wild strain)
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These small, currant-sized tomatoes pack a punch with their tangy, slightly sour flavor that’s beautifully balanced by a burst of sweetness. The thin, delicate skin adds to their tender texture, while the soft and juicy flesh provides a satisfying flavor explosion with each bite.
Matt’s Wild Cherry plants are known for their unpredictable and vigorous growth habit. Unlike typical leggy tomato plants, these grow dense and bushy, often reaching impressive heights. Late in the season, a plant-heavy with ripe fruit resembles a Christmas tree adorned with red ornaments, making it a visually striking addition to any garden.
Originally discovered growing wild in Mexico, Matt’s Wild Cherry has been cultivated for its exceptional flavor and natural disease resistance. These plants are incredibly hardy and can often self-seed, returning year after year in favorable climates.
The tiny size of these tomatoes makes them less practical for cooking, but they’re perfect for snacking straight off the vine or adding whole to salads. Their intense flavor means a little goes a long way in adding tomato essence to dishes.
Gardeners should note that the vigorous growth and small fruit size can make harvesting a bit more time-consuming, but many find the unique flavor well worth the extra effort.
Midnight Snack
This indigo hybrid has quickly become a favorite among tomato lovers for its unique appearance and delightful taste.
Details:
- Brix: 10
- Type: Hybrid
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
Midnight Snack cherry tomatoes start green with dark purple shoulders, gradually ripening to a deep red while maintaining their distinctive purple tops. The long trusses often display an attractive mix of ripe and unripe tomatoes, adding visual interest to the garden.
These tomatoes offer a perfect balance of sweetness and smokiness, with a true tomato flavor that satisfies. Their thin skins are easy to bite through but sturdy enough to maintain the fruit’s plumpness. Midnight Snack tomatoes are ideal for fresh eating, whether popped whole into the mouth as a snack or sliced for salads.
The purple coloration is due to anthocyanin, the same antioxidant found in blueberries and other purple fruits and vegetables. This not only adds to the visual appeal but also potentially increases the nutritional value of these tomatoes.
Midnight Snack plants are known for their productivity and extended harvest season. They’re relatively disease-resistant and can tolerate a range of growing conditions, making them a good choice for less experienced gardeners.
The unique coloration of these tomatoes makes them a standout in fresh preparations. They’re particularly attractive in Caprese salads or as a garnish for summer cocktails. The flavor holds up well to light cooking, making them suitable for quick sauces or as a pizza topping.
Sun Gold
Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are renowned for their exceptional sweetness and vibrant orange color, making them a favorite among gardeners and chefs alike.
Details:
- Brix: 12
- Type: Hybrid
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These tomatoes offer a unique flavor profile that balances sweetness and acidity, with hints of tropical fruit notes like mango or pineapple. The slightly tangy finish adds complexity to their overall taste, making them irresistible for snacking and versatile in cooking.
Sun Gold tomatoes have a tender and juicy texture, with thin skin that’s easy to bite through. Their soft, delicate flesh provides a burst of flavor with every bite. Despite being a hybrid, Sun Gold tomatoes can hold their own against heirloom varieties in terms of flavor, while also benefiting from increased disease resistance.
The plants are known for their vigorous growth and high productivity. A single Sun Gold plant can produce hundreds of fruits over a growing season. They’re relatively early to ripen, often providing harvests earlier than many other varieties.
While these tomatoes are delicious and fresh, they also hold up well to light cooking. They’re excellent roasted or quickly sautéed, where their sweetness intensifies and creates a delightful caramelized flavor. Sun Golds are also a popular choice for cherry tomato jam or preserves.
Gardeners should note that the thin skin and high sugar content can make Sun Golds prone to cracking, especially after rain. Consistent watering and harvesting fruits as soon as they ripen can help mitigate this issue.
Sunchocola
For those who appreciate unique flavors, Sunchocola cherry tomatoes offer a taste experience unlike any other.
Details:
- Brix: 9
- Type: Hybrid
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These hybrid tomatoes, similar to the heirloom Chocolate Cherry, are known for their rich, sweet flavor with slight tanginess. What sets them apart are the hints of chocolate and caramel undertones, creating a complex and satisfying taste profile. Some describe the flavor as slightly smoky or earthy, adding to its overall depth.
Sunchocola cherry tomatoes have a beautiful chocolate-mahogany color both inside and out, making them visually appealing on the vine and in dishes. Their tender and juicy texture, coupled with thin, easy-to-bite skin, makes them perfect for fresh eating, salads, and sandwiches.
The plants are known for their good disease resistance and productivity. They tend to produce fruit in clusters, making harvesting efficient. Sunchocola tomatoes are also noted for their ability to hold well on the vine without overripening, giving gardeners some flexibility in harvest timing.
These tomatoes shine in fresh preparations where their unique flavor can be fully appreciated. They’re excellent in mixed cherry tomato salads, where their deep color and complex flavor provide an interesting contrast to sweeter varieties. They also pair well with aged cheeses or balsamic vinegar, highlighting their rich, smoky notes.
For culinary enthusiasts, Sunchocola tomatoes can be an interesting ingredient in experimental dishes. Their chocolate undertones make them a surprising addition to desserts or as a garnish for chocolate-based dishes.
Super Sweet 100
True to its name, the Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato offers an incredibly sweet and juicy flavor that lives up to expectations.
Details:
- Brix: 10
- Type: Hybrid
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
This improved hybrid version of the popular Sweet 100 boasts a higher sugar content and firmer texture while maintaining the small size and abundant production of its predecessor. The Super Sweet 100 provides a satisfying pop of sweetness with every bite, making it an excellent choice for snacking or adding to salads.
These tomatoes are known for their high yields throughout the growing season and resistance to many common tomato diseases. Their firm, meaty texture, and thin skin contribute to their popularity among home gardeners and tomato enthusiasts alike.
Super Sweet 100 plants can grow quite tall and require sturdy support. They’re known for producing long trusses of fruit, sometimes with up to 100 tomatoes per truss, living up to their name. This high productivity makes them an excellent choice for gardeners looking to maximize yield in a limited space.
While these tomatoes are delightfully fresh, their sweetness and firm texture make them excellent candidates for drying. Sun-dried Super Sweet 100 tomatoes are intensely flavored and can be a delicious addition to winter dishes, allowing you to enjoy your harvest long after the growing season has ended.
Gardeners should be aware that the high sugar content can make these tomatoes attractive to pests. Proper care and regular harvesting can help mitigate potential issues.
Violet Jasper
Violet Jasper cherry tomatoes offer a stunning visual appearance coupled with a complex flavor profile that delights the palate.
Details:
- Brix: 9
- Type: Heirloom
- Growth Habit: Indeterminate
These heirloom tomatoes ripen to a deep red with green stripes that turn slightly golden iridescent upon maturity. Their striking appearance makes them a beautiful addition to any garden or dish.
Flavor-wise, Violet Jasper tomatoes offer a multidimensional experience with hints of sweetness, acidity, and smoky or spicy undertones. The balance between sweetness and pleasant acidity creates an interesting and refreshing taste.
These tomatoes have a firm, meaty texture with slightly thicker skin compared to other cherry varieties. Their juicy and flavorful flesh makes them excellent for slicing onto sandwiches, roasting, grilling, or adding vibrant color to a summer snack tray.
Violet Jasper plants are relatively compact for an indeterminate variety, making them suitable for container gardening or smaller spaces. They’re known for their steady production throughout the season, providing a consistent harvest for several months.
The unique striped pattern of these tomatoes makes them a standout in fresh preparations. They’re particularly attractive when halved in salads or as a garnish. Their firm texture allows them to hold up well to cooking, making them versatile in the kitchen.
For gardeners interested in saving seeds, Violet Jasper is an excellent choice. As an heirloom variety, its seeds will produce plants true to type in subsequent seasons, allowing you to maintain your seed stock.
In conclusion, growing cherry tomatoes in your home garden can be a rewarding experience for both novice and experienced gardeners. The varieties discussed in this article offer a range of flavors, colors, and textures to suit different preferences and culinary needs. From the rich complexity of Black Cherry to the tropical sweetness of Sun Gold, there’s a cherry tomato variety for every taste.
Remember that factors such as growing conditions, soil quality, and climate can influence the flavor and productivity of your tomato plants. Here are some tips to ensure the best results with your cherry tomatoes:
- Sunlight: Most cherry tomato varieties require full sun, at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily, for optimal growth and flavor development.
- Soil: Use well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. A pH between 6.0 and 6.8 is ideal for tomatoes.
- Water: Consistent watering is crucial. Irregular watering can lead to fruit cracking or blossom end rot. Water deeply and less frequently to encourage deep root growth.
- Support: Most cherry tomato varieties, especially indeterminate types, require sturdy support. Use cages, stakes, or trellises to keep plants off the ground and improve air circulation.
- Pruning: For indeterminate varieties, regular pruning of suckers (the shoots that grow between the main stem and branches) can improve air circulation and direct energy towards fruit production.
- Fertilizing: Use a balanced fertilizer or one specifically formulated for tomatoes. Avoid over-fertilizing with nitrogen, which can lead to lush foliage but fewer fruits.
- Companion planting: Consider planting basil, marigolds, or nasturtiums near your tomatoes. These can help repel pests and, in the case of basil, may even improve tomato flavor.
- Harvesting: Pick cherry tomatoes when they’re fully colored and slightly soft to the touch. Regular harvesting encourages continued production.
Experimenting with different varieties can be part of the joy of growing cherry tomatoes. You might consider planting a few different types each season to discover your favorites and to provide a range of colors and flavors for your culinary creations.
Whether you’re planning to make a colorful Caprese salad, add some zing to your summer dishes, or simply enjoy the sweet juiciness of fresh-picked tomatoes, these best-tasting cherry tomatoes are sure to elevate your gardening and culinary experiences.
Moreover, growing your cherry tomatoes can be a gateway to a more sustainable lifestyle. It reduces the carbon footprint associated with transporting store-bought tomatoes and allows you to control the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Many gardeners find that once they taste the superior flavor of homegrown cherry tomatoes, they’re inspired to expand their vegetable gardens and grow more of their food.
Cherry tomatoes are also an excellent choice for introducing children to gardening. Their quick growth, prolific nature, and sweet taste can help kids develop an interest in where their food comes from and encourage healthier eating habits.
For those with limited outdoor space, many of these cherry tomato varieties can be successfully grown in containers on balconies or patios. Some, like the compact Violet Jasper or the bushy Matt’s Wild Cherry, are particularly well-suited to container gardening.
Lastly, don’t forget the potential for preserving your harvest. While cherry tomatoes are delightfully fresh, you can extend your enjoyment of the harvest through various preservation methods:
- Sun-drying or dehydrating
- Freezing whole for use in future cooking
- Making tomato jam or preserves
- Pickling is especially good for any green tomatoes left at the end of the season
By growing these best-tasting cherry tomatoes, you’re not just cultivating plants; you’re nurturing a connection to your food, engaging in a rewarding hobby, and potentially transforming your culinary experiences. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner, there’s a cherry tomato variety that’s perfect for your garden and your palate. Happy growing, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
FAQs
Which tomatoes have the best flavor?
Many heirloom varieties, including Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Black Krim, are renowned for their exceptional flavor. Among cherry tomatoes, Sun Gold, Black Cherry, and Sungold are often cited as having the best taste.
Are cherry tomatoes more flavorful?
Cherry tomatoes are generally considered to have a more concentrated, intense flavor compared to larger tomato varieties. This is often attributed to their higher sugar-to-acid ratio and smaller size, which allows for a more concentrated flavor profile.
Which tomatoes are the sweetest cherry or grape?
Cherry tomatoes are generally sweeter than grape tomatoes, with varieties like Sun Gold and Sweet 100 known for their exceptional sweetness. However, some grape tomato varieties, such as Juliet, can also be quite sweet, though they tend to have a more balanced flavor profile.
What is the most disease-resistant cherry tomato?
The Sun Gold cherry tomato is known for its excellent disease resistance, particularly against fusarium wilt and tobacco mosaic virus. Another highly disease-resistant variety is the Super Sweet 100, which shows good resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilts, as well as nematodes.
