Quick Summary of Chernyi Shokolad (Black Chocolate)
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian cherry tomato variety, most notably distributed by the “Poisk” seed company as part of their “Vkusnoteka” (Flavor Library) series.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The bush is vigorous but has somewhat sparse foliage, meaning it doesn’t get overly bushy. Growers successfully prune it to 3–5 stems for maximum yield.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark brown/chocolate round cherry tomatoes with green shoulders. They grow in large, complex trusses of 10–12+ fruits. Average weight is 20–28 g (0.7–1 oz).
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Extremely sweet with a distinct fruity aroma when fully ripe. Best eaten fresh in salads or straight off the vine. Warning: They do not perform well in canning/pickling (the skin splits and the flesh gets tough/dry).
- 💡 Pros & Cons: Highly productive and highly disease-resistant. They ripen exceptionally well off the vine indoors. However, the thin skin means they are prone to cracking and rotting if grown outdoors during heavy rains.
Description from the seed packet:
Sweet, with a fruity cherry flavor. Mid-season variety for film greenhouses. The plant is tall, requires pruning and staking. The cherry fruits are round, evenly brown-colored with a green spot at the stem. There are 10-12 pieces per truss. Fruit weight is 20-28 g (0.7-1 oz). For fresh consumption.
(Photo author: Nelli)
I am growing it for the first time. Planted in the greenhouse, I am letting it grow into three stems. The bush is indeed tall, but not dense. It blooms very well, the trusses are complex, and it sets fruit well. So far, I am satisfied 😊.
I liked them, very sweet with a fruity aroma, not too small. The bush is powerful, quite resistant to all sorts of diseases. Seeds were from the “Poisk” company, Vkusnoteka series. I will definitely plant one bush next year.
An addition to the above: we tried canning them in jars — not very good, they turned out a bit hard and dry.
Conclusion: not suitable for canning/pickling, but veeeery tasty when eaten fresh 😋.
Identical to Black Cherry. It was beautiful, but didn’t build up enough sugar. Not impressed, in a word 😞.
And we have been admiring Black Chocolate for 2 years in a row. It is one of our favorites 😊. Very productive, and if the tomatoes ripen on the bush, they are sweet with an unusual taste.
It fruits excellently; we had to tie up the trusses additionally so they wouldn’t snap. In the autumn, the whole bush is just covered with green ones. They store well and ripen indoors perfectly until late autumn.
The skin is thin, so if they are fully ripe, they don’t transport well. And I didn’t like them for pickling, they burst/split.
Do the fruits ripen well off the vine indoors, or are they only tasty when picked ripe from the bush?
Albert wrote:
Do the fruits ripen well off the vine indoors, or are they only tasty when picked ripe from the bush?
They ripen perfectly off the vine, even though they are cherries. Photo from October 27th.
Black Chocolate, Zlatovlaska, and a few red Pugovkas.
I have been planting Black Chocolate cherry for several years now. I use my own saved seeds. I let it grow into multiple stems. For me, it’s the tastiest cherry tomato so far. Sweet, I eat it right off the bush and in salads (cut in half). Average weight is 20 g (0.7 oz).
The bush is not prone to diseases, the skin is thin, which is why it cracks and is not suitable for marinating/canning. It ripens indoors very well. At the end of September, when I pull the plants out, I gather all the green tomatoes and they ripen perfectly at home. It’s a pity there are no large beefsteak tomatoes with the exact same taste as Black Chocolate.
Black Chocolate from the “Poisk” company.
I grew it in 2023 in a polycarbonate greenhouse. Pruned it to 5 stems. A tasty and productive tomato. The fruits are not tiny, the sweetness and acidity are well-balanced. We liked it 👍.
This year I also decided to try growing Black Chocolate cherry outdoors in open ground — I fell for the advertising. It is tall, doesn’t have many leaves. The taste is pleasant, but nothing more. After the rains, it started cracking severely, splitting, and rotting 😠. I will not plant it a second time.
Black Chocolate – seeds from the “Poisk” company.
A productive and tasty cherry tomato. Tomatoes average 20 grams (0.7 oz).
.jpg.5a16c56fb39914af5a21517cd25cb306.jpg)
