Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Love dark tomatoes? You’re in the right place. We are gathering a worldwide collection of black, purple, and deep mahogany varieties, complete with real photos and honest reviews from actual growers.
If you’re growing dark heirlooms, you’ll quickly notice they fall into two main camps. The classic “black” tomatoes (like the famous Russian darks) aren’t actually black. They just retain green chlorophyll as they ripen, which mixes with red lycopene to give them a beautiful brick, mahogany, or muddy-brown color.
Then there are the modern purple/indigo varieties. These get their crazy dark colors from anthocyanins (the same stuff found in blueberries). The rule for these is simple: wherever direct sunlight hits the skin, it turns deep purple or jet black, while the shaded parts usually stay red or pink.
Most growers agree that dark tomatoes have a very specific taste profile. They are usually described as earthy, sweet, and sometimes slightly salty. Because they generally have lower acidity than classic red tomatoes, they are fantastic for fresh eating and slicing for sandwiches.
Scroll down to browse the varieties our community has tested. We document real yields, plant heights, and whether the seeds are actually worth saving for next year!
🍅 Quick take: Brown Flesh is a mid-season, mid-tall variety that produces heavy yields of stunning, dark maroon beefsteaks with green stripes. Weighing up to 14 oz (400 g), these oblate slicers are praised for their dense, meaty crimson flesh and an outstanding, sweet fruity flavor profile. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos O … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Krasnaya Mishen (Red Target) 🌍 Origin: A fascinating and somewhat mysterious Russian commercial/heirloom variety. Its genetics are notoriously unstable, leading to a massive debate among growers. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). It is an incredibly vigorous vine that requires staking. The biggest quirk of this variety is that a single seed … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Krem Brule (Creme Brulee) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial dark tomato variety. The name translates to “Creme Brulee”. It is at the center of a famous seed-market confusion, as two major Russian companies (Aelita and Gavrish) sell completely different tomatoes under the exact same name. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Reaches around … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Kafyavi Chereshki (Brown Cherry) Are seed companies just slapping different names on the exact same tomato? In this thread, growers dive deep into a side-by-side comparison of several popular dark cherry varieties to find the truth! 🌍 Origin: A Bulgarian heirloom. The name “Kafyavi Chereshki” literally translates from Bulgarian to “Brown Cherry”. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kubansky Smuglyi (Dark Kuban) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom. The name translates to “Kuban Swarthy” or “Dark Kuban” (referring to the Kuban region in Southern Russia and the dark color of the fruit). 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). A very compact and well-behaved plant, topping out at around 20 inches … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kumato 🌍 Origin: A patented commercial F1 hybrid developed by Syngenta, originating from wild Galapagos tomato genetics. Many home growers experiment by saving seeds from grocery store Kumatos to grow out and dehybridize in their own gardens. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), usually with dark green, sometimes wispy foliage. Highly praised … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Korallovyi (Coral) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded Russian heirloom. The name translates to “Coral”. However, seed traders have circulated two completely different varieties under this exact name. One is a dark/purplish-pink beefsteak, and the other (distributed by breeder V. Redko) is a carrot-red/orange tomato. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and vigorous. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cowboy 🌍 Origin: A highly sought-after release from Canadian tomato breeder Karen Olivier. It was named in honor of her father, Harold Borle (a lifelong passionate horseback rider and chuckwagon driver), and specifically named “Cowboy” to match the reddish-brown coat of his favorite horse. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Produces a … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Boar’s Hoof 🌍 Origin: A rare dark cocktail variety from the USA (Brad Gates; Wild Boar Farms). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A vigorous, highly productive vine. It is widely praised for its incredible disease resistance—specifically its ability to completely shrug off Leaf Mold (Cladosporium) in humid greenhouse conditions. 🍅 Fruit … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kumquat Pink Opal 🌍 Origin: A stunning Russian stabilization project. It was selected out of a segregation of the Indigo Kumquat variety by breeders Mira Almakaeva and Olga Degtyareva. Currently at the F5 generation and showing excellent stability. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate but tends to be on the shorter, bushier side, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Calvados (Kalvados) 🌍 Origin: Sourced and distributed by prominent Ukrainian seed collector Alexey Kulik. The name refers to the famous French apple brandy, Calvados. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but growth varies heavily by climate. Usually reaches about 4 to 5 feet (1.2-1.5 m) out in the dirt, and can push … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Klyuv Pelikana (Pelican’s Beak) 🌍 Origin: A fascinating and actively developing cross between Rebel Starfighter VT16 and Black Beauty. The name translates to “Pelican’s Beak”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Appears to be a manageable indeterminate, reaching about 4.5 feet (1.4 m) tall. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Striking dark anthocyanin shoulders that bleed into … Read more