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: Kookaburra Cackle is a low-maintenance, mid-season brown tomato from the Dwarf Tomato Project. Featuring thick rugose foliage and a compact tree-type habit, it produces beautiful dark oblate slicers. Its flavor is highly unusual—growers describe it as having a mild tomato base mixed with a surprisingly complex, spicy, or smoky kick. Full summary … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Kozula 127 Rudy is a mid-season, dark Polish breeding line known for its bold, punchy flavor and extreme juiciness. While listed as “practically stable” at F7, growers report that this variety still throws massive genetic curveballs, producing everything from striped beefsteaks to solid black plums, and popping up in both regular and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Kozula 24 is a stunning, mid-season indeterminate beefsteak that produces gorgeous purple, red, and green-striped tomatoes. Known for its strong, robust vines and reliable fruit set, it delivers juicy, meaty 10.5 oz (300 g) slicers with a balanced, sweet-and-tart complex flavor. Full summary ↓ 📑 Table of Contents Elena’s outdoor results Ilya’s … Read more
🍅 Quick take: JD’s Special C Tex is a mid-season, compact indeterminate vine that produces gorgeous, mahogany-red beefsteaks (around 7 oz). It’s a low-maintenance, highly productive variety with a long harvest window and an incredibly rich, sweet, well-balanced flavor profile. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos E ElenaN (Elena) ⭐ Pro Grower (28,513 posts) … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Indigo Rose is a famous anthocyanin-rich, indeterminate/semi-determinate cocktail tomato bred by Dr. Jim Myers at Oregon State University. It produces stunning dark purple-to-black fruits that weigh 1.2-2.5 oz (35-70 g). In this massive thread, growers debate its merits. While everyone agrees the plants are gorgeous and highly resistant to late blight, opinions … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Hunk Purple is an indeterminate, mid-season potato leaf variety bred by Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms (USA). It produces meaty, purple-black tomatoes weighing up to 5.3 oz (150 g). Despite slow germination and some early cold damage when grown outdoors, growers report that it reliably sets fruit all season long. It … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Helsing Junction Blues is an indeterminate, mid-early anthocyanin cherry tomato bred by Tom Wagner. The vines are sprawling, highly vigorous, and crank out massive clusters of firm, perfectly round blue-to-red fruits. Growers love its disease resistance and heavy yields, noting that while the skin can be a bit thick, the flavor is … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Grandma Oliver’s Chocolate is an indeterminate, mid-season dark tomato originally introduced by Marianna’s Heirloom Seeds in 2009. It’s a cross between Grandma Oliver Green and an unknown black variety. Growers praise its stunning chocolate-brick color with green shoulders, and its incredibly sweet, acid-free flavor. While it is highly disease-resistant and produces well … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Gun Metal Grey is an eye-catching, mid-season tomato known for the unique metallic, dark grey anthocyanin blush* on its shoulders. While the plant stays relatively manageable at around 4 feet, it pumps out heavy, uniform clusters of medium-to-large slicers. Growers praise its perfectly balanced flavor that actually deepens and becomes richer as … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Green Tiger is an indeterminate, mid-season elongated cherry tomato bred by Fred Hempel (Artisan Seeds). It produces small, beautiful bronze-green striped fruits on characteristically thin, wispy vines. Growers note that it has a decent, balanced flavor and a thick skin that makes it excellent for storage and canning, though some find it … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Fahrenheit Blues is an indeterminate, mid-season anthocyanin cherry tomato bred by US breeder Tom Wagner. It produces heavy clusters of round, large cherry tomatoes that ripen to a deep red-purple with dark shoulders. Growers praise it for its juicy texture and sweet, complex, “exotic” flavor. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Fred’s Tie Dye is a mid-early dwarf variety released by the Dwarf Tomato Project (created by Vince Lavallo as a cross between Wild Fred and Berkeley Tie Dye Pink). It grows as a stocky, tree-type bush that stays compact but can reach up to 4 feet in a greenhouse. It sets heavy … Read more