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: Marmeladnaya Lampochka (Marmalade Bulb) is an indeterminate, mid-season dark tomato originating from the Siberian gardening club “Tyapka” in the early 1980s. The fruits are pear- or bulb-shaped, turning a matte burgundy color while keeping a characteristic greenish, puckered blossom end. Growers rave about its heavy yields and its namesake “marmalade” or jelly-like … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Emerald Monisto is a firm, crunchy, sweet dark (?) cherry tomato from the seed company Gavrish. While growers love its crisp texture and disease resistance, the yield can be hit or miss. This thread also covers the rest of the “Monisto” series (Chocolate, Amber/Yellow, and Pink), revealing that Pink Monisto is actually … Read more
At a Glance 🍅 Quick take: Bear Creek is a mid-season, indeterminate dark beefsteak. Growers absolutely rave about its complex, incredibly sweet flavor with a rich, fruity aftertaste. It produces dense, meaty, brownish-cherry fruits up to 17 oz (480 g). While it can be susceptible to late blight and cracking in bad weather, its phenomenal … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Sgt. Pepper’s Raspberry Points is a mid-season, indeterminate anthocyanin variety developed from the famous Sgt. Pepper lineage. It produces a massive wall of 3.5-5.3 oz (100-150 g) raspberry-pink fruits with dark purple antho shoulders. The shapes are wonderfully unpredictable, ranging from ribbed flattened hearts with pointy “beaks” to blunt plums. Growers love … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Longhorn is an indeterminate, early-to-mid-season oxheart originating from the US. It produces stunning elongated hearts in a deep purple-pink color with olive-green shoulders. Averaging up to 10.5 oz (300 g), the fruits are practically seedless, incredibly meaty, and boast a rich, sweet, and complex flavor. Growers rave about its massive yields and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Linnie’s Oxheart (also known as Linnaeus Heart) is a highly praised indeterminate USA oxheart variety that produces gorgeous, brick-red to brownish fruits weighing 7 to 14 oz. Known for its meaty texture, almost seedless flesh, and exceptionally sweet, rich flavor, it has become a permanent staple for many growers. The thread below … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Kazachka (Cossack Woman) is an indeterminate, late-season dark tomato from Siberian Garden (Sibsad). It produces long, braided clusters of brownish-cherry cocktail/plum fruits weighing 1-3 oz (30-80 g). While growers warn that it ripens late and has tender skin that can split when picked, it is highly praised for its massive yields and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Kiryukha is a dark-fruited (black) semi-determinate variety that grows very compactly, reaching only about 5 feet (1.5 m) in the greenhouse. It produces uniform 5-7 oz (150-200 g) round slicing tomatoes with excellent flavor. Unusually for black tomatoes, it has a decent shelf life and doesn’t get mushy quickly. It sets fruit … Read more
🍅 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