📌 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 3.2 to 4 feet (1-1.2 m) or taller depending on greenhouse conditions. Requires staking.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark mahogany to brownish-purple fruits. The Aelita strain produces uniform, round/oblate fruits averaging around 5.3 oz (150 g), though the packet boasts much larger weights.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: A very traditional, rich, and sweet “dark tomato” flavor profile. Excellent for fresh eating and salads.
The variety turned out to be a heavy yielder, but it didn’t quite reach the advertised weight of 7 to 14 oz (200-400 g). All the fruits were perfectly uniform at about 5.3 oz (150 g) each. The flavor is good, sweet and tomatoey. I compared it side-by-side with Appetitniy (Appetizing). Appetitniy was sweeter, but Creme Brulee has a much more traditional tomato flavor, which I actually liked more.
In the last photo, both tomatoes are sliced open. Appetitniy obviously grows much larger and is more productive.
Sasha, whose seeds were they?
I don’t remember the brand, I’ll have to look it up and post it later.
I grew it the year before last and it was also smaller than advertised, no more than 5.3 oz (150 g). My seeds were from Aelita-Agro, I haven’t seen it sold by other companies.
My Creme Brulee. Seeds from Sergey Firov. It threw out some absolute whoppers on the top truss.
My Creme Brulee. Seeds from Sergey Firov. It threw out some absolute whoppers on the top truss.
The color on those looks totally different, maybe they are actually different varieties.
The color on those looks totally different, maybe they are actually different varieties.
The camera is probably to blame. Here is the plant.
Oh yeah, they look the same on the vine!
If the seeds are from Sergey Firov, that means they originally came from Aelita-Agro (I was the one who sent them to him).
Check out Gavrish’s version of Creme Brulee
And here is Aelita’s. Like night and day, huh? 😄
Has anyone grown the one from Gavrish?
Has anyone grown the one from Gavrish?
I ended up with a plant with similar fruits this year, it was a rogue seed from a store-bought packet. The flavor was just plain: mildly sweet and bland with zero acidity and a slightly dense texture. The plant height was around 3.2 to 4 feet (1 – 1.2 m). Low yield, only up to 3.3 to 4.4 lbs (1.5 – 2 kg).
User elena0508 highlights a frustrating reality in the Russian commercial seed market. Because heirloom tomato names aren’t strictly patented, multiple massive seed corporations (like Gavrish and Aelita) will often sell completely different tomatoes under the exact same catchy name! In this case, Aelita’s “Creme Brulee” is a dark mahogany beefsteak, while Gavrish’s version looks entirely different on the packet. This is why you will always see heirloom purists tracking exactly which breeder or company their original seed came from to avoid “rogue” seeds!
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