Taste is such a subjective, personal thing that it is hard to comment on. And much of the flavor depends on soil condition and local growing conditions, not to mention your personal expectations, ;)

But I know from reading all the posts over on the Growing Tomatoes forum about Brandywine that some share your opinion of them. Others rave about their flavor. You may want to check out the many posts about them on that forum.

Personally I have always found them to be very good but no, they aren't a beefsteak variety so I wouldn't try to compare them. But then I don't care for the beefsteak's flavor. ;)

Dave

I had the same reaction when I ate my first Brandywine this season ... Of course, nothing could ever live up the taste of the Beefsteaks grown by my father in Georgia red clay and (despite all the talk of "break") left on the wine to ripen. Kay

Brandywines have usually always been rated as being high on the flavar scale. Beefsteaks are grown usually just for their larger size and lack the true delicate tomato flavor. There are several other salad and eating type tomatoes, but most of these are quite high in liquid, As mentioned, most any tomato can have improved flavor to an extent, provided they don't have confined roots and are fed fertilizers that help enhance the taste, as well as plenty of sun. I grew an Oxheart and it was very meaty with little watery liquid. Quite good in sauces, but its meaty characteristic is its prime feature, so flavor is quite low. Smaller plum types and many minatures grow quite fast and can grow fine in pots about 8-10 inches.

I don't know about "normal" for Brandywines. I agree it's difficult to generalize. If you tasted a Beefsteak from the same grower, same garden, same season, then you'd have a good basis for comparison.

That being said, one of the things I've noticed is how great the gap is between persons when it comes to tomato likes and dislikes. One year our neighbor and we both planted Reisentraub. She loved those tomatoes. I thought they tasted awful and have never planted them again. Now Persimmon . . .

Carol

I agree, I was underwhelmed with Brandywine, finding it more acidic than tomato-y, if that makes sense.

I love nearly all tomatoes and find that a plate of mixed slices all taste different. I love the sweet taste of SunGold, the old-fashioned deep tomato flavor of Rutgers, the more tart flavor of Aunt Ruby's. Mortgage Lifter is one of my favorites and my boss said it was "the best tomato" she'd ever tasted. As Ken mentioned, many of the plum types are very meaty but not as flavorful. I can't think of a prettier vegetable tray, though, than a plate full of fresh tomato slices, yellow, red, green, purple, with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

I agree with Carol, taste is subjective. I think many of us like what we are used to or what we grew up with. And right now, I've just picked my first ripe tomatoes of the year and everyone knows the first ones just taste the best, LOL.

Annie

I guess I was remembering the beefsteaks my father used to grow because they were of a similar size and felt the same in my hand...that heavier than they look feel, coupled with the skin that's so soft you're afraid to squeeze even a little because the tomato might just explode.

I guess there must be a lot of differences, both in personal taste and flavor influenced by growing conditions. Just look at the differences of opinions in this thread!

My father's beefsteaks were rich and sweet, with a very definite tomato flavor but with almost no acid...which meant I could eat as many as I liked without getting a rash or canker sores.

Boy, when my husband and I are ready to make the move, and I have an actual veggie garden, I'm going to have so much fun trying out many different varieties.

I'm among those that find the Brandywine tomatoes nothing special in terms of flavor. I am growing several kinds this year, the regular Brandywine and the black Brandywine from Totally Tomatoes, as well as 'Brandy Boy' hybrid from Burpee.

I grew them a few years ago, and was underwhelmed with the flavor. I was expecting something really fantastic, based on all of the claims made by "foodies" about them.

Once again, this year, they are a good tomato, but just nothing particularly special. The best flavored tomatoes in my garden this year are 'Persimmon,' 'Pineapple,' 'Rainbow,' 'White Tomesol,' and my old favorite, sour little 'Fourth of July.' (Not counting 'Sungold,' and 'Sungella' -- these cherries are in a totally separate class in terms of flavor -- wish they could breed them to be beefstake sized!) Just like the previous year when I tried growing the Brandywines, this year is a cool year, and much of June and July were very wet, so not good conditions for optimal flavor development in tomatoes anyway.

Perhaps, in a much warmer and drier year, the Brandywines would develop better flavor. Also, from reading various garden forums, I understand that there are some strains of Brandywines, like the 'Sudduth' strain which are considered to have superior flavor.

Of the brandwine types I'm growing this year, the Burpee Brandy Boy hybrid is by far the most vigorous and productive, and hasn't had a problem with fruit rotting on the vine, which some of the others have.

Everything is subjective when it comes to flavor.

One of the most imporant requirements is potash (potassium) in the soil. This, along with pH will have a major effect on taste. Higher potash levels will also increase the juices. Once exposed to cold (refrigeraton) tomatoes loose a lot of character and flavor. Additionally, if cooked they also have flavor changes.

rachelellen,

Indeed, flavour is so subjective! And, as Carol points out, weather and soil can affect tomato taste a great deal too (I also find that the part of the season does, as well---my first few tomatoes are never as strongly flavoured as the later ones, and some varieties start to get a bit sour at the end of the season).

I like Brandywines, but there are lots of varieties I like better. They do tend to have an acidic "bite" to them, but I've usually found them fairly rich/deep in flavour. So hard to talk about this stuff, though, in a way that makes sense, as has been said!

Several of my own faves for complex flavour are "black" tomatoes (which really are a deep purple colour; meanwhile, tomatoes with "purple" in the name are generally pink---go figure!): Black Krim, Japanese Triefle Black, and Black Cherry.

BTW, if the tomatoes you got were a deep red, they weren't Brandywines, which are fairly pink, usualy large, and often odd-shaped. Usually not a pretty tomato. There is a tomato called Red Brandywine, a mid-large (about 10 oz) lovely, round, beautifully shaped, true red tomato. I like this one a lot---it produces really reliably in my garden and has consistently good flavour, though not as complex IMVHO as a "regular" (i.e., pink) Brandywine, which is stingy producer.

There's also one called Yellow Brandywine, which I LOVE.

About acid, btw---almost all fresh tomatoes have about the same level of acid. They taste more or less acidic depending on the amount of sugar they have balancing it out.

Is there any way you can find out what variety your father's beefsteaks were? They sound lovely! Maybe we can find someone who grows them...

Cheers,

Zabby

if you have some of these beefsteaks, cut open, remove seeds and rinse under water in a sieve. I put the seeds on a sheet of plastic wrap for about a week indoors to dry out. Then I place them in a paper envelope for next years plants. I do this with many of my favorites and its worked out very well in the past.

I wish I had some of Dad's seeds. I'll ask my stepmother if she knows what variety they were, but odds are they were just labeled "beefsteak", probably bought at a local nursery. He always grew the most beautiful tomatoes. For one thing, he had a patch away from the house, that got full sun from the time the sun came up until it went down. The soil had been primarily sand when they bought it and built their house, but he hauled truckloads of loam over the years to work in. The water came from an artesian well, so it was pretty mineral heavy. I never saw a yellow leaf in his garden. (Well, except in the Fall :D)

The tomatoes my client gave me were the pink type. Very tender, but just not what I was expecting. Of course, they were still head and shoulders above anything you can get in the stores around here...there are acres upon acres of tomato farms all around here, but they are to supply the ConAgra plant in town, not grocery store shelves.

Well, one day (hopefully soon) I will live somewhere I can have a real veggie garden and I'll start searching for my Dad's tomatoes. :D

There are Brandywines and there are other Brandywines, some time ago the emphasis was on "Suddeth strain" or something, the one, *true* Brandywine.

Aside from the factors mentioned above re flavor development, temperature plays a huge part as well. This is the biggest factor here where the nights are so cool. So many of the famous, flavorful tomatoes don't taste very impressive when the nights are consistently in the 40's - low 50's. Occasionally, we'll pick one that really does taste spectacular, so we get an idea of why everyone raves about some of these varieties. But generally, the ones that do well here, flavor-wise, are not considered all that great elsewhere - eg Pink Climber, Rutgers, and a couple varieties of ox hearts.

One thing about tomatoes (and other plants) is that they are all individuals with their own genetic makeup. There are subtle differences, hence the desire of some seed companies to hybridize and clone and the like, so they can control the process. Without that, well it's anybody's game. Good things can happen in the breeding and blah things can happen. That's the concept behind "heirloom" they can be special rare treats that came from somebody's special stock. On the other hand, they can be just so so carp that has run its course, genetically speaking. Plants are so promiscuous. Plant breeding is a fascinating subject to me!!

Two of the most varieties of tomato type suppliers are Totally Tomatoes and Tomato Growers. I bought from both and was very please with most of the ratings.