Saturday morning was about the most perfect morning a tomato lover could ask for! Our new venue at The Local Pig turned out to be absolutely perfect for the crowd of nearly 100 tasters. We had cloudy skies and a gentle breeze with temps in the low 80’s making for beautiful weather.
At 9:00 a.m. the tasters began to arrive and by 10:00 everyone was feasting on delicious pork from The Local Pig, soft bread from Farm to Market, and lots and lots of tomatoes provided by many Kansas City gardeners and a generous donation from Bear Creek Farms! We also had Olive Tree bring some of their wonderful oils and vinegar for us to enjoy on our tomatoes and bread.
Many people brought in delicious dishes for us to try as well including peanut butter stuffed jalapenos, tomato/watermelon gazpacho, a BLT cheesecake, breads, cheeses, and many other tasty offerings. The fine folks from Tomato Town were great help in getting things set-up and keeping the event running smoothly. I also have to give the most thanks to my awesome wife for running the registration table and keeping me in line! 😉
In a completely un-scientific method, we did a tomato tasting vote. Each participant was given 5 tickets to write down the names of their favorite varieties. Some of the tasters didn’t get a chance to taste all of the 60+ varieties we had available as we ran out of a few due to limited availability. Some of the varieties may not have been at their peak flavor due to the crazy weather we’ve had lately. Some varieties were sliced after most everyone had finished voting. Not everyone chose to vote, but those who did seemed to have a great time choosing which ones they really liked!
| Variety | Votes |
| Sungold | 24 |
| Carbon | 18 |
| Snow White | 18 |
| Black Cherry | 15 |
| Golden Peach | 14 |
| Pineapple | 14 |
| Kiss the Sky | 13 |
| Cherokee Purple | 13 |
| Black Krim | 12 |
| Matt’s Wild Cherry | 11 |
| Goose Creek | 9 |
| Black Brandywine | 9 |
| Black Cherry x Quartz | 9 |
| Black from Tula | 9 |
| Lemon Boy | 8 |
| Yoder’s German Yellow | 7 |
| Bear Creek | 7 |
| Chocolate Stripes | 7 |
| Solar Flare | 6 |
| Kosovo | 5 |
| Ananis Noir | 5 |
| Turk’s Mutts | 5 |
| Goliath | 5 |
| Amish Canning | 5 |
| Porter | 5 |
| Black Giant | 4 |
| Jet Star | 4 |
| P&J Ellis | 3 |
| Black Stripe | 3 |
| Red Pear Giant Gran Sasso Strain | 3 |
| Costoluto Genovese | 3 |
| ? | 2 |
| Nepal | 2 |
| Gregori’s Altai | 2 |
| German Johnson | 2 |
| KBX | 2 |
| Pink Ox | 2 |
| Campari | 1 |
| San Marzano | 1 |
| Green Doctor’s Frosted | 1 |
| Better Boy | 1 |
| Kimberly | 1 |
| Early Girl | 1 |
| Nyagous | 1 |
| White Tomesol (sp?) | 1 |
As you can see, there were votes for a LOT of different varieties which shows you how varied people’s tastes are. We were missing most of the Brandywine’s this year due to the late harvest, but Black Brandywine was present and did fairly well. Sungold reigns supreme even in a tough growing year. The old school slicers such as Jet Star, Better Boy and Early Girl did not fare too well when compared to the flavor powerhouses of Carbon, Goose Creek, Pineapple, and Cherokee Purple.
I hope everyone had a great time and we’ll do it again next year! Mark your calendars for August 2, 2014!
KC Tomato Times Blog 
Fifth Annual Tomato Tasting, A Success! – Tomato Town organically grows heirloom tomatoes in the greater Kansas City area as well as Johnson County, Leawood, Lenexa, Olathe, Shawnee, Merriam KS, Independence MO and Kansas City Missouri, KCMO. Variet said
[…] All in attendance had an opportunity to vote for their favorite tomato varieties. James Worley has posted the results of his tasting survey online. […]