As my username suggests, I really got the heirloom bug awhile ago and have pursued it with a passion. But...

Last year, after nursing over 16 different heirloom varieties to fruit, I have to say honestly that a friend's "Better Boy" (or something like that) tasted about as good as anything from my precious heirlooms. And, no disease, cracking, etc. etc.

I'm not selling out on the heirlooms and am excited to grow and try some more next year, but I'm hoping for some help from those with more experience. What hybrids would you recommend to a real "heirloom fan"?

I should qualify a bit. What made me fall in love with heirlooms was the first Brandywine I grew to fruit. Slicing it open, with the dark, dense meat, it seemed like tomato "sushi", not the juice and seed-filled collapsing things I'd previously experienced from grocery store tomatoes. The flavor was amazingly intense and rich (perhaps because it was the first one I ever tasted), but at that moment, I knew what everyone had been talking about. Can I find something like this in a hybrid? Thanks for any suggestions or recommendations,

eric

Other hybrids I am fond of but each tastes differently:

Big Zac (Huge, pure tomato taste)
Momotaro (Sweet n Juicy and a perfect looking dark pink tomato but a little on the small side)

I delight in growing both.

For a dream tomato you want Dombito Hybrid. It's a glorious round, red, eye-candy tomato with satiny flesh and oh so sweet and tangy flesh. Nirvana.

TT may be the only place to find it affordably priced, they sell ten seeds for $1.25. Actually, I'm not sure there's another place that sells it to the public. It's very pricey to buy in bulk.

Golden Girl is widely available. It is determinate and so makes an easily controllable plant. I've grown these in a the ground and an Earthbox with equal success. GG makes a smallish plant from germination and doesn't get nearly as "leggy" as some bigger tomatoes. To my wife and I, the taste is great -- sweet and tangy.

A similar-tasting (but larger) tomato is Golden Sunray, but it is OP and indeterminate. I first encountered Sunray as a ~10 year-old at the Indiana State Fair, Purdue University Ag. exposition. I remember it so well since I had never seen a "yellow" tomato. I've grown it many times.

-WC

Anyhow, my list always includes some hybrids, including: Brandy Boy, Momotaro, Moreton, Ramapo, Supersonic and Sungold to name a few. The flavor of all these varieties is superb.