In summer 2022, I noticed that Don Don Donki was selling a whole lot of different types of tomatoes, so I got curious and bought one of each to try: 1) the Amela tomato, 2) Amela Rubins mini tomato, 3) Japanese three-coloured tomatoes (green tomatoes, yellow tomatoes and the usual red ones), 4) Kumamoto mini tomatoes, 5) Bijin premium Japanese tomato variety grown in Thailand, 6) Rosso Napolitan Italian tomato of the Mauro variety grown in Japan's Nagano Prefecture, and 7) the Momotaro tomato grown in Oita Prefecture.
I also tried them both raw and baked.
There were some especially sweet ones, such as the Amela and Amela Rubins, where the write-up said that it should be appreciated raw as it would be a waste to cook it because the flavours would be lost. But I was just curious so I also baked a small quantity of these - just one piece each.
In the image direct above, the bottom left small round container is the Amela Rubins. I had laid them out on the white plate in the same order as the boxes, so you can match the visuals to the box and name. I will describe each variety starting from Amela Rubins and moving clockwise, by default referring to the raw version unless I mention baking:
1) Amela Rubins (mini tomato): This is apparently the sweetest variety of tomato, at least back then. I don't know if they are related genetically, but they are the small version and named after the apparently famous sweetest large tomato, the Amela (the next one described below). The Amela Rubins were indeed super sweet but with a rounded umami taste, like the fullness you get from apple juice. A bit honey like. I found them better raw, as the online reviews recommend. After baking, it just tastes super sweet like honey and a bit acidic which buries any umami taste.
2) Amela: This was also very sweet and with a well-rounded umami tomato taste. I thought it had a nice hearty strong truffle afternote... not sure how people would describe the taste, but to me it seemed a bit mushroomy or truffle-like. Once again, it was better raw, as the reviews suggest. After baking, the hearty mushroom/truffle taste vanishes although it still maintains a full taste and remains enjoyable, unlike the Rubins version.
3) Tricolor green: This interesting variety had lighter tomato fragrance (the hearty umami taste), but it was grape-like, which was very interesting. It tasted like a sweet cross between a cherry tomato and a grape.
4) Tricolor orange: This was as usual sweet, but it was honey-like, and was closest to honey tomatoes in taste out of the three colours.
5) Tricolor red: This was less sweet than the other two colours, but had a fuller tomato taste with that hearty truffle afternote.
6) Kumamoto mini tomatoes: These had a full and hearty tomato taste and were kind of earthy, but not too sweet. They were great raw or baked.
7) Thailand-grown Bijin tomato: I thought this was quite ordinary, not that sweet and a bit sour/tart. Definitely better baked.
8) Rosso Napolitan tomato: These longish, gourd-like tomatoes were a bit like honey tomatoes but less sweet and with a more hearty taste. I thought they were better baked.
9) Oita large Momotaro tomato: I thought this was quite normal and unimpressive compared to the rest. I'm not sure if it's because my taste buds were already fatigued, since I tried them in this order, although I took pains to rinse my mouth and cleanse my palate with other stuff between each variety. This tomato was definitely better baked.
If you enjoyed the comparison, check out more posts on sampling here, including oysters, cheeses, nougats and abalones.
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