No. 006 · heirloom
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Purple is an indeterminate heirloom beefsteak with dusky rose-purple with green shoulders fruit. It ripens in about 80 days.
Flavor
Widely described as rich, sweet and smoky with a savory depth that makes it a benchmark dark heirloom. As with every flavor note here, this is the recurring description, not a measured claim.
Origin
Seeds were sent in 1990 by John Green of Sevierville, Tennessee to heirloom grower Craig LeHoullier, with the claim that the tomato had been grown by the Cherokee people more than a century earlier. LeHoullier named it and shared it with Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, which first offered it commercially in 1993. The pre-1990 history is traditional and not independently documented.
What it does well
- Complex, much-loved flavor
- Adapts to many climates
- Large, handsome slicing fruit
Where it frustrates
- Green shoulders that need trimming
- Can crack
- Moderate yield for its size
Like Cherokee Purple, but...
Sold out, or after a change? The closest alternatives, and how they differ.
Sources
- Cherokee Purple · Wikipedia