Chocolate Stripes Tomato

The best black tomato you have probably never grown

Ask a gardener to name a dark, rich heirloom tomato and you will hear the same two names. Cherokee Purple and Black Krim.

The Chocolate Stripes tomato deserves to be in that conversation and rarely is. In blind taste tests it quietly beats far more famous varieties, yet most people have never tried it.

It also solves a problem those famous blacks share. Dark tomatoes are notoriously hard to read for ripeness, and this one wears its ripeness on its skin.

So this is a tomato that tastes like a champion and tells you exactly when to pick it. This guide covers what it is, why the stripes matter, and how to grow it well.

What the Chocolate Stripes tomato actually is

This is a large dark beefsteak, striped rather than solid. The fruit is a deep mahogany red with dark olive green stripes running down from the shoulders.

The fruit is good sized, usually 8 to 12 ounces, and flattened in the classic beefsteak shape. Cut one open and the flesh is a deep brick red, meaty and juicy. The rich color runs right through.

The flavor is where it earns its place among the black tomatoes. It runs complex, sweet, and earthy, with a wine like depth that fans rave about.

The plant is a tall indeterminate vine with regular leaf foliage. It keeps setting fruit into autumn and needs strong support, like any big heirloom vine.

Expect ripe fruit around 80 to 90 days from transplant, which puts it in the mid to late season. Give it your warmest, sunniest spot for the best flavor.

The stripes are a ripeness gauge you can read

Here is the clever part that no seed packet spells out. On most black tomatoes, knowing when to pick is genuinely hard, because they never turn red.

Chocolate Stripes gives you a visual clock instead. As the fruit ripens, the base deepens from a flat mahogany toward a rich burgundy. At the same time, those bold green stripes soften and fade.

So you read two signals at once. A ripe fruit shows deep, dusky color with stripes that have gone muted rather than sharp and grassy.

Back that up with a gentle squeeze. A ripe one gives slightly and twists off the vine with almost no pull, just like a ripe red beefsteak.

That built in gauge is a real gift. It makes this one of the easiest dark tomatoes to harvest at its peak. Its famous cousins leave you guessing.

It quietly wins taste tests

This is not just a pretty tomato. Its reputation was built at the table.

At the Carmel TomatoFest, a well known heirloom tomato tasting, Chocolate Stripes has repeatedly landed among the top ranked varieties. It has impressed both the crowds and the professional tasting panels there.

That matters because those events pit hundreds of varieties against each other. To finish near the top, again and again, a tomato has to deliver real flavor, not just novelty.

So when growers who have tried everything call this one of their favorite blacks, there is history behind the claim. It is a genuine flavor heavyweight that happens to fly under the radar.

The only reason it is not more famous is marketing, not merit. The big names had a head start, and this one simply never got the same spotlight. Grow it once and you will wonder why it is not on every seed rack.

So many chocolate tomatoes, and how to keep them straight

Shopping for it can get confusing fast. The word chocolate shows up on a whole cluster of dark tomatoes, and they are not the same plant.

Chocolate Stripes is the large, striped, dark beefsteak covered here. That striping is its signature and the easiest way to spot it.

Chocolate Cherry and Chocolate Sprinkles are small snacking tomatoes, not beefsteaks. Chocolate Sprinkles is a striped cherry hybrid, while Chocolate Cherry is a solid brown cherry.

Then there is Black Zebra, a smaller striped black that looks like a miniature cousin of this one. It is closer in looks but a different variety with smaller fruit.

So when you buy, look past the word chocolate. Check for a large, striped, dark beefsteak, and confirm it is open pollinated, which the true Chocolate Stripes is.

What it tastes like

This is the reason to grow it, so let us be specific. The flavor is rich, sweet, and deeply savoury, in the way the best black tomatoes are.

Growers reach for words like complex, earthy, and wine like to describe it. There is a low acid, almost smoky depth under the sweetness that makes each slice interesting.

It is a world away from a flat supermarket tomato. This is a sit up and take notice flavor, the kind that converts people to growing dark heirlooms.

It shines sliced fresh, where its color and depth carry the plate. It makes a stunning sandwich or salad tomato, and its looks alone start conversations.

The best ways to use it

This is a fresh eating tomato first and foremost. A thick slice with flaky salt and good oil shows off both the color and the deep flavor. Nothing else is needed.

It is a natural on a burger or a sandwich. The meaty flesh holds up and does not turn the bread soggy. Layered into a salad, the dark slices look striking against greens and lighter tomatoes.

You can cook it too, and it makes a rich, dark sauce. That said, the striping and beauty are lost in the pot. Most growers save this one for the plate and cook with plainer tomatoes.

If you grow a few plants, slice and freeze the extras rather than cooking them down. The flavor holds better frozen whole than reduced to sauce.

How to grow the Chocolate Stripes tomato, start to finish

Starting seeds

Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost. Sow a quarter inch deep in fresh seed starting mix, kept warm around 70 to 80°F.

Give strong light the moment they sprout so they stay stocky. Pot up at the first true leaves and feed at half strength.

Transplanting and spacing

Plant out after frost, once nights hold above 50°F. Harden the seedlings off over a week first, then bury two thirds of the stem for strong roots.

Space plants about 3 feet apart. A big indeterminate heirloom needs the room and the airflow.

Soil and feeding

Grow it in rich, well drained soil at a pH near 6.2 to 6.8. Work compost and a balanced fertilizer into the planting hole, then feed lightly once fruit sets. Our guide to feeding tomatoes covers the timing.

Keep nitrogen modest. Too much drives leaf at the cost of fruit on a plant this vigorous.

Light and water

Give it full sun, at least 6 to 8 hours a day. Water deeply and evenly, aiming for 1 to 2 inches a week at the base.

Steady moisture is your best guard against cracking, which this thin skinned heirloom is prone to. A soaker hose under mulch keeps the rhythm even through summer heat.

Support

This is a tall, heavy vine that needs strong support from day one. A sturdy cage or a stout stake both work well. Our guide to supporting tomatoes lays out the options.

Tie in the main stems as they climb. A plant loaded with large fruit gets top heavy fast.

Growing in containers

You can grow this vigorous vine in a large pot, but it needs real room. Use at least a 15 gallon container with a strong cage set at planting time.

Container plants dry out fast, and dry swings are exactly what crack this thin skinned fruit. Check the soil daily in summer heat and water before it dries out. Our guide to growing tomatoes in pots covers the container basics.

Problems to watch

Cracking. This thin skinned heirloom splits easily when heavy watering follows a dry spell. Keep moisture steady and mulch well to buffer the swings, and see our tomato problem guide.

Early blight. Like most heirlooms, it has little bred in resistance. North Carolina State Extension recommends good airflow and removing spotted lower leaves, as our tomato disease guide explains.

Blossom end rot. A dark, sunken patch on the fruit bottom, driven by uneven watering. Fix the watering rhythm rather than reaching for sprays.

Misreading ripeness. Easier here than on other blacks, but still possible. Wait for the stripes to fade and the base to deepen before you pick.

Harvest and storage

Pick each fruit once the stripes fade and the base deepens to burgundy, and it gives to a gentle squeeze. Cut the stem rather than tugging, since a ripe beefsteak this soft bruises easily off the vine.

Store ripe fruit on the counter, not in the fridge. Cold flattens the flavor and turns the flesh mealy, which is a waste on a tomato this good.

If frost threatens late in the season, pick any fruit showing good color and let it finish indoors. It will deepen and soften on a warm windowsill over a few days. Even so, the flavor is always fullest when the fruit ripens on the plant.

Why the flavor changes from garden to garden

Growers often find the same variety tasting richer one year and flatter the next. That is not a fault in your plants.

Oregon State University Extension notes that more sunlight means more photosynthesis, and more photosynthesis means more sugar in the fruit. A hot, sunny, well watered season brings out this tomato’s deep, sweet best.

A cool or shaded summer pushes it milder and less complex. So give it your sunniest spot and steady water for the flavor its fans rave about.

The lesson is to judge a new variety over a couple of seasons. One cloudy summer is not a fair test of what it can do.

Saving seeds

Good news for seed savers. The Chocolate Stripes tomato is an open pollinated heirloom, so saved seed grows true to type.

Scoop the seeds and gel from your best ripe fruit into a jar with a little water. Ferment for 2 to 3 days, rinse, and dry them on a plate before storing.

Next year’s plants will be Chocolate Stripes again, flavor and stripes and all. Saving your own seed is the cheapest way to grow this beauty every season.

Chocolate Stripes vs Cherokee Purple vs Black Krim

Against Cherokee Purple, the two are close on flavor, both deep and complex. Cherokee Purple is the famous name, while Chocolate Stripes adds the striking stripes and an easier ripeness read.

Against Black Krim, this variety usually cracks less of a problem to read and often tastes just as rich. Black Krim leans saltier and can be fussier about splitting.

My honest take is simple. If you already love the famous blacks, Chocolate Stripes is the next one to try. It may quietly become your favorite.

The verdict

The Chocolate Stripes tomato is one of the most underrated tomatoes you can grow. It pairs a genuine taste test flavor with looks that stop people in their tracks.

Best of all, it fixes the one real headache of dark tomatoes. The fading stripes and deepening color tell you exactly when to pick, where its famous cousins leave you guessing.

Grow it if you love rich, dark, complex tomatoes and want something a little different. Give it sun, steady water, and strong support, and it rewards you with big, beautiful, delicious fruit.

For a gardener ready to look past the usual names, this striped beauty is genuinely hard to beat.