‘Proof that delicious tomatoes can be grown in the UK’: the best supermarket vine tomatoes, tasted and rated

Sweet spot: never keep tomatoes in the fridge, as it can affect their texture and taste. Photograph: Robert Billington/The Guardian. Food styling: Robert Billington.

From brick-red to intense maroon, the tomatoes in this test varied greatly, with the most flavourful ones often also being the richest in tone. I measured the sugar content using a Brix refractometer, and the tomatoes’ sweetness also varied hugely, from a sometimes bland and watery Brix score of four (each point represents 1% sucrose in the juice by mass) to a satisfyingly sweet seven.

I also scored the tomatoes on overall flavour. The sweetness of the best examples is well balanced, with a refreshing acidity, a fresh and potent tomato leaf aroma, and a complex umami profile that provides an explosion of flavour in the mouth. I also awarded points for value for money, provenance, transparency and growing methods – though, disappointingly, an organic certification did not necessarily equal the flavour I’ve come to expect.