Tomato Juice

Bright-tasting tomato juice can be a powerful plus in cooking, and we wanted to keep a good multipurpose bottle on hand. After tasting three brands, we preferred “clean,” “sweet” fruit flavor derived from the fewest, simplest ingredients. “Tinny,” “sour” flavors—and, in one case, too much salt—stood out when we sampled them straight up, but these differences were less apparent in the cooked sauce, where they were masked by garlic, onions, and spices. Tasters also preferred drinking juice that had some body but wasn’t pulpy.

All of the juices were acceptable, but there was just one brand we liked for drinking and in cooking.