I grew Emerite and Spanish pole beans this year and like the taste of both. Spanish just slightly better tasting. Any opinions on the best tasting pole bean?
Emerite is sweet with relatively low bean flavor. I presume “spanish” is Spanish Musica which is a wide flat bean with decent flavor. Do you want a bean for canning? or strictly for cooking and eating fresh? and do you want pole or bush?
My first suggestion would be Alabama #1 which is a very good flavored pole snap bean also good for canning. Fortex is a good bean for fresh snaps.
2 Likes
I like Fortex. Good flavor, straight, healthy here. I usually steam them but sometimes fry with oil, garlic, salt, maybe a bit of bacon.
3 Likes
I used to love pole beans…then i got into these… i think they are Romano beans? Delicious.
best ones ive tried were the yellow venice or valencia pole bean from johnnys. super productive also.
2 Likes
I grew the most amazing pole beans about 4 years ago here. A whole wall full called Blue Lake. But they only made a couple beans literally I don’t know why. So I grew bush beans after that and I get many now. Maybe it’s too hot here for the pole beans.
@Fusion_power Yes Spanish Musica is the pole bean I grew. Growing pole beans for cooking or fresh but not canning.
Alabama #1 is a good starting point. If you want a more robust flavor, Kentucky Wonder is arguably an old and reliable standard. Most modern beans IMO are too sweet.
2 Likes
My favorite snap bean is the Oriental yard-long bean. It has a consistently good, mild flavor and is the easiest bean to prepare because it has no strings. I freeze most of the crop for use all winter.
1 Like
Kentucky Wonder, hands down. 
2 Likes
La Vigneronne-- snap, full, light green pod with burgundy spatters. Very good greasy/full bean. stringless, stays tender when larger.
3 Likes