Lettuce appreciation society

I had most success last year with Mordore, which is a dark red romaine - I grew them in the shade of my CFBs where they went unnoticed by the pigeons! It also looked decorative and had a nice crunch to it. I don't mind a slightly bitter lettuce as long as it has good texture, as one can always "dilute" the flavour with milder leaves and/or counter it with a sweet dressing. What I'm not so keen on are the soft, floppy butterhead type, or watery iceberg.

I used the Charles Dowding method of only picking the outer leaves, and they carried on cropping for weeks on end. Plus doing this means they soon grow well clear of the soil, so slug damage is minimal.

The only downside was the price - at £3.99 for about 40 seeds it was the most expensive lettuce I've ever bought! Confusingly, some sources say that it's an F1 variety, and the price seems in line with that, but most listings don't mention it so I'm not sure. Maybe it just doesn't set seed easily?

I'll be growing it again this year, as I have seed left over, as well as some new-to-me varieties: Crisp Mint (another romaine), Grenoble Red (batavia) and the loose leaf lettuces I mentioned in the other thread: Elf Ears Oak and Really Red Deer Tongue.