Tier Lists

Wed, Dec 12, 2018

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While at General Motors, I had a lot of opinionated discussions with friends. These conversations varied in topic and some of them involved ranking things in categories. After many of these discussions, I decided to create lists to rank the categories we discussed to compare with others. Unfortunately, I was the only one to create large and comrehensive tier lists.

This is a compilation of the tier lists I’ve created. I made 3 tier lists at GM (vegetables, fruits, desserts) and may add more tier lists in the future; I may also modify tier lists over time as I experience new items in a category or as my tastes change. I follow a scheme like fighting game tier lists: S > A > B > C > D. I also try to maintain ordering within a tier so the top item in the S tier is the best for the entire category. I’ll try to explain my reasoning for ratings and describe my criteria for rating each tier list. The criteria is an attempt to make my opinions at least partially objective. Tiers are definitely skewed by what I’ve been able to experience and have some natural inherent bias. In addition, I try to keep items general (like cake or pies) but if a specific item stands out of the general groupmfor positive or negative aspects, I’ll pull it out and rank it separately (like carrot cake).

While I listen to other people’s thoughts on my tier lists, I tend to favor my opinion and judgement over others. While there is some objectivity, the lists are still very opinionated and I consider myself the Master of the Tier Lists. Feel free to let me know your opinion – I’ll listen to your input but likely won’t change my lists based on it.

Desserts

Last updated: at GM, ~Summer 2017

Criteria: All opinion

• S: ice cream cake > ice cream = milkshakes > cookies
• A: donuts = pie = carrot cake > cheesecake
• B: fruit > brownies
• C: unfrosted cake = italian ice > candy > danishes
• D: frosted cake > icees

Veggies

Last updated: at GM, ~Winter 2017

Criteria: needs to be cooked, variety of ways to cook, general taste (uncooked & cooked), mouth feel

• S: bell pepper > carrots > spinach > garlic > red potato = golden potato
• A: zucchini > onion > asparagus > leaf lettuce = romaine lettuce > green beans > kale
• B: sweet potato > broccoli > celery > russet potato > peas > pumpkin
• C: tomato > cucumber > corn > cabbage (green) = cabbage(red) > radish
• D: cauliflower > iceberg lettuce

Fruit list

Last updated: at GM, ~Spring 2018

This list rates culinary fruits, to avoid obnoxious questions like “what about tomatoes?” Find an example list of culinary fruits here.

Criteria: variety of ways to cook, general taste, mouth feel, seasonality

• S: granny smith apple > banana
• A: strawberry > apple > avocado > red grape > blueberry > cherry > mango > pineapple > raspberry > green grape
• B: kiwi >nectarine > coconut > watermelon > cranberry > pear > lime > lemon > orange > pumpkin > peach
• C: grapefruit > red delicious apple
• D: canteloupe > honeydew