I can't stand the taste of ground cherries, not that you asked for my input here.
Geocin is the organic compound that's made by soil dwelling Streptomyces bacteria and it's responsible for that earthy smell of soil.
I like sniffing soil but it's that same smell that I detect with ground cherries that turns me off completely, let alone the taste.
Sorry I can't be as enthusaistic as the rest of you and yes, I've grown them, started out with Aunt Molly's.
Just a wee comment here. Ground cherry doesn't refer to one species. All ground cherries, so to speak, are in the genus Physalis, same genus as those decorative Chinese Lanterns, but there are several different species of ground cherries. Some of them are ground huggers and others are taller upright plants.
So I think unless one knows exactly what they're tasting/growing, it's hard to make comparisons.