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Today I woke up with a stiff neck and a headache, probably from ninjutsu. I took my meds and sat down with a cup of chocolate chip tea. Oh heaven. I can relax and just go through my emails and facebook. Life is better.

I was desperate for some tea that gave me a “feel good” familiarity, so I popped over to Montana Tea & Spice Trading company to check out their teas. They have a large selection of teas and tisanes, not to mention that decaf stuff I won’t touch, rooibos and yerba mate. I picked up Cinnamon Spice, falling into the desperate hope it would remind me of a much better Bigelow’s Cinnamon Stick. One whiff and thought, “oh no — not hot cinnamon.” But I forged ahead and after a flash rinse (when in doubt, flash rinse) and brewed up a pot.

The first pot had a bit of red-hot cinnamon flavor to it, but it wasn’t obnoxious. The second steep proved to be the gem — a smooth flavor of cinnamon shines through. I’d give it a much higher rating if the first pot had done that. Overall, it performed pretty well and I’m brewing a fresh pot tonight.

I’m usually not an Earl Grey fan because usually the tea is so overwhelmed with the oil of bergamot that it gives me a headache. Not so with this tea. I opened up the sample and I thought “wow, this is really strong,” so I flash rinsed it first before making the tea. The tea is lovely. The bergamot is there, but not overpowering. The tea tastes good with or without sugar.

Now, I can be like Captain Picard and say, “Earl Grey, hot.”

Pretty darn good, if I do say so. I was rummaging through my copious samples for something to try and stumbled on the cherry black tea. I really didn’t expect it to be any good, but the flavor won me over immediately. It doesn’t taste artificial and it works well with sugar. Other cherry teas have been awful, but this is pretty tasty. I think I’m going to buy a tin next order.

I’ve been drinking this several days in a row as I’m out of my current chocolate chip tea and need to reorder soon. Yunnan Gold is a good Chinese tea — smooth with a bit of pepper to liven things up. I’ve been using a small amount of sugar in my tea lately because I’ve been so tired, so the sugar actually brings out the rich flavor of this tea (despite me not wanting to use sugar usually).

This is an excellent tea. Try it.

I almost feel human now. I received by bag of Adagio Chocolate Chip tea today, refilling my woefully empty canister. Yes, I’ve been drinking some very good tea in the meantime, but there’s nothing like drinking something that just comforts you. This tea does.

I’m not sure what to think about this tea. Maybe I used too little leaf, but it really unwound when I added the hot water to it. Honey-colored and very light, I’m into more robust teas such as darker oolongs and blacks. A pleasant enough mouth-feel that I always get when drinking oolongs.

It reminds me a lot of Chinese greens, which is probably the closest thing to this tea. I don’t get the intense florals in it, although I do taste floral. I suspect my palate is no where near refined enough to pick out all the subtle flavors, but I do use thrice-filtered well water which probably kills those right off along with my constant sinus stuff.

I’m glad I have a sample as I would probably pass on buying this tea. It’s not extraordinary but it was nice to try.

Decided on Golden Monkey today partially because I’m out of Chocolate Chip and need to buy more. Nevertheless this is a favorite black tea of mine and I’m convinced that the Chinese make some of the best black tea out there.