Queen of Cups

Ali Shan is blanket name used to cover a region rather than just a specific mountain, which renders it fairly useless as a way to discern quality from rubbish.  This is an affliction found with any tea that gains a bit of fame, and part of the price for having a vibrant, constantly changing industry.   But, back to the tea at hand.  We could tell you that this tea is from Ali Shan and leave it there, but where would the fun be in that? Not only is Queen of Cups worth celebrating for its bona fides, but like the Minor Arcana card this tea shares a name with, sipping it for the first time broadens the imagination of what high elevation Taiwanese oolong can be. It shows just how the craft and care taken in making a tea can manifest into a unique cup.  With its Baozhong adjacent level of next-to-no oxidation, this tea starts out with some lovely vegetal notes of artichoke and bamboo shoot in the first cup, before it begins to tear at the fabric of reality. Fragrant twinkle fantasy orchid,