Talking To The Moon

A cup raised to ask the sky. The moon lights the sleepless, growing full and thin as people meet and part. It comes from Su Shi's poem Prelude to Water Melody , and captures the bittersweet solitude of drinking alone beneath the moon. Every material is grouped under a word from the poem's Chinese text. Borneol is the moon, the bitter chill and the endless night. One of the four traditional Chinese incense materials, it is often used in eternal lamps. Maotai-flavor liquor and absinthe are the drink, oakmoss the wind. Castoreum is regret, intense yet resigned, the warmth of tears welling up against the sweetness of osmanthus. Borneol and castoreum together come out ink-like, an accidental echo of Imperial Ink, blended in ancient China from borneol and musk. Sandalwood and orris are the sleepless night. Cashmeran closes the night with a silky touch.