O What's Your Name Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

"The best quality tea must have creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam like a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like a fine earth swept newly by rain."
- Lu Yu 'The Sage of Tea'


From the middle of seated crowd,
He gazes at me, sideways
Saying nothing. He wears a camel-wool coat.
Drawned, he smiles and greets me.
He leaves, and comes back
Hands me over a gift, that reads,

"By appointment of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Tea and coffee merchants R. Twining & Company limited London.
TWININGS, ORIGINAL English BREAKFAST,
Since 1706
PERFECT WITH A SLICE OF BUTTERY TOAST OR A FULL ENGLISH.
What's your favourite breakfast?
for many people it's bacon and eggs, with a slice or
two of buttery toast. Not as essential, though, as a
good cup of tea. This original blend is the perfect start
to the day. They say breakfast's the most important
meal. We say this tea's the most important drink.

As the Original English Breakfast it carries Stephen
Twinings' signature, still working at Twinings, just as
his ancestors did many years ago.

Our English Breakfast master blender searches
relentlessly for the best teas from Assam, Ceylon and
Kenya to give a perfectly balanced blend. We don't
stop at just one tea from each origin, as each specially
chosen tea garden adds a defining taste and quality to
the end blend.
Every cup you drink contains tea from 15 different tea
gardens. The master blender has a busy task, the large
number of tea gardens and seasonal fluctuations mean
for every batch they juggle the levels of each tea in
the recipe to give a consistently first class cup of tea.

TWININGS
The journey from the tea garden to your cup…
When it comes to tea we're a little different from
everybody else. The way we buy and blend is
unique; we choose from more origins than
anyone else and have a master blender dedicated
to each of these locations. What they don't know
about their tea gardens and where to find the
best quality, isn't worth knowing. It is said that 7
is a lucky number, for us it's the number of times
the master blenders tastes each batch to make
sure that the quality from it's exotic origin
reaches your cup.

We suggest…
Use one tea bag each and pour on boiling
water. Leave the tea to brew for three
to five minutes or until you think it's ready.
then add a splash of milk.

Ethical Tea
Partnership
We care about the communities where our tea is
grown and picked and this is why we are a founder
member of Ethical Tea Partnership, which works
to improve tea workers' welfare and the environment
in which they live.
Twinings have also supported a range of projects
since 2004, including improving health services and
nutrition, providing access to clean water, better
education and assisting children with disabilities.
Together with our partners we have helped over half
a million children in China and India. To find out more
about our projects visit www…

Ingredients
100% black tea

Still blended and packed with pride in the UK
from imported ingredients …
We'd love to answer anything you need to
know about tea. You can ring the UK tealine…
Monday to Friday,8 till 6. Or you can visit our
website…"

O What's your name,
My old dear friend
But while you gifted me this
You said ‘from a proletariat'.
And the wrapper reads,
‘Shams'
Home to a connoisseur.

I shall taste it tomorrow
I wish the rain continues
And blend my ideas of the evening with her.
Ideas!

Sadiqullah Khan
Islamabad
January 21,2015.