X = Xanadu and Xanthia.

As long as I can remember I have known the opening lines of this piece of poetry, why I knew them I have no idea.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round:

And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Xanadu has always been considered somewhat exotic. It turns out the stately pleasure dome was Kubla-Kahn’s summer palace and inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write the poem. The palace was visited by Marco Polo in 1275 but the poem wasn’t written til 1797. Today, only ruins remain, surrounded by a grassy mound that was once the city walls. Since 2002, restoration effort has been undertaken. In June 2012, Xanadu was made a World Heritage Site.

Last year posted a Chinese recipe for this letter, I was expecting to have to again, but found this one instead.

Xanthia Cocktail

 Ingredients

1 Part Gin
1 Part Yellow Chartreuse
(A milder version of Green Chartreuse, both being made in Voiron, France. But the herbal mixture that the spirits are based upon, are made and known by three monks only. Mysterious!)
1 Part Cherry Brandy

How to mix this cocktail

Fill a mixing glass with ice cubes. Add all ingredients. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Have a great weekend.