A taste of the desert

[Photo provided to China Daily]

"It's a drink that captures the essence of the Silk Road," says Beijing's barman Badr Benjelloun about one of his favorite cocktails, From Kashgar with Love. What's in it? Spanish gin, fresh-squeezed apple juice, crushed date, grapefruit bitters and freshly roasted cumin. The Moroccan native is well-versed in the lore of the Silk Road - his country dispatched Ibn Battuta to explore the world, and in 1345 he arrived at Quanzhou in China's Fujian province. Benjelloun has embraced the culture of the era in the food and the live music of his restaurant and bar, Caravan.

44 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8563-0801.