Kir Royale Recipe
A Kir Royale is the easiest elegant cocktail you will ever build: blackcurrant liqueur meets cold dry sparkling wine in a flute. Five minutes, two bottles, one gorgeous ruby pour that tastes like blackberries and brioche.
Ingredients
- 0.5 ozcreme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)
- 5 ozdry sparkling wine, brut, well chilled
Garnish
- Optional: a single raspberry or a thin lemon twist
Equipment: Champagne flute, jigger, bar spoon, clean towel for a tidy pour
Method
- Chill the flute and the sparkling wine thoroughly, at least 2 hours in the fridge.
- Pour 0.5 oz creme de cassis into the bottom of the flute.
- Tilt the flute and slowly pour the chilled sparkling wine down the inside of the glass to preserve bubbles.
- Give it one gentle stir with a bar spoon to marry the cassis and wine, then top with the last splash of wine.
- Garnish with a raspberry or lemon twist if you like, and serve immediately.
About the Kir Royale
The Kir Royale is a French cafe staple named for Felix Kir, the Dijon mayor and Resistance figure who popularized a blackcurrant and white wine aperitif after World War II. Swap the still white wine for Champagne or another dry sparkling wine and the drink becomes a Kir Royale, a ruby colored flute that has anchored French aperitif culture ever since. The formula is deliberately simple: a small measure of creme de cassis, then cold brut sparkling wine to the top.
Nailing it comes down to temperature and restraint. Use a brut or extra brut sparkling wine so the wine’s acidity balances the liqueur’s sweetness, and keep the cassis to about half an ounce so the drink stays crisp rather than syrupy. Chill both bottles well, pour slowly down the side of the flute, and stir just once. A dry Prosecco, Cremant, or Cava all work beautifully if Champagne is not on the table.
- Keep the cassis to 0.5 oz; too much turns the drink sweet and flat.
- Use brut or extra brut sparkling wine for balance, not a sweet or demi-sec bottling.
- Chill the flute in the freezer for 10 minutes so the bubbles last longer.
- Pour the wine slowly down the glass wall to keep the mousse lively.
Get the bottles delivered
Order online for same-day or next-day Long Island delivery, free curbside pickup in Commack, or nationwide shipping where it is legal. You must be 21 or older.
