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Made with Champagne and crème de cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur), a Kir Royale (or Kir Royal) is a fruity French cocktail great for sipping before dinner.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Creme de cassis: a sweet liquor made with blackcurrants.
- Champagne: Authentic Kir Royales must be made with French Champagne. If you substitute another dry sparkling wine such as Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava, the drink is called a Kir Pétillant.
Step-by-step instructions
- To a chilled Champagne flute or wine glass, add 1 ounce creme de cassis. Top with champagne.
- Garnish and serve.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 cocktail.
- Glassware: The Kir Royale cocktail is traditionally served in a fluted glass.
- Big batch: To make a batch of 8 cocktails, combine 4 ounces (¼ cup) crème de cassis and 40 ounces (5 cups) dry sparkling wine in a pitcher. Have champagne flutes and garnishes on hand so guests can help themselves.
- Kir: To make the original Kir cocktail, substitute chilled white wine for the dry sparkling wine.
- Kir Imperiál: Substitute Chambord (a black raspberry liqueur) for the crème de cassis.
- Kir Pétillant: Substitute another dry sparkling wine, such as Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava, for the French Champagne.
- Garnish: Fresh blackberries or a lemon slice are both common garnishes.
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Kir Royal
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce creme de cassis (1 tablespoon, see note 1)
- 5 ounces Champagne (¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, see note 2)
- 1 slice lemon or fresh blackberries, for garnish
Instructions
- To a chilled fluted glass, add 1 ounce creme de cassis. Top with Champagne and garnish.
Notes
- Creme de cassis: a sweet liquor made with blackcurrants.
- Champagne: Authentic Kir Royales must be made with French Champagne. If you substitute another dry sparkling wine such as Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava, the drink is called a Kir Pétillant.
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 cocktail.
- Glassware: The Kir Royale cocktail is traditionally served in a fluted glass.
- Big batch: To make a batch of 8 cocktails, combine 4 ounces (¼ cup) crème de cassis and 40 ounces (5 cups) dry sparkling wine in a pitcher. Have champagne flutes and garnishes on hand so guests can help themselves.
- Garnish: Fresh blackberries or a lemon slice are both common garnishes.
- Kir: To make the original Kir cocktail, substitute chilled white wine for the dry sparkling wine.
- Kir Imperiál: Substitute Chambord (a black raspberry liqueur) for the crème de cassis.
- Kir Pétillant: Substitute another dry sparkling wine, such as Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava, for the French Champagne.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
