Kir Royale

We’re going to tell you all about the Kir Royale cocktail recipe in just a moment, but first let us introduce you to some other champagne cocktails: the Purple Shimmering Champagne, the Champagne Dreams cocktail, the Cotton Candy Pink Champagne, and the Rock Candy Champagne. Now on to the history of the Kir Royale cocktail, which is pretty boring. Nah, just kidding! Although if we’re talking about the history of the Kir Royal cocktail recipe, we’re really talking about the history of the Kir cocktail recipe. This is because the Kir Royal — or Kir Royale, we’ve seen different spellings online — is simply a variation of the Kir cocktail. As the Kir Royal Wiki notes, “[The] Kir Royal is a French cocktail, a variation on Kir. It consists of crème de cassis topped with champagne, rather than the white wine used in traditional Kir.” So yeah, the Kir Royal is just the Kir, except it uses champagne rather than white wine. So how about the history of the Kir cocktail? Let’s steal a little description from our Kir cocktail description: The history of the Kir cocktail recipe, which has its roots in World War II and a French resistance movement doing what it could against an invading Nazi army. Really though, Nazis? Yes! According to VinePair, the Kir was “reportedly named for Felix Kir, a Catholic priest and decorated member of the French resistance.” VinePair adds that “When Nazi soldiers marched into Dijon, Burgundy, in 1940, many local officials fled… [but] Kir remained in the city, helping more than 4,000 prisoners of war escape from a nearby camp.” The Kir cocktail recipe Wiki notes that “the reinvention of blanc-cassis [the Kir’s predecessor] (post 1945) was necessitated by the German Army's confiscation of all the local red Burgundy during the war. Faced with an excess of white wine, Kir renovated a drink that used to be made primarily with the red.” Bang, Kir sticks it to the Nazis again! So, yes, this drink is named after a dang World War II hero. Salute these Kir and Kir Royale cocktails!! (We’ll get to the Kir Royale cocktail recipe below.) Wait, what is the Kir cocktail recipe exactly? According to the Kir IBA cocktail page, it’s just dry white wine and Crème de Cassis. And that’s why our Kir cocktail recipe, available as a video and recipe above, is the exact same combination of ingredients. And if you really want to go deep on making a perfectly accurate Kir cocktail recipe, Wine Enthusiast notes that “It’s traditionally made with Aligoté, the ‘other’ Burgundian white variety that isn't Chardonnay, but any leftover dry white wine will do.” So get some Aligoté all up in your life and make the classic Kir cocktail recipe the right way! (Although, to be totally fair, The Spruce Eats notes that “The choice of white wine is something of personal taste; dry wines are preferred, Chablis is a great option.” And as a little postscript here, we'd like to present to you some other Crème de Cassis cocktail recipes: the Claro Cassis, the El Diablo, the Flaming Moe, and Sex on The Beach #2. KIR ROYALE 1/4 oz. (7.5ml) Creme de Cassis Champagne Garnish: Lemon Twist PREPARATION 1. Add creme de cassis to a champagne flute. Top with champagne. 2. Garnish with lemon twist. Serve DRINK RESPONSIBLY!