Kir Royale: Recipe, Ratio and the Story of Canon Kir

A Kir Royale is a splash of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped with Champagne in a flute. Its older sibling, the plain Kir, uses dry white wine instead, traditionally Bourgogne Aligoté from Burgundy. Both are two-ingredient French apéritifs named after Canon Félix Kir, the priest who was mayor of Dijon. Here are the ratios from the IBA and Saveur, which wine and cassis to buy, and the history.

Kir Royale recipe

The International Bartenders Association (IBA) lists the Kir as an official cocktail and makes the Royale by swapping in Champagne. Saveur publishes a separate Kir Royale recipe. Side by side:

Source	Crème de cassis	Wine	Ratio (wine to cassis)
IBA Kir (Royale: use Champagne)	10 ml	90 ml dry white wine	9 : 1
Saveur Kir Royale	½ oz	6 oz brut Champagne or other dry sparkling wine	12 : 1
Saveur Kir	2 Tbsp (1 oz)	6 oz chilled dry white wine	6 : 1

In US measures, 10 ml is about a third of an ounce and 90 ml about 3 ounces.

Saveur’s method:

1. Add the crème de cassis to a chilled Champagne flute.
2. Top with Champagne.
3. Garnish with fresh blackberries and serve immediately.

The IBA also adds the cassis to the glass first, then tops it with the wine. We’d let the pour do the mixing, or give one gentle stir, so the bubbles survive.

Saveur warns against being stingy with the cassis just to get a pale pink drink: both the Kir and the Kir Royale, it says, should have a dark rosy color. In our view, the 9-to-1 IBA ratio is a good starting point, and a little more cassis suits a very dry Champagne.

Classic Kir recipe

For a plain Kir, the IBA uses 90 ml dry white wine and 10 ml crème de cassis, built in the glass. Saveur’s version is sweeter: 2 tablespoons of cassis with 6 ounces of chilled dry white wine, “preferably” Aligoté, Bourgogne Blanc or Pouilly-Fuissé, poured into a wine glass and served at once.

How much cassis is “right” has changed over time. Wikipedia says the IBA uses one-tenth cassis, French sources typically about one-fifth, and 19th-century blanc-cassis recipes called for as much as one-third, which Wikipedia notes modern drinkers would find cloyingly sweet. Wikipedia describes the Kir as usually served chilled, without ice, in a white wine glass.

Which wine to use

For a Kir: Aligoté. Wikipedia says the drink was originally made with Bourgogne Aligoté, a Burgundy white, though bartenders across France now use various white wines and many prefer a Chardonnay-based Burgundy such as Chablis. Difford’s Guide says the Bourgogne Aligoté appellation was established in 1937 and describes the wine as light, acidic and usually unoaked, with apple, lemon and herb notes. In our view, that sharp acidity is why it works: it keeps a sweet liqueur from tasting syrupy. Our French wine guide covers Burgundy, where Aligoté is the region’s third grape after Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

For a Kir Royale: dry Champagne. Saveur calls for brut Champagne.

Other sparkling wines. Saveur allows “other dry sparkling wine”. Wikipedia lists the version made with sparkling wine other than Champagne as a Kir pétillant. Difford’s Guide notes that Aligoté is one of the grapes in Crémant de Bourgogne, Burgundy’s own sparkling wine, which makes it, in our view, the most fitting non-Champagne choice for a drink from Dijon. A Brut Prosecco or Cava works too, and is cheaper for a party.

Tip: We’d chill the flute, the wine and the cassis, so the drink starts cold and needs no ice.

Choosing crème de cassis

Crème de cassis is a sweet, dark red blackcurrant liqueur. Wikipedia describes it as a specialty of Burgundy, made by crushing blackcurrants, soaking them in alcohol and adding sugar, and says its quality depends on the fruit variety, the berry content and the production process.

What the label means. In the EU, the rules are strict. Regulation (EU) 2019/787 says the name “crème de cassis” may be used only for blackcurrant liqueurs with more than 400 grams of sweetening per liter (expressed as invert sugar), and that any “crème de” liqueur must be at least 15% alcohol by volume. Wikipedia adds that the protected geographical indication Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne was approved in 2015; it guarantees Burgundian origin and a minimum quantity of berries, mainly of the Noir de Bourgogne variety, and bottles made with berries from Dijon may be labeled Crème de Cassis de Dijon.

What to avoid. Wikipedia says blackcurrant syrup is discouraged as a substitute. In our view, a Burgundian crème de cassis is worth the few extra dollars over a generic blackcurrant liqueur, since it’s half the drink’s flavor.

Canon Kir and the drink’s history

The man. According to Wikipedia, Félix Kir was born on January 22, 1876, in Alise-Sainte-Reine in the Côte-d’Or and ordained a priest in 1901. During the German occupation in World War II he helped about 5,000 prisoners of war escape from a camp at Longvic; he was arrested and sentenced to death but released. He was elected to the French National Assembly in 1945, became mayor of Dijon after the war and held that post until his death on April 26, 1968. Saveur, too, calls him a hero of the French Resistance and later mayor of Dijon.

The drink. The local mix of white Burgundy and cassis was known as blanc-cassis. Wikipedia credits Kir with serving it at receptions for visiting delegations, especially as a pioneer of the town-twinning movement after World War II, which led to it being known internationally as a “Kir”. Wikipedia says he allowed one Dijon crème de cassis producer to use his name, then extended the right to its competitors. It also retells one account, citing a 2004 source, that the German army had confiscated the region’s red Burgundy during the war, leaving a surplus of white wine for the drink. Wikipedia dates commercial crème de cassis to 1841.

So Kir didn’t invent the drink. He popularized it, and his name stuck.

Kir variations

Wikipedia lists a whole family of Kirs:

Name	What changes
Kir Royale	Champagne instead of white wine
Kir pétillant	Sparkling wine
Kir impérial	Raspberry liqueur instead of cassis, with Champagne
Kir pêche	Peach liqueur
Communard or cardinal	Red wine instead of white
Kir Breton / Kir Normand	Breton or Normandy cider instead of wine

Wikipedia adds that waiters in France sometimes ask whether you want your Kir with cassis, blackberry (mûre), peach (pêche) or raspberry (framboise) liqueur.

Serving a Kir Royale

• When: it’s an apéritif. Wikipedia says that in France the Kir is typically drunk before a meal.
• With what: in our view, gougères, salty nuts, olives and mild cheese are the natural Burgundian match.
• Glass: a chilled flute for the Royale, a white wine glass for the Kir.
• For a party: we’d pre-measure the cassis into the flutes and top each one with sparkling wine as guests arrive.

For more bubbly apéritifs, see our roundup of Prosecco cocktails, or the peachy Venetian Bellini.

Note: A Kir Royale is a full glass of sparkling wine plus a liqueur at 15% alcohol or more. Enjoy one as an apéritif, not as a session drink.