Kir Royale
A Kir Royale is 10ml of crème de cassis in a chilled flute, topped slowly with 90ml of cold brut champagne and not stirred. No garnish is needed. About 1.2 UK units. These are the IBA’s Kir measures, with champagne in place of white wine as the IBA’s own note directs. The Oxford Companion says the Kir is named after Félix Kir, the priest who was mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968, and that the drink, known as the Blanc Cassis, took his name only after his election. Difford’s Guide says he popularised it by promoting regional products at official functions. The Royale is the same idea with champagne. One part cassis in ten keeps it dry: the liqueur colours the wine and rounds its acidity without making it sweet. Difford’s Guide calls for six parts of wine to one of cassis, and the Oxford Companion gives 15ml to 100ml. Champagne contains sulphites.
Variations
Glassware: Champagne Flute
Garnish: Single blackcurrant (optional)
Ingredients
10ml
Blackcurrant liqueur, at 15% ABV, the minimum that retained Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 sets for crème de cassis. It brings all the colour and the sugar, so a good Dijon cassis that tastes of the fruit makes the difference.
90ml
Brut, at our working figure of 12% ABV, and properly cold. A dry crémant works as well and costs less. Contains sulphites.
Instructions
Chill a champagne flute.
Pour the crème de cassis into the flute.
Top slowly with the cold champagne, poured down the side of the glass.
Serve without stirring.
Source: the IBA (IBA Kir with champagne, as its Kir Royal note directs; method ours). Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Pour the cassis first and the champagne slowly down the side of the flute. The liqueur is denser than the wine, and a slow pour lifts it through the glass on its own; a spoon only knocks out the bubbles. Spend the money on the cassis. At 10ml it is the only flavour in the glass besides the wine, and a cheap one tastes of sugar and colouring. Crème de cassis de Dijon is the name to look for. If one in ten is too dry for you, sweeten with the cassis, not the wine. Go to 15ml or 20ml rather than switching to a sweeter sparkling wine, which dulls the blackcurrant.
Behind the Kir Royale
Flavour Profile
Blanc-Cassis Becomes Kir
The Oxford Companion says the first commercial crème de cassis was launched in the 1840s by the Dijon distiller Denis Lagoute. Its entry on the Kir says the drink was then the Blanc Cassis, often said to have been invented in a Dijon café in 1904 for the mayor Henri Barabant, though the recipe was probably older, and that it was extremely popular all over France in the 1930s. Difford’s Guide credits a waiter named Faivre at the Café George in Dijon in 1904.
Difford’s Guide says Canon Félix Kir, mayor of Dijon from 1945 until his death in 1968, sought to promote regional products at official functions and popularised the drink, and that in 1951 he gave the cassis house Lejay-Lagoute the exclusive right to use his name, so that when he later tried to offer other makers the same privilege it was too late. The Companion says Barabant had already made the Blanc Cassis the official drink at the city’s receptions, and that it took Kir’s election for the drink to take his name. The champagne version takes the same name with a royal suffix.
One Part in Ten
The IBA pours 10ml of cassis to 90ml of wine. At that ratio the cassis colours the glass, rounds the champagne’s acidity and leaves the wine in charge.
Sweeter versions are not wrong. Difford’s Guide calls for six parts of wine to one of cassis and the Oxford Companion gives 15ml to 100ml, both a little sweeter than the IBA. Pick the ratio deliberately, because a heavy hand on the cassis bottle is how most of these end up too sweet.
Cassis to wine in the Kir, by source: the IBA, Difford’s Guide and the Oxford Companion
IBA (and ours)
- Cassis
- 10ml
- Wine
- 90ml
- Character
- Dry, wine-led
Difford’s Guide
- Cassis
- One part
- Wine
- Six parts
- Character
- A little fruitier
Oxford Companion
- Cassis
- 15ml
- Wine
- 100ml
- Character
- A little fruitier
| Source | Cassis | Wine | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBA (and ours) | 10ml | 90ml | Dry, wine-led |
| Difford’s Guide | One part | Six parts | A little fruitier |
| Oxford Companion | 15ml | 100ml | A little fruitier |
The Cassis
With only two ingredients, the liqueur decides the drink. A good cassis tastes of blackcurrant, with a sharp, slightly leafy edge under the sweetness. A poor one adds colour and sugar and nothing to stand on.
In our experience cassis fades once open. We keep an open bottle in the fridge and use it within a few months, or the fruit dulls before the bottle is finished.
The Kir and Its Relatives
Difford’s Guide lists the family, which changes the wine or the liqueur and keeps the shape. A Kir Pétillant uses other sparkling wine, a Kir Impérial swaps the cassis for raspberry liqueur over champagne, a Communard uses red wine, and a Kir Normand uses Normandy cider, which is alcoholic.
How to Serve It
Before dinner, in a cold flute, poured to order. A single blackcurrant is the only garnish worth adding, and the drink is complete without it.
On still white wine it is a Kir; for champagne with a bitters-soaked sugar cube, a Champagne Cocktail; for cassis and champagne over vodka and lemon, a Russian Spring Punch.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Crème de CassisCrème de cassis is a French blackcurrant liqueur, most often 15% ABV, and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 makes it the sweetest of the crèmes: at least 400g of sugar a litre, against 250g for any other. That is why it goes in by the 10ml or 15ml. It turns dry white wine into a Kir, champagne into a Kir Royale, and colours the El Diablo and the Russian Spring Punch.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Kir Royale?
Who was Kir?
What is the right ratio for a Kir Royale?
What is the difference between a Kir and a Kir Royale?
Should I stir a Kir Royale?
Can I use prosecco instead of champagne?
How strong is a Kir Royale?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (François Monti), “Kir” (secondary source: named after Félix Kir, priest and mayor of Dijon 1945 to 1968; the Blanc Cassis, said to be invented in 1904 for the mayor Henri Barabant; the name came with Kir’s election; the Kir Royale made with crémant de Bourgogne or champagne).
- Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, retained (legislation.gov.uk), “Annex II, category 34: crème de cassis” (primary source: crème de cassis is a blackcurrant liqueur with at least 400 grams of sugar a litre and a minimum alcoholic strength of 15%).
- IBA, “Kir” (official specification: 90ml dry white wine, 10ml crème de cassis; note: Kir Royal uses champagne instead of white wine).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, “crème de cassis” (secondary source (unsigned entry): blackcurrant liqueur from Burgundy; first commercial version launched by Denis Lagoute in the 1840s; at least 400 grams of sugar a litre).
- Difford’s Guide (Simon Difford), “Kir and Kir Royale cocktail” (secondary source: six parts Bourgogne Aligoté to one part cassis; origins said to date to 1904 and a waiter named Faivre; Canon Félix Kir; Lejay-Lagoute’s exclusive right to the name in 1951; the family of variations).
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026