The Royal Kir

Drink:

Kir Royale

Recipe:

3oz Crème de cassis

Champagne 

1 Cherry

Pour Crème de cassis in a Champagne Flute. Top off with Champagne. Garnish with cherry.

Description:

The drink of royalty

Yeah, I know, I have kind of been on a Champagne cocktail kick. However, this little adventure right here is pretty much the polar opposite of Death in the Afternoon.

Where as Hemingway's masterpiece uses the bubbly to take the edge off the hard stuff, in a Kir Royale the intensely sweet Crème de cassis is accentuated by the stuff, mixing to create a sweet and fizzy drink that is more reminiscent of a high quality pop soda (Don't scoff, they do exist. Its not all store brand sugar water you know!). 

Variants:

Kir - The Kir Royale is actually itself a variant of a traditional Kir, the key difference being that a Kir Royale substitutes Champagne for the Kir's White Wine. I went with the Kir Royale for this post because I think the Champagne brings a lot to the table. The flavor compliments better, and the sparkling aspect leads to a more interesting drink all around.

Properly Mixed - The "proper" way to mix this drink is often given as pouring the Champagne first and then slowly adding the Crème de cassis to achieve a blush color. While I appreciate that how you mix a drink can have a big impact on the final product, I was served it the much simpler way listed above and found there to be no noticeable impact.

Others - There are a whole host of variations on this drink, and I have not tried even half of them. If you are interested, they are all listed here.