Off-dry, fruity and bracingly effervescent, it sends blackcurrant crème de cassis ribboning up through cold Champagne in a flute, tinting the bubbles a deep ruby. Think of it as the Kir with sparkling wine where the still white would be, the fizz keeping the liqueur's dark berry sweetness lively and lean.
Built · Champagne Flute · Up
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Pour the crème de cassis into a chilled Champagne flute.
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Top gently with cold Champagne and do not stir, letting the cassis rise through the wine.
Cassis-sweetened white wine was drunk in Burgundy as blanc-cassis before it took the name of Félix Kir (1876–1968), the post-war mayor of Dijon who popularized it and poured it for visiting delegations — a namesake rather than its inventor. Trading the still wine for Champagne lifted a regional café drink into something celebratory, though no single creator of the sparkling version is on record; it appears to have emerged among French bartenders around mid-century. The IBA now lists the Kir with a note that the Royal swaps Champagne in for the white wine.