There is truly nothing quite as classic or simple as the Kir Royale cocktail! A French champagne cocktail infused with berry liqueur. It’s stunning, it’s delicious, and it’s always in season.

What is a Kir Royale?

The Kir Royale is a French sparkling wine cocktail flavored with a black currant liqueur known as Crème de Cassis. This classic cocktail is a variation of the Kir cocktail, which features dry white wine (instead of sparkling) and Crème de Cassis.

What is Creme de Cassis?

Crème de Cassis is a black currant-flavored liqueur. It hails from France, is deeply colored, and is sweet. You can find cheap bottles of Crème de Cassis for around $10/bottle but it’s best to buy a product that comes from France, which will usually run you about $30.

If you end up buying a bottle of Crème de Cassis, you can use it as a substitute for Chambord in the French Martini or make a spritz with it like you would in the Aperol Spritz.

purple champagne cocktail in champagne flutes, garnished with a blackberry and lemon twist

Best Liqueuer for a Kir Royale

In my opinion, Crème de Cassis is good (and classic), but not the best liqueur option for this cocktail.

Here are two other liqueur options to make the best Kir Royale:

Chambord: which you might already have on hand for the French Martini, is a classic French black raspberry liqueur dating back to 1685.
Crème de Mûre: is a flavor-packed blackberry liqueur most known for its use in the Bramble, a classic gin cocktail.

Looking for something wintery? Check out this Pomegranate Kir Royale which uses Pama, a pomegranate liqueur.

Best Sparkling Wine to Use

The kir royale, with it’s French roots, traditionally uses Champagne. It’s certainly delicious with champagne, but if you’re looking for a more economical option I recommend using a brut cava.

Prosecco is another option, but with the liqueur being fairly sweet, a drier, more savory sparkling wine balances the drink well. Here are the differences between the three types of sparkling wine, then use whichever based on your preferences.

Champagne: the traditional sparkling wine used in a Kir Royale. This French sparkling wine is often the most expensive and offers light fruit and almond flavors to the drink.

Cava: is a Spanish sparkling wine and tends to be more citrusy, minerally and savory than either champagne or prosecco.

Prosecco: hails from Italy and is sweeter than Champagne or cava. It’s fruity and floral.

How to Make a Kir Royale

There are two steps to this kir royale recipe.

Add the liqueur to a champagne flute.
Pop the sparkling wine and pour into the champagne flute with liqueur.
The optional third step—garnish with a lemon twist and blackberries or raspberries.

Serving

Serve a Kir Royale in a classic champagne flute and garnish with a blackberry or raspberry and a lemon twist. Here’s everything you need to know about Champagne Coups vs Flutes.

Other Sparkling Cocktail Recipes to Try

The classic Champagne Cocktail is always a hit.
Try our Pomegranate Kir Royale for a holiday take on this classic champagne cocktail.
We also love this Ginger Blood Orange Mimosa—stunning and perfect for the winter!