Easy Holiday Cocktails – Retro Kir Royale

Fast, simple cocktails are an essential part of hosting Christmas. When you’re so full of prawns and pudding you can’t really move, and the call goes up for a cocktail to cheers with, this’ll get you out of trouble.

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

A bit more trick that just a glass of bubbly, this cocktail’s the perfect pour during a busy Christmas. It’s quick, tastes great and is colourful enough to keep that festive vibe going strong.

We thought we were being really clever when we ‘came up with’ this drink. It turns out our friend’s family had been drinking it for generations. In all fairness, our friend Mona is French and, let’s face it, they’re pretty good at this sort of stuff over there.

Further research told us this combo was popular for quite some time, but isn’t that commonly seen these days. This is our little mission to bring back the good old days!

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

Retro Kir Royale

Here’s what you need:

  • A bottle of bubbly – could be champagne, prosecco or any sparkling wine
  • 1 – 2 measures of crème de cassis – a kind of blackcurrant liqueur
  • A cherry to garnish

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

Here’s what you do:

  1. Pour the crème de cassis into the glasses.
  2. Top up with bubbly.
  3. Garnish with a cherry.

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipeMr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

We’ve also used Chambord in the past, which is pretty much the same as cassis, though it’s a little darker and has a richer flavour.

This is a very pretty drink and does well at the start of a night, as a welcome drink or even as a last resort if the sparkling wine you bought doesn’t meet your expectations!

For this festive time of year, it’s excellent to have at the start of Christmas lunch or dinner. It also stretches the life of a bottle of champagne a little too!

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

Have a merry Christmas, everyone!

For more Champagne cocktails, check out the ones featured in our cocktail book here.

Mr and Mrs Romance - Retro Holiday cocktail - Kir Royale - Click through for the recipe

Mona also told us that in French, this drink would be spelled ‘Kir Royal’ as Kir is masculine. I looked at her with my best baffled expression, so she shrugged and said it might be different in English. Or not… but thank you, Mona, for not laughing at my complete ignorance!

What’s going to be your cocktail of choice this festive season? Tell us in the comments!

Images by Mrs Romance.

2 Comments

  • Oh love me a Kir Royale. So French, so classic and so cassis! When my mum lived in France, they would serve these at the village bar as an aperitif. I might have a sneaky one or five of these over the holidays because anything with Prosecco in it has to be a winner. And how gorgeous are those glasses? LOVE!

    • Reply December 20, 2014

      Mr Romance

      It’s a cracker, isn’t it, Sammie?! Like you say, anything with prosecco gets our tick of approval! These glasses are lovely, aren’t they? They’re our friends’ glasses. They’re our friends Mona and Brendan’s wedding presents. They’ve moved several times with them. They used to have a set of six, but these glasses are really delicate French crystal, so now there are only two left.
      Jxx

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