Kir is a French

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

made with a measure of

crème de cassis Crème de cassis () (also known as cassis liqueur) is a sweet, dark red liqueur made from blackcurrants. Several cocktails are made with crème de cassis, notably the popular wine cocktail kir and its sparkling variant, the kir royal. Other ...

(

blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, w ...

liqueur) topped up with white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

it is usually drunk as an apéritif before a meal or snack. Originally made with

Bourgogne Aligoté Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. T ...

, a

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

, today it is made with various white wines throughout France, according to the region and the barkeeper. Many prefer a white

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

-based

, such as

Chablis Chablis () is a town and commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. It lies in the valley of the River Serein. Wine The village of Chablis gives its name to one of the most famous French white win ...

. Formerly known as blanc-cassis, the beverage is now named after Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

in Burgundy. Kir was a pioneer of the twinning movement in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and popularized the drink by offering it at receptions to visiting delegations. Besides treating his international guests well, he was also promoting two economic products of the region. Kir allowed one of Dijon's producers of crème de cassis to use his name, then extended the right to their competitors as well. According to Rolland (2004), the reinvention of blanc-cassis (post-1945) was necessitated by the German Army's confiscation of all the local red Burgundy during the war. Faced with an excess of

, Kir renovated a drink that used to be made primarily with red. Following the commercial development of crème de cassis in 1841, the cocktail became popular in regional cafés, but has since become inextricably linked internationally with the name of Mayor Kir. When ordering a Kir, waiters in France sometimes ask whether the customer wants it made with crème de cassis, ''de mûre'' (

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

), ''de pêche'' (

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

), or ''framboise'' (

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

). The

International Bartenders Association The International Bartenders Association (IBA) is an international organisation established in order to represent the most skilled bartenders in the world. It was founded on 24 February 1951. An annual event, both World Cocktail Competition ( ...

gives a recipe using 1/10 crème de cassis, though French sources typically specify about 1/5. Meanwhile, 19th-century recipes for blanc-cassis recommended 1/3 crème de cassis, which modern tastes would find cloyingly sweet. Replacing the crème de cassis with blackcurrant syrup is discouraged.

Variations

Besides the basic Kir, a number of variations exist: * Cidre royal – made with cider instead of wine, with a measure of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

added * Communard, or cardinal – made with

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...

instead of white * Hibiscus royal – made with sparkling wine, peach liqueur, raspberry liqueur, and an edible hibiscus flower * Kir Berrichon – from the Berry region of France. Made with red wine and blackberry liqueur (''crème de mûre'') * Kir bianco – made with sweet white

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an Italian aromatized wine, aromatized, fortified wine, flavored with various Botany, botanicals (roots, Bark (botany), barks, flowers, seeds, Herb, herbs, and Spice, spices) and sometimes Food coloring, colored. The modern ve ...

instead of wine. * Kir Breton – made with

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

cider instead of wine. * Kir impérial – made with

liqueur (such as Chambord) instead of cassis, and champagne * Kir Normand – made with

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

instead of wine. * Kir pamplemousse – made with red grapefruit liqueur and sparkling white wine * Kir pêche – made with peach liqueur * Kir pétillant – made with

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

* Kir royal – made with

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

* Pink Russian – made with milk instead of wine * Tarantino – made with lager or light ale ("kir-beer")

References

{{Portal bar, Drink Cocktails with wine Cocktails with liqueur Two-ingredient cocktails