French Champagne Cocktail (Kir Royale)

What goes into a French Champagne cocktail?

Ah see, that’s the beauty of this simple, yet elegant, drink – as the best Champagne cocktail recipes are wont to do, it features very few ingredients. After all, when you are pouring stars (to paraphrase the always eloquent Dom Perignon), you don’t want to dull their shine with a cacophony of flavours.

Tip: You don’t really need to measure out the ingredients of this drink – you can eyeball it by colour and take a sip to adjust it according to your taste (or that of your guests). 

If you want to put your own spin on this classic French drink with Champagne, we recommend swapping out the blackcurrant liqueur for blackberry, raspberry or peach liqueur. You can also add a few berries or thin fruit slices as garnish.  

The short & sweet history of how the Kir Royale came to be

Cocktails made with Champagne are popular the world over, and these days the Kir Royale is a true-blue classic around the globe. But where did it come from, and what on earth is a ‘kir’ exactly?  

The story goes that priest Canon Félix Kir came up with the idea of the Kir (of which the Kir Royale is a spin-off) in Burgundian town of Dijon somewhere in the 1950s. He was a big hero of the French Resistance and also served as mayor of the town for a bit.  

The priest was a staunch supporter of local producers in the area, but could not quite wrap his head around the bone-dry local white wine. So, he started adding a local blackcurrant liqueur to his glass whenever he drank it, and created a brand-new drink in the process. 

The Kir Royale ups the ante on this simple yet 100% delicious recipe by adding Champagne to the mix, which makes it all bubbly and delicious.  

What to serve with a French Champagne cocktail

As far as cocktails made with Champagne go, the Kir Royale is definitely on the sweeter end of the spectrum. As such, it is normally served as an aperitif in the lead-up to long, lazy French lunches. These French drinks with Champagne are normally accompanied by a selection of savoury, salty snacks to balance out the sweetness that the blackcurrant liqueur brings to the party. 

We recommend a tapas-style spread of bread, crackers, and cheeses, served alongside briny delights like olives, gherkins, and pickled onions. Add some spreads like hummus, chicken liver pâté, and tzatziki, and round it all off with fresh crudités like cucumber, carrot, and yellow bell peppers. Eats like these are easy to assemble and look absolutely stunning in any setting.  

Plus, if there are any snacks left over after your guests have enjoyed their French Champagne cocktails and moved on to the main course, you can very easily disassemble the tapas platter and keep it in the fridge for on-the-go lunches. #WINNING!