Aperol Spritz
90 ml Sparkling wine, 60 ml Aperol, 30 ml Soda water, 1 Orange slice, 1 large cube Ice
Kir Royale
Blackcurrant and champagne, and no ceremony.
Sparkling
Easy
2 min
Photo: L'Ardoise Bistro - 2021-09-16 - Sarah Stierch 04 by Missvain · CC BY 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Crème de cassis
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Champagne - Or any dry sparkling wine you are happy to pour
- 6 berries Blackberry (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Pour the cassis into a chilled flute and top slowly with sparkling wine.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 810 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Chill the flute properly - a warm glass kills the drink in a minute.
- Pour the crème de cassis in first, then top slowly with the wine.
- Stir once with a long spoon, gently, and drop in a blackberry.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Kir Royale
The drink is named for Félix Kir, a priest who was mayor of Dijon after the war and who served his guests a mixture of white wine and blackcurrant liqueur at receptions, mostly to make the local produce look good. Made with champagne instead of ordinary white wine, it becomes the Royale, which is a wonderful piece of French logic: add bubbles and it earns an extra word.
Getting it right
The blackcurrant liqueur is very sweet and very dark, so a little goes a long way - a tablespoon per glass is plenty and any more turns the wine into syrup. Pour the wine in slowly so the two layers meet gently rather than fizzing over, and stir once at the end so the colour runs through the whole glass instead of sitting in a stripe at the bottom.
Tasting notes
Dry and aristocratic underneath, with a rich blackcurrant note over the top and a soft pink colour. It is the easiest elegant drink there is: two ingredients, no equipment, and it makes any Tuesday feel like an occasion.
