A Kir Royale is a simple yet elegant French cocktail made with creme de Cassis and champagne. This is its fall inspired cousin, the Kir Normand which is one of the best hard apple cider cocktails there is.

Kir?

So, let’s start at the start. A Kir, pronounced keer, is a French cocktail made with dry white wine (specifically Aligoté) and creme de cassis. It’s native to the Burgundy region of France and, as the legend goes:

The Kir is named for Felix Kir—World War II resistance fighter, priest and mayor of Dijon—who, legend has it, kept his chin up and declared the red-tinted drink the official beverage of Dijon’s city hall after the Nazis confiscated all of Burgundy’s best red wines. – Wall Street Journal

The Kir was created as a fuck you to Nazis, which I can totally get behind. Because, seriously, I fucking hate Nazis.

But Normand?

An authentic Kir is made of dry white from the Burgundy region called Aligoté. A Kir Royale, which the royals drink, is made with champagne. Well, a Kir Normand is made using the cash crop of Normandy; apples. To be more specific, we’ll be using hard apple cider to make this drink.

Which Hard Apple Cider Do We Use?

You want use a dry hard apple cider in a Kir Normand. I like Doc’s as opposed to Angry Orchard which is far too sweet. If you have a cidery you like, by all means use it. Just make sure the hard apple cider is dry.

What’s Creme de Cassis?

Creme De Cassis is a french liqueur made from macerated black currants. The problem with most of the stuff on the market is that it’s usually too cloyingly sweet. I suggest splurging so expect to pay about $30 a bottle.

So How Do We Make One?

A Kir Normand is a simple beverage made up of only 2 ingredients; with a ratio of 1/5 creme de cassis to hard apple cider. Basically, the recipe for one is 1 ounce creme de cassis. This means, that a cocktail for 1 would be made up of 1 ounce creme cassis and 5 hard apple cider. If you would be serving a group and you bought a 6 pack of hard apple cider, you need to mix all the cider (72 ounces) in a punch bowl or pitcher and add 1 3/4 cup of creme de cassis. If you were to go to an apple cidery and pick yourself up a growler of hard apple cider (64 ounces) you would need 1 2/3 cups of cassis.

You got it? Good. All you have to do is serve it in a wine glass garnished with an apple slice.