Skip The Mimosa: Here’s The Cocktail You Need For Your Festive Brunch

It’s all pretty exhausting, isn’t it, folks? The holidays are a marathon, not a sprint, and we all know it – but I already feel like I’ve run 20 miles. In the last few weeks, the festive events have started to ramp up, and my diary’s looking stacked with catch-ups, holiday parties, and brunches, despite my best efforts to keep everything as quiet as possible. I want coziness! I want to sit under a blanket and watch snow fall outside! I want the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree! I’m tired. I’m tired. 

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It’s at this time of the year that we have to take our pick-me-ups where we can get them. This year, mine will come in the form of a certain cocktail that allows me to sidestep mimosa fatigue, and which imbues my festive events with a sense of class. If you’ve never had a Kir Royale, it’s time to start. 

Kir Royale

The Kir Royale is a champagne (or sparkling wine) cocktail that is, I would argue, both more elegant and tastier than a mimosa as a brunch drink. In my former life, I was a bartender, and I’d continually advocate for the inclusion of this drink on holiday menus – and when it comes to my own Christmas parties, it’s the first thing I’m serving. This is because it’s both simple and effective: To make one, you simply pour a tablespoon of blackcurrant-flavored crème de cassis into the bottom of a champagne flute, and top it with your sparkling wine of choice. Garnish with a fresh blackberry, and serve. 

Kir Royales have the fruitiness that mimosas bring to the party, but they have a key advantage over that more traditional brunch drink: A berry-forward sweetness. I sometimes feel sparkling wine is too acidic and dry for my palate (although generally speaking, I find champagne to be more balanced than prosecco – incidentally, if you use a sparkling wine other than champagne, this drink becomes a Kir Pétillant). Orange juice, in all its tangy glory, can highlight these notes. Yes, there’s sweetness, but it can be a recipe for acid reflux. Crème de cassis is also acidic, but you’re using a lot less of it – and its brightness cuts through champagne’s drier notes, making the drink more…drinkable. It’s also got the word “royale” in its name. So it’s special, even if you’re making it with cheap champagne.

Kir Royale Variations

The principles of the Kir Royale (a dash of fruit liqueur with a top-up of sparkling wine) can be applied in other ways, and with other flavors. If you have any Chambord in your liquor cabinet, make a Kir Impérial, which has a little more of a candy-like top note. Kir Pêche, meanwhile, uses peach schnapps instead of crème de cassis, and the peach flavors provide a sunny, summery taste. It’s worth remembering, though, that all of these combos are seriously drinkable: It becomes very easy to knock the champagne back once liqueur is introduced, as the wine becomes almost soda-like.