Amuse Bouche: In Praise Of Kir

Yesterday, we told you about a dinner at Tremont 647 that included a kir reception. Although we were unable to make last night’s dinner, we’ve spent much of the past 24 hours thinking about what lovely taste a kir reception shows. Kir, for those not in the know, is a French apertif composed of white wine and creme de cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur). There are plenty of variations, including the Kir Royal (creme de cassis and Champagne), and kir with peach or blackberry liqueur. It is more delicious than: a) schadenfreude, b) cookies, and c) pretty much anything ever.

For the frugal drinker, the beauty of kir is that it does not require a top shelf wine. In college, we drank kir with our best friend every Friday evening (okay, it was at 4:00 and we drank it out of margarita glasses with cacti for stems. Don’t judge!). We made our kir with $5 bottles of wine and cheap-o creme de cassis. Would the drink have tasted better with a $30 bottle and imported cassis? Eh, probably. Did it taste amazing nonetheless? It sure did.

Although kir is technically an apertif, it pairs well with a variety of foods from steamed fish to pasta bolognaise to a bacon cheeseburger, so go ahead! Swap out your usual cocktail hour choice for a lovely Champagne flute of kir! One warning: creme de cassis is stronger than you might expect, so pace yourself accordingly.

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[Photo: Wikipedia]

Amuse Bouche: In Praise Of Kir