ETHANOL

KIR

Dijon, France, 1945.

WINE GLASS
ETHANOL 13 G91 KCAL FROM ETHANOL5.17 OZ SERVED

SPEC

½ oz · 15 mlCRÈME DE CASSIS16 %
4 oz · 120 mlWHITE WINE12 %

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

METHOD

  1. 01POUR CRÈME DE CASSIS INTO A WHITE WINE GLASS
  2. 02TOP WITH CHILLED WHITE WINE
  3. 03NO GARNISH

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

STRENGTH // WORKED

Pre-batch4.5 oz mixed with ice, 0.56 oz of it pure alcohol
MeltStirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +0.67 oz of water
Served4.5 + 0.67 = 5.17 oz in the glass
Strength0.56 ÷ 5.17 = 10.8 % ABV as served
Ethanol0.56 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 13 g · about 91 kcal from the alcohol alone

IN THE GLASS

MALIC ACID

FROM CASSIS · the apple acid

Formula
C₄H₆O₅
Mass
134.09 g/mol
IUPAC
(2S)-2-hydroxybutanedioic acid

The acid that puts the bite in green apples, unripe stone fruit, and rhubarb. Wine carries it from the grape, but most reds lose it during malolactic fermentation, where bacteria convert the sharp malic into the rounder lactic, swapping "tart" for "creamy." Whites that skip MLF (most Sauvignon Blanc, most Riesling) keep the malic edge as part of their crisp identity.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Vodka Cranberry · Sea Breeze · Cape Codder · El Diablo · Kir Royale · French Martini

TARTARIC ACID

FROM WHITE WINE · the dominant grape acid

Formula
C₄H₆O₆
Mass
150.09 g/mol
IUPAC
(2R,3R)-2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid

The dominant acid in grapes and the reason wine tastes sharp instead of flat. Forms crystals ("wine diamonds") when bottled wine gets cold; harmless, sometimes filtered out, sometimes left in as a mark of authenticity. Without acid, wine is sugar water.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Mimosa · Champagne Cocktail · French 76 · Negroni Sbagliato · Kir Royale · Black Velvet · Death in the Afternoon · Old Cuban

CHEMISTRY

Crème de cassis and white wine. This is the Champagne-free Kir, typically made with Aligoté (Burgundy's other white grape) in the traditional Dijon build. The sugar of the cassis wraps the white wine's tartaric acid.

PROVENANCE

Félix Kir, mayor of Dijon and a Catholic priest who served in the French Resistance, popularized the cassis-and-white-wine drink as a way to support the regional Burgundian crème de cassis industry after WWII. The drink itself predates Kir; Burgundians had been mixing 'blanc cassis' since at least the 19th century. Kir's name attached because he served it at every official Dijon function from 1945 through 1968.

WINE & SPARKLING // NEARBY

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