Excuse this somewhat silly question.
I'm looking forward to trying kir royal in Paris, but can someone explain when/how to properly order it without looking like a complete tourist.
I undertand it's an aperitif, but do I inform the waiter upon seating, or do I order it with the wine? or sometime in between?

I order it as one would a "cocktail", about the time he brings menus.

I don't mean to sound condescending, but in most regards, a kir royal will taste the same in your own hom as it does in Paris (of course, that's like saying that all champagnes taste the same - - oversimplistic, to the point of downright goofy!)

...but my point is - - if you want to see if you like them (and who doesn't?) you can get a bartender to make you one at many bars and restaurants where you live.

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex, in fairness I don't thing tangelo was asking about the taste. I took it she is unsure about the wine-ordering etiquette.

Others may do it differently, but we enjoy our kirs while perusing the menu and deciding on wine.

Usually your waiter will ask you about aperitifs (as JeanneB suggests) and after you've almost finished it along w/your complimentary nibbles, he'll address the food, then the wine.

Sometimes we have our aperitif in a cafe before moving on to the resto (and I've even ordered one in the late afternoon) so you'll have lots of chances to enjoy them!

It is completely ordinary to order wine and drinks at any time of the day and night in Paris
You can stop and have a Kir Royale anytime you wish. You will be a tourist so just forget about that part of it, everyone will know it anyway
It does not have to be an aperitif, you can order anything you want to drink anytime with food or not.
When the waiter says what would you like to drink is when you should order it

This is all based on experience..it works everywhere I go

What Scarlett says.

Honestly, what does it matter - in Paris or at home? Order what you want to drink - when you want to drink it.

And that's true, since you'll be on a different time zone, right?

Kir Royal is generally not ordered during a meal : it's much too sweet
But you can do it.

tangelo - You posed the question about 'Kir Royale' but I was not sure whether you know it's Champagne & Creme de Cassis - Just be aware that if you order a 'Kir' you will get ordinary white wine with a dash of Creme de Cassis.
Some restaurants/bistros/cafe`s, bring the Kir Royale already mixed in the Champagne glass. On the odd occassion the waiter has served it with the Cassis already in the glass and the champagne poured in front of me. I thought that was really nice!

(note: since 'kir' is masculine, so is 'royal' -- it is not 'royale')
Actually, the kir fad among the French disappeared about 10 years ago, although it is still drunk sometimes at home among friends, so basically just about anybody ordering a kir or a kir royal is going to be a tourist. Nothing wrong with that.
You'll find other variations in the name, because even though there is no legal protection to the term 'kir royal,' is is indeed generally made with champagne. But a certain number of places will give a sparkling kir as a complimentary apéritif with the menu. These are usually called by various invented names, since sparkling wine other than champagne is used. The French view (now that the fad has passed), is that it is a waste of good champagne to mix it with a sweet syrupy liqueur, so you might as well use a cheaper wine. The same goes for a normal kir -- it should be made with the most ordinary white wine (usually a cheap muscadet), because there is no point on wasting good dry wine on a sweet drink.

An analogy for this would be people asking for a whiskey & Coke -- I don't think anybody in their right mind would use their best 30-year old whiskey to mix such a drink.

> The French view (now that the fad has passed), is that it is a waste of good champagne to mix it with a sweet syrupy liqueur, so you might as well use a cheaper wine. The same goes for a normal kir -- it should be made with the most ordinary white wine

I more or less agre with above. When I make kir royal at home I use cheap champagne or other even cheaper sparkling wine (such as prosecco).

Was there ever been kir "fad"?

Thanks Kerouac - I am hopeless at french! I guess a little James Bond's "Casino Royale" crept in somewhere?

I can't tell you the Dijonnais still drink it as an apéritif, royal or regular (with Bourgogne Aligoté as it should be) It is Dijon aperitif and not only for tourists.

Canon Kir was the mayor after WW2 who died at the age of 92 (was he already drinking Kir at that time ?)

If you can read French
http://dijoon.free.fr/kir.htm
coco

And, if you can't read French -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kir_Royale

This Kir Royal vs. Kir Royale thing has me puzzled. I know that it is pronounced in France as Royale (not the way we say Royal). So is that strictly a spelling difference? If you google Kir Royale you find thousands of hits -- but mostly American. If you google Kir Royal you get more French hits. So do we Americans (and presumably the Brits) just spell it Royale because that's the way it is pronounced --even in French?

By the way, I've seen high end cocktail bars in the US that offer a Kir Imperiale -- that's made with Dom Perignon. What a waste of good champagne in my opinion. I'd agree with those who say when you're throwing in some syrup of cassis -- use cheaper champagne.

Oh, the spelling will finally switch back to how it should be if Ségolene Royal is elected president next year.

since it is 'un kir', I would assume it would be 'Royal'.

Maybe it's just my taste buds, but I can tell the difference between a "kir beverage" made with cheap wine (still or sparkling) and better wine. I guess it depends on how cheap the cheap wine is and how much better the better wine is.

I don't think I'd use a $200 bottle of champagne for a Kir Royal (or a Kir Royale for that matter), but I also wouldn't use that dusty $7 bottle of generic sparking wine from Kansas that's languishing at the bottom of the bargain bin.

You can't hear any difference between royal and royale in French, it is just a grammar matter.