If the Cassis is added first, it is evenly mixed with the wine. If the wine is added first, the Cassis is not evenly mixed (due to the smaller volume of Cassis relative to the wine). The former approach gives a more even taste and is preferable from that perspective whereas the latter approach gives a more pleasing appearance with the uneven mixing of the Cassis resulting in a fine pink at the bottom of the glass shading up to a bright red at the top.
Additional Notes
The wine should be a dry white and is traditionally a dry white Burgundy. One should use a good wine but not a fine one (as the delicate shadings of a fine wine will be lost in the strong flavour of the Cassis). It should not have a strong taste (one reason for using a typical Burgundy) as one wants the aperitif to reflect the taste of the Cassis.
One can serve Kir in either a standard wine glass or a flute (champagne glass). In France, a standard wine glass is always used for Kir, with the flute being reserved for Kir Royal.
The ratio of Cassis to wine depends on personal preference. The official recipe for Kir calls for one-third Cassis and two-thirds wine. However, most people find that this is far too strong in terms of taste, sweetness and alcohol contents. A ration of one part of Cassis to 5 parts of wine is preferred by most people.
This recipe uses about 150ml of wine per serving (per glass), so you can get 5 servings (5 glasses) from a standard wine bottle.
For a more elegant and refined drink, see Kir Royal .
