Cocktails with Crème de Cassis
Crème de Cassis is a sweet, dark red liqueur made by macerating blackcurrants in alcohol and sweetening the result.
ABV15–20%
Substitutes for Crème de Cassis
If you only need sweetness and color, a dark fruit liqueur (like crème de mûre) plus a touch of sugar syrup gets close. For the actual blackcurrant character, nothing substitutes — use another crème de cassis.
On the label
- “crème de cassis”
- Held to a higher bar than other crème de liqueurs: a minimum of 400 grams of sugar per liter, against 250 for the rest, and at least 15% ABV.
- fruit content
- The sugar is regulated; the blackcurrant is not. There is no legal minimum for fruit, so a good bottle may carry up to 600 grams of blackcurrant per liter and a cheap one very little. That gap is the whole difference in the glass.
- “de Dijon”
- A protected regional name. The original recipe was formulated there in 1841, and many of the best examples still come from the region.
