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1 Ingredients for Kir Royale Cocktails

2 All you need for a Kir Royale: Champagne and Creme de Cassis.

3 Add 1 part Creme de Cassis to glass.

4 Top off with champagne

5 Garnish with fresh raspberries

6 Everything you need to whip up a "Bells and Holly"

7 Mix vodka and creme de cassis in a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into tumbler glass with ice. Top off with champagne. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

8 Bells & Holly and Kir Royale

I'm not usually a big cocktail drinker, but around the holidays I'll drink anything with champagne like it's going out of style. Something about the bubbles and fizz and popping corks puts me in a downright cheery, tis-the-season, type of mood.

My favorite of all the champagne cocktails is a Kir Royale—crème de cassis mixed with champagne—it can't be beat. The very first time I had one was when I was studying abroad in London during my junior year of college; I went to a Christmas party with some friends and Kir Royales were being handed out like candy. I distinctly remember taking a sip and saying "This tastes like Christmas!" (dorky, I know) and I proceeded to drink them all night long.

The kicker about these little beauties is that they're SO simple to make. All you need is some champagne (if you're looking for a less expensive option, prosecco works great) and crème de cassis, which is black currant liqueur. Since Kir Royale's are such a piece of cake to put together, during my cocktail photo shoot last evening I thought it would be fun to throw some vodka into the mix and see what happened.

I combined equal parts crème de cassis and vodka in cocktail shaker with ice, shook it up real good, then poured it into a tumbler glass filled with ice. Next, I topped off the glass with champagne and even threw in a few raspberries just because I felt like it. Needless to say, I was not disappointed and the outcome was an awesome sparkling punch drink that I'm going to call "Bells and Holly".

Now that the entire MH team has weighed in with a favorite cocktail we're still looking for entries from you for the MH Holiday Cocktail Contest. Send your best cocktail recipe with a picture to madhungrylsq@gmail.com; you could win a set of MS cocktail glasses AND a 7-piece MS barware set, so start mixing some drinks and let's see what you've got!

For a step by step of each cocktail, see below:

Kir Royale

1 part Crème de Cassis

4 parts Champagne

Add crème de cassis to a champagne glass. Top off with champagne. Garnish with raspberries. Enjoy a glass of straight-up holiday cheer.

Bells and Holly

1 part vodka

1 part Crème de Cassis

3 parts Champagne

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice; add crème de cassis and vodka. Shake like you've never shook before. Strain contents into a tumbler glass filled with ice. Top off with champagne. Add some raspberries if you're feelin' out of control.

Happy Holidays!

-Sam