Southside Royale
A South Side topped with champagne rather than soda: mint, lime and gin under sparkling wine.
The Southside Royale is the South Side with champagne in place of soda water — the same mint, lime and gin, finished with sparkling wine. “Royale” as a suffix comes from the Kir Royale, and the drink itself has no documented first appearance; it turns up in modern bar books and menus as a natural extension of the South Side rather than as a named creation. Some sources claim a Prohibition-era origin, but there is no primary evidence for it, which is why this entry sits in the disputed part of the archive.
- Prosecco replaced champagne in most bars after 2010, and the drink survives mainly as a brunch and celebration order.
- South Side (soda)
- Southside Fizz
- Kir Royale
“The drink is a useful test of a bar’s South Side: if the mint is shredded rather than pressed, the champagne will not hide it.”
Ingredients
- Gin50 ml
- Lime juice20 ml
- Simple syrup15 ml
- Mint leaves8
- Champagne60 ml
- Mint sprigto garnish
Method
Shake the gin, lime, syrup and mint with ice, double-strain into a flute or coupe, top slowly with champagne and garnish with mint.
Flute · no ice · mint · champagne top