Eponymous Cocktails: Freemans Cocktail
In the second installment of Eponymous Cocktails, we take a walk up Freemans Alley to speak with William Tigertt, co-owner and proprietor of Freemans, and jim Kearnes, who was manning the back bar. Our topic of discussion is the Freemans Cocktail, a permanent fixture on the cocktail menu of this secluded gem. Eponymous Cocktails is brought to you in part by our friends at A Medium Format. If you have an reccomendation or idea for our next installment, please let us know.
Did you know that you wanted a drink called the Freeman’s Cocktail?
No. The drink came first, and then we tried to think of a name. Calling it the Freemans was decided pretty quickly.
What is the recipe?
• 2 ¼ oz of Jim Beam Rye
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 dash Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
• ¼ oz of simple syrup
• 1 bar spoon of Alwadi pomegranate molasses
• Flamed orange twist
Who invented it?
Toby Maloney created the recipe. He worked at Milk and Honey, helped start the cocktail service at the Violet Hour in Chicago, and also helped out at the Rusty Knot.
What inspired the drink?
When we opened, we were looking for an accessible brown cocktail that worked with our Fall menu. At the time, cocktail menus were dominated by vodka based drinks. We wanted to do a Rye drink, which is really a New York liquor, and wasn’t used anywhere. 
Did you expect it to become a permanent fixture on the menu?
Not really, but it became popular and works well across the seasons, so we stuck with it.
How often does Freemans change its cocktail menu?
It changes seasonally, and we usually try to change it as the kitchen changes it menu. We have a stable roster of drinks that we like to rotate in at the appropriate time of year. I also think we have some of the best bartenders in the City, so if the kitchen happens to come across an interesting ingredient, like a particular fruit, then our bartenders will grab it see what they can do.
Freemans stands out as being a true cocktail lounge inside a restaurant. Based on your success here, why do you think other establishments haven’t copied your model?
When we opened, I originally just wanted to open a bar. When that changed to a restaurant, we still wanted to include the bar inside. But what we do with our cocktail service is a huge commitment in time, money, training and effort. People come to us and hire our bartenders to consult on their new places all the time, and when they find out what it takes to pull it off, they back off. It is not an easy trick to serve a full restaurant and two bars with just two bartenders, but it is working for us.
Down By The Hipster
Reader Comments (2)
Sick photos. Not even one of my favorite drinks but the pics really make me want one.
thanks WOW.