Fremin’s Apple Cinnamon Old Fashioned Cocktail Recipe
Bourbon tales and classic cocktails are elevated with fall flavors at Fremin’s in Thibodaux
Bourbon’s robust, warming flavors of oak and caramel heighten the pies and cocktails of Thanksgiving. A holiday favorite for generations, the potent old fashioned celebrates bourbon in its purest form. Drinks International rated the versatile, timeless tipple as the second most popular classic cocktail in the world in 2024.
Serving the smooth, yet powerful, Old Fashioned can be tantamount to a harmonious holiday feast when hosting irrepressible partisan relatives three weeks after a presidential election.
Since the late 18th century, bourbon has remained steadfast through profuse political debates and the storied whiskey chronicles of presidents. George Washington, America’s founding father (the first to proclaim a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789), led 13,000 troops to quell the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion before becoming one of the nation’s largest whiskey distillers.
Fueled with bourbon, writer William Faulkner explained it best: “Civilization begins with distillation.”
Andrew Jackson had a distillery in Tennessee. Martin Van Buren drank so much that he earned the nickname “Blue Whiskey Van.” Teddy Roosevelt enticed politicians with mint juleps for White House tennis matches. Warren G. Harding stashed bourbon in his golf bags during Prohibition.
Harry Truman started each day with a “doctor recommended” shot of Old Grand-Dad. But the 33rd president’s favorite libation was a well-made, stiff old fashioned.
Cami Pitre is the Cajun doyenne of flawless old fashioneds (and the proprietor of Pour It Up bartending services) in Thibodaux. Her classic and seasonal variations have a cult following at Fremin’s, the elegant Creole-Italian restaurant housed in a circa 1878 downtown landmark. Pitre’s Apple Cinnamon old fashioned is a Thanksgiving holiday favorite, infused with fall flavors and optional smoke.
“It’s really easy to make,” she says. “And if you’re smoking an old fashioned with a cocktail smoker, let it sit for a minute, then lift the device off the glass. It’s a beautiful, festive presentation.”
HOME BAR | Apple Cinnamon Old Fashioned
Pour 2 ounces bourbon, a splash of bourbon cherry juice, ½ ounce apple cinnamon syrup, and 3 dashes Angostura bitters into a 10-ounce rocks glass. Use a cinnamon stick to stir cocktail and garnish. Drop one big ice rock into the glass. If using a cocktail smoker: Set the smoker on top of the glass and smoke with applewood chips, withholding the ice until the smoking is complete. Skewer a cooked apple slice and a bourbon cherry as garnish.
Fremin’s Restaurant
402 West Third Street, Thibodaux
985-449-0333
fremins.net
