(includes cocktail mixer recipes)

Though they can also be used as an exciting garnish, salad ingredient, or in frozen desserts, Szechuan Buttons (aka Sichuan Buttons) excel as the cocktail mixer of the future, and a lot of cutting edge mixologists are experimenting with them as we speak.  Most often the tiny yellow/brown petals are used (pinched off or cut off, and then sprinkled or mixed into things).  Beyond alcoholic beverages, they’re also delicious with coconut water (either store bought or from fresh coconuts), sparkling water, and citrus drinks like lemonade.

But what if you’re not an expert mixologist and you’re trying to use them for the first time? Here are a few pointers we’ve come up with through experimentation.  The three methods below impart different levels of tingle to your drinks, so they’re all useful…it just depends on what effect you want.

Four Ways to Add Szechuan Buttons to Drinks:

1. (Weakest) Shake/Mix Them In

Using a cocktail shaker, muddler, or blender to integrate szechuan buttons into your drinks seems to impart the most mild and inconsistent tingle.  However, it’s a great choice for drinks where you want an almost ethereal buzz without overpowering your drink.  You can also simply sprinkle the petals on top.

2. (Strongest) Garnish With a Button, to be Consumed.

As it takes a few seconds for the tingle to develop anyway, having the drinker chew on some of the petals directly, then drink the cocktail/cooler means that the tingle will hit right as they’re drinking.  Chewing the button’s petals like this also imparts a much stronger buzz that lasts longer, so it should carry the drinker through most of the cocktail, unless they take a long time to nurse it.

We actually like to combine methods 1 & 2 by mixing the petals from half a button into each drink, and garnishing with the other half to be chewed. This gives the initial wow factor while also imparting more mild tingling to carry them through later sips.

3. (Most Evenly Distributed) Infuse Beverage Ingredients with Buttons

Steeping szechuan buttons in your cocktail ingredients seems to evenly distribute a slight buzz throughout the cocktail.  It requires a little forethought, but we think it works extremely well.  Here are two infusion recipes we’ve tried and loved:

Szechuan Button Infused Gin
8oz of gin
2 szechuan buttons

1. Pull the petals off of the buttons and mash them with a mortar and pestle or muddler.
2. Add to the gin and let macerate for at least four hours, though overnight or even longer would be better.  We tried it after two weeks and it was delicious!

Szechuan Button Infused Citrus Juice
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 szechuan buttons

1. Pull the petals off of the buttons and mash them with a mortar and pestle or muddler.  Juice the citrus fruits.
2. Stir the mashed petals into the citrus juices and let macerate for at least four hours.  After a few days, the electric sensation subsided, so be sure to use this immediately.

4. (Evenly Distributed, Strong, Fast) Alcohol Flash Infused with Buttons

Flash-infusing uses special equipment (a cream whipper) to infuse the alcohol very quickly. If you don’t have a whipper, you can also slow infuse Szechuan buttons using the two recipes above this one.

Ingredients:
120ml of room temperature alcohol (gin, tequila, etc)
6 szechuan buttons
1 N2O charger for cream whippers

Equipment:
Fine mesh strainer
Cream whipper/foamer (we use an iSi Gourmet Whip Plus .5L)

1. Chop Szechuan buttons up with a knife.
2. Combine buttons in the whipper with the alcohol.
3. Charge the whipper with the N2O.
4. Swirl the base of the whipper for 30 seconds.
5. Let sit for 5-10 minutes (even longer may be even better) depending on desired strength. Longer = more tingle.
6. Release the gas from the whipper.
7. Unscrew the top & pour the alcohol out through the strainer.
8. Serve on the rocks or use in cocktails.

We hope this gives you a good starting point for experimenting with these exciting little flowers.  If/when you’ve tried them please feel free to leave a comment below with your tips, we’d love to hear them!

All Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
All Sichuan Button Recipes

Other Exciting Cocktail Ingredients:
Wild Huckleberries
Pepquinos
Shiso Leaves
Yuzu Juice
Fresh Herbs

This summery cocktail is sweet and citrusy with a szechuan button tingling-kiss just a few seconds after you sip it.  You’ll find recipes for the infused gin & citrus juice by reading How to Make Szechuan Button Drinks.

Ingredients: (per drink)
2oz Szechuan Button Infused Gin
1/2oz Szechuan Button Infused Citrus Juice
1/4oz Agave Nectar
1/8oz Ricard or Pernod
1/4oz St Germain
Twist of Lemon for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake all liquid ingredients with ice.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Related Posts:
All Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
All Szechuan Button Recipes

Ingredients: (makes one 3.5oz drink)
2 1/2oz of good quality Bourbon (we recommend a sweeter variety)
1oz Orange & Anise Brandy  (Good Quality Brandy, Star Anise, Orange Peel)
½ of a Szechuan Button bud
1 Star Anise (for garnish)
Ice

Directions:
1. Steep the star anise and orange peel in good quality brandy for at least a month (proportions & steeping time depend on your taste).

2. Fill your shaker with ice, shake it to chill the whole shaker.  Pinch the petals off of the szechuan button.

3. Add the brandy, bourbon and most of the szechuan button to the shaker…shake to blend.

4. Pour into a martini-style glass. Float the remaining petals and a single star anise on top for a garnish.

Browse More:
Using Szechuan Buttons in Cocktails & Coolers
All Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
All Szechuan Button Recipes

This cocktail tastes of caramel, vanilla and cocoa blended with anise and citrus & finishes with a buzz.

Ingredients: (per drink)
2oz Bourbon
1/8oz Pernod
1/4oz Simple Syrup
1/4oz Vermouth
1/4oz Crème de Cacao
1/2oz Szechuan Button Infused Citrus Juice
Dash of Orange Bitters
Szechuan Button Petals for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake all liquid ingredients with ice, pour into a glass, and garnish with szechuan button petals.

Related Posts:
All Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
All Szechuan Button Recipes

Below you’ll find ten ingenious cocktails invented by the foodie blogosphere using Szechuan buttons – an exotic edible flower that makes your mouth tingle when you chew it.

Knuckle Salad’s Tootsie Pop Rock Martini and At Home with Rebecka’s Bite My Sweet Tarts-Tini were judged the most exciting by readers of the Marx Foods blog and the other contestants but all the recipes warrant a peek to discover new techniques and ideas for using this cutting-edge cocktail ingredient.

Just Get Floury: The Electric GinGer Button

Insatiable: Love’s First Kiss

At Home with Rebecka: Bite My Sweet Tarts-Tini

An Opera Singer in the Kitchen: Electric Green

The Bad Girl’s Kitchen: The Citrus Shock

A Cook Walks into a Bar: Buzz of the Green Fairy

My Kitchen Kreations to You: Grown-Up Frothy & Fuzzy Chocolate Milk-tini

A Happy Girl and Loving Life…: Berry Lightning

Knuckle Salad: The Tootsie Pop Rock Martini

First, Make a Roux! ‘Lectric Carrot

Other unusual cocktail ingredients packed with possibility are dulce buttons and shiso leaves.  We offer a mixologist sampler that combines all three into a single order so you can experiment to your heart’s content.

This simple but tasty cocktail is herbal with lots of baking spice carried by the szechuan tingle.

Ingredients: (per drink)
1oz Chartreuse
1oz Sweet Vermouth
1oz Gin
Dash of Orange Bitters
1 Szechuan Button

Directions
1.  Pinch all the petals off of the szechuan button.
2.  Stir all liquid ingredients over ice, strain into a martini glass and top with szechuan button petals.

___________

Browse More:
Szechuan Button Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

Wake up brunch there is a new Mary in town!  The buttons in the drink and the sugar, salt, button combo on the glasses’ rims will be enough ‘hair of the dog’ for anyone!

A Bloody Button Mary is a twist on the traditional Bloody Mary, and while it isn’t too different in the basic ingredients it does stray in its construction and even this is subtle.   What isn’t subtle is the exotic ‘kick’ you get from the Szechuan button.

Ingredients:

1/2 fresh Lime Juice
3 Szechuan Buttons
6 cups low-salt V8 Juice
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/4 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce
3/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Vodka
Sugar for garnish

Serves 8

Squeeze lime juice into a pitcher, and add veggie juice, Worcestershire sauce, chopped up szechuan buttons (really, really minced), pepper sauce and salt.  Chill.  When ready, stir in vodka and serve over an ice cube in a small glass that has been ‘rimmed’ with a mixture of salt, sugar and more minced szechuan buttons.  Garnish with a carrot stick and a green bean sliver and if you are truly decadent add a button!

Related Posts:
Wasabi Bloody Mary Recipe
Fresh Horseradish Bloody Mary Recipe

___________

Browse More:
Szechuan Button Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

Has your mouth needed a treat lately? All the hustle and bustle of the holidays but you’ve been able to hold your tongue? Well now it’s time to treat those deserving tastebuds to flavors and sensations that will make you sing.

Coconut ice cream with Szechuan button and mint foam. If it sounds too good to be true, wait until you taste it. The creamy coldness of the coconut ice cream along with the familiar friendliness of mint is the perfect diving board for the zing of the buttons.

One bite and your mouth won’t know what hit it but one thing is certain, it will want more! I can barely begin to describe what this is like, it’s flavor, it’s sensation, its cold, it seems hot, it does everything but dance.

Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup double (heavy) cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup coconut flakes (packed down)
8oz (200g) can of sweetened coconut cream

Take the milk and coconut cream and blend in a food processor.  When smooth, carefully stir in the cream and coconut flakes.

Transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  For soft-serve ice cream serve immediately, for later use or harder ice cream, transfer to a covered container in your freezer.  When ice cream is set, ready the plates and make foam.

Foam:
1 tsp of lecithin
4 -5 mint leaves
1 szechuan button
3 tbs water
dash of sugar

Combine foam ingredients and whip into a foam using an immersion blender.

Make a quenelle out of the ice cream and place on a plate.  Spoon foam over ice cream and garnish with some sprigs of mint and another button, if you like – and if this seems like too small a portion just get a regular ice cream scoop and pile it on, foam and all – your mouth will love you for it!

___________Browse More:
Dessert Recipes
Szechuan Button Recipes
Fresh Herb Recipes

This tequila-based cocktail is well balanced by crème de cacao’s richness, agave’s sweetness, grapefruit bitters’ bite and szechuan button‘s electricity.   

Ingredients: (per drink)
2oz Silver Tequila
1/2oz Szechuan Button Infused Citrus Juice
1/4oz Agave Nectar
Dash of Grapefruit Bitters
1/4oz Crème de Cacao
Twist of Lime
1 Szechuan Button

Directions:

1. Shake all liquid ingredients with ice to chill & combine.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a twist of lime & and either use the szechuan button to rim the glass with petals (for stronger stimulation) or whole to the glass as a garnish.

___________

Browse More:
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
Szechuan Button Recipes

Lemon Szechuan Soju

This is a refreshing cocktail built by blending fresh lemonade with soju (a Korean rice liquor). Rimming the glass with petals pinched from Szechuan buttons takes the citrus zing to a new level that’ll not only pucker your lips but make them tingle too!

Ingredients:

50/50 Simple Syrup* made with 1 cup of water (How to Make Simple Syrup)
1 cup Lemon Juice
1 1/4th to 2 1/4th cups Cold Water
1 ¾ cups Soju
Szechuan Buttons

1. Chill the simple syrup thoroughly in the fridge.

2. Pinch the small petals off of the Szechuan buttons.

3. Blend the lemon juice, soju, simple syrup and 1 1/4th cups of cold water.

4. Taste. If it’s stronger than you’d like, stir in up to an additional cup of cold water.

5. Rim the glass with the Szechuan button petals & serve!

*I used organic brown sugar in my simple syrup, so that’s why my lemonade looks more brown than yellow. You could use less sugar in your simple syrup (1 cup water, ¾ cup sugar) for a more tart & healthier cocktail.

___________

Browse More:
Citrus Fruit Recipes
Szechuan Button Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes