25/02/2025
Buzz Button™ flowers provide an effervescent experience unlike other edible flora. The small, bright yellow flowers are a part of a trademarked line of specialty flowers grown by Fresh Origins Farm in San Diego, California, and were selected to provide chefs with an ingredient that stimulates the entire mouth, not just the tastebuds. Buzz Button™ flowers are botanically classified as Acmella olercea and are a member of the Asteraceae family. The flowers have been utilized for centuries as a natural pain reliever in South America and are also known as Sichuan Buttons, Toothache Plant, Jambu, Sansho Buttons, and Electric Buttons. It is important to note that Buzz Button™ flowers are not related to Sichuan peppercorns and only share a similar name due to their mouth-numbing properties. Despite their ancient roots, Buzz Button™ flowers did not become popular in culinary dishes and mixology in the Unites States until the early 21st century. Chefs highly favor the flowers for their bright coloring, grassy, subtly tart flavor, and ability to electrify and awaken the palate, heightening flavors within a dish. Buzz Button™ flowers are harvested through Fresh Origins at peak freshness to ensure optimal flavor and appearance. The zingy blooms can be used whole as a garnish, crushed and sprinkled, or sliced and incorporated into smaller amounts to control the tingling sensation within a dish.
Nutritional Value
Buzz Button™ flowers contain spilanthol, a compound absorbed through the soft tissue in the mouth that gives the flowers their tingling, numbing sensation. Spilanthol provides anti-inflammatory properties, acting as a natural analgesic, and stimulates the trigeminal nerve, triggering a sensory, saliva-inducing reaction in the mouth. The flowers are utilized in folk medicines throughout South America and Asia to naturally numb pain associated with toothaches and sore throats, and they are also blended into skin creams to relax muscles, temporarily decreasing the appearance of wrinkles topically.
Applications
Buzz Button™ flowers are primarily used as an edible accent to enhance both sweet and savory culinary dishes. The flowers can be placed into raw or cooked preparations, and light heat will not lower the intensity of the flower’s flavor. Buzz Button™ flowers can be used whole as a garnish to consume alongside the meal to showcase different flavors, or the flowers can be chopped into smaller pieces and incorporated into salads, stir-fries, sushi, pasta, and soups. Buzz Button™ flowers can also be crushed and mixed into salt, sprinkled into creamy sauces such as beurre blanc, or used as a fresh topping over sorbet, ice cream, and chocolate desserts. In addition to using the flowers whole, oils, syrups, and alcohols can be infused with the flower’s essence to capture the tingling sensation for vinaigrettes, cocktails, and desserts. The intensity of Buzz Button™ flowers will vary depending on the individual and their palate. It is recommended to start with smaller amounts and gradually add more to develop a sensory dish. Buzz Button™ flowers pair well with citruses such as lemons, grapefruit, limes, and oranges, honey, agave, ginger, mango, cucumbers, seafood, poultry, and springtime vegetables including peas, fava beans, and green garlic. Whole Buzz Button™ flowers should be used immediately for the best quality and flower and will keep 2 to 4 days when stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
In the United States, Buzz Button™ flowers have become a unique mixology ingredient used to elevate flavors within specialty cocktails. The flowers can be floated whole on top of a drink, or they can be crushed and used to rim the glass, sprinkled over the surface for added color and flavor, muddled into the drink, or infused into syrups and foams for a unique mouthfeel. One of the most famous cocktails that incorporate Buzz Button™ flowers is at The Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Mixologist Mariena Mercer created the Verbena cocktail, a citrus and ginger-infused margarita, and paired with an entire Buzz Button™ flower to eat and enjoy while drinking. The flower changes the drink's flavor as it is consumed, creating an interactive and memorable experience. The Verbena cocktail began as a hidden drink, not listed on the menu, and the secret cocktail has remained the bar’s best-selling drink since its opening in 2010. Mercer also developed another cocktail incorporating the tingling essence of Buzz Button™ flowers into a fruit leather that is pinned as a garnish on the side of the glass. Beyond using the flowers crushed or whole, mixologists use their creative nature to infuse Buzz Button™ flowers into elements of the cocktail as an exciting surprise. The Fuzzy Tauntaun at Oga’s Cantina inside the Disneyland Resort is a twist on the classic fuzzy navel, but it is topped with a Buzz Button™ foam. The drink was released in 2018 and has become a menu favorite as the foam creates an unexpected numbing, tingling sensation on the lips and in the mouth.
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