9 Sichuan Pepper–Inspired Cocktails for Your Next Gathering

On a recent trip to Asia, our founder Yao met Richard McDonough, Beverage Director at Workshop14 — recently named Campari's One To Watch in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025 — and tasted the drink that inspired this article: the Hi-Ma Gin.

A crystal-clear martini made with 50Hertz green Sichuan pepper oil, it offers a subtle citrus lift and a gentle, electric tingle.

Image: A moment behind the bar in Hanoi: Yao with Richard McDonough, Beverage Director and "Mood Therapist" at Workshop14, tasting the Hi-Ma Gin

That moment reframed how we think about Sichuan pepper behind the bar.

Not as spice, but as aroma.
Not as heat, but as sensation.

Inspired by Workshop14 and bartenders around the world, this list brings together nine cocktails that use Sichuan pepper to add lift, clarity, and quiet intensity to the glass.

You may want to bookmark this one for your next gathering.

We’ll start where it all began.

1 — Hi-Ma Gin (Workshop14 · Hanoi, Vietnam)

Hi-Ma Gin’s secret lies in the techniques that brought it to life. 

Workshop14 re-distills Song Cái Floral Gin with fresh green Sichuan pepper blossoms, then stirs it with dry vermouth and finishes with a few drops of 50Hertz green Sichuan pepper oil. 

Clean, restrained, and quietly expressive, the Hi-Ma Gin martini shows that Sichuan pepper brings more than flavor to cocktails — it brings feeling, and it belongs behind the bar.

Quick Make (Inspired by Workshop14)

Ingredients

• 2 oz floral or botanical gin
  
• ½ oz dry vermouth
  
• 1–2 drops green Sichuan pepper oil
  
• Lemon twist (optional)

Method

Stir gin and dry vermouth with ice until very cold. Strain into a pre-chilled martini-style glass, finish with 1–2 drops of 50Hertz’s green Sichuan pepper oil, and add a lemon twist if desired.

#2 The Mean One (Original Recipe by Josh / @matterofsnack)

Bold and unapologetic. The Mean One doesn’t try to win you over gently — it hits fast with strong, mezcal-forward flavor.

Created by our friend Josh ( @matterofsnack), it brings familiar spirits together with a tingly twist.

Built on a 1:1:1 ratio of mezcal, Chartreuse, and curaçao — using Banhez Mezcal, Green Chartreuse, and Treehouse Brew Co curaçao — the drink is rounded out with fresh juice from half a pomelo and a few drops of 50Hertz Green Sichuan Pepper Oil (we know — at this point, we put it in everything).

It’s bold, a little aggressive, and impossible to ignore. As Josh puts it, the drink feels like it’s mad at you… and you’re very okay with that.

Ingredients

• 1 oz artisanal mezcal (used here: Banhez Mezcal)
  
• 1 oz Green Chartreuse
• ¾ oz curaçao (used here: Treehouse Brew Co curaçao)
  
• 1–1½ oz fresh pomelo juice
  
• 2–3 drops 50Hertz Green Sichuan Pepper Oil
  
• Ice
  

Method

Add everything to a shaker with ice. Shake hard to fully emulsify the pepper oil. Strain into a chilled glass and serve immediately.

#3 Five-Spice Margarita (Netflix’s Drink Masters · Episode 1)

This next drink comes from the very first challenge (Episode 1) of Netflix’s Drink Masters, where contestant and mixologist Kate Gerwin reworked the classic with a focus on structure, balance, and sensory impact. 

What makes it especially relevant here is how Sichuan pepper is used — again, not as heat, but as a tool for aroma and mouthfeel. 

Kate builds the cocktail on agave spirits rooted in Oaxaca, treating mezcal less as a single flavor and more like wine, shaped by varietal and terroir.

She replaces lime with clementine and bergamot — the citrus behind Earl Grey’s signature aroma — brightening the drink while keeping it grounded in the margarita’s daisy roots. 

The defining element is a custom five-spice liqueur made from star anise, clove, cinnamon, fennel, and Sichuan pepper, infused with sugar and agave spirit to balance all five tastes and add a gentle, mouth-tingling lift.

Finished with a smoked sea salt “air” instead of a traditional rim, the cocktail emphasizes aroma and texture as much as flavor. 

Fair warning: this recreation is not for the untrained mixologist. 

Ingredients

For the cocktail

• 2 oz Espadín mezcal
  
• ¾ oz fresh clementine juice
  
• ½ oz fresh bergamot juice
  
• ¾ oz five-spice liqueur (see below)
  
• Ice

For the five-spice liqueur (make ahead)

• 1 cup agave spirit (mezcal or tequila)
  
• ½ cup sugar (50/50 white + brown)
  
• 1 star anise pod
  
• 2 whole cloves
  
• 1 small cinnamon stick
  
• 1 tsp fennel seed
  
• 1–2 tsp lightly crushed 50Hertz green Sichuan pepper

Easy smoked-salt rim

• Smoked sea salt
  
• Fine sugar (optional, 1:1 with salt)
  
• Clementine wedge (for rimming)
  

Method

Make the five-spice liqueur

Combine agave spirit, sugar, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and lightly crushed green Sichuan pepper in a jar. 

Let infuse 12–24 hours, tasting periodically. When aromatic and lightly numbing (do not over-infuse or it will turn bitter), strain and bottle.

Prep the rim

Run a clementine wedge around half the rim of a chilled glass. Dip into smoked sea salt (or salt-sugar mix). Set aside.

Make the cocktail

Add mezcal, clementine juice, bergamot juice, and five-spice liqueur to a shaker with ice. Shake hard until well chilled. Strain into the rimmed glass.

#4 Má Garita (Sip & Guzzle)

Sip & Guzzle — a New York City cocktail bar known for modern drinks rooted in Asian flavors — offers the Má Garita as one of the cleanest demonstrations of how Sichuan pepper can replace heat without losing intensity.

Built on Patrón Silver tequila, mezcal, Sichuan pepper, cilantro, and lime, the drink removes chili entirely. In its place, Sichuan pepper provides aroma, vibration, and a soft numbing edge that makes the citrus feel brighter and the agave feel deeper.

The name says everything: má, not là.
Numbing, not spicy.

Served up with a restrained salt rim, the cocktail is focused, minimal, and deeply modern — proof that Sichuan pepper can anchor a drink just as confidently as chili ever did, without overwhelming the glass.

Quick Make (Inspired by Sip & Guzzle)

Ingredients

• 1½ oz blanco tequila
  
• ½ oz mezcal
  
• ¾ oz fresh lime juice
  
• ½ oz simple syrup
  
• 2–3 whole Sichuan pepper (lightly crushed)
  
• Cilantro leaf (optional)
  
• Salt rim (optional)
  

Method

Gently muddle the Sichuan peppercorns in a shaker. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake hard and double strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a single cilantro leaf if desired.

#5 — Negroni Sbagliato (with prosecco… and Sichuan pepper)

“What’s your drink of choice?”
“A Negroni.”
“Sbagliato.”
“With prosecco.”
Ooh — stunning.

After the previous Netflix-inspired cocktail, we’re staying in Hollywood territory. That line above came from a press interview with Emma D’Arcy during the House of the Dragon press run — not an episode, just one of those offhand answers that instantly became internet viral.

The Negroni Sbagliato itself is a happy mistake: Campari, sweet vermouth, and prosecco instead of gin.

It’s lighter, bubblier, and far more social than a standard Negroni — the kind of drink you make when you’re hosting, the music’s already on, and nobody’s counting rounds.

And yes, prosecco actually works with Sichuan pepper. Carbonation lifts aroma, which is exactly where Sichuan pepper shines.

A single drop of green Sichuan pepper oil doesn’t make the drink spicy — it just sharpens things slightly. Bitter feels brighter, sweet feels cleaner, and the whole drink feels more awake.

And for the record: sbagliato means “mistaken.”

Like the prosecco, the Sichuan pepper wasn’t planned — but it works.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Campari
  
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
  
• 2 oz prosecco
  
• 1 drop green Sichuan pepper oil
  
• Ice
  
• Orange peel (optional, but recommended)
  

Method

Add Campari and sweet vermouth to a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with prosecco. Express an orange peel over the glass and discard. Add one drop of green Sichuan pepper oil, give a gentle stir, and stop there. Use a light hand — one drop is plenty.

#6 Sichuan Mule (The Upper House, Chengdu, China)

The Moscow Mule is one of those drinks that rarely invites reinterpretation. It’s familiar, reliable, and usually left alone.

At The Upper House in Chengdu, it’s quietly re-tuned.

Here, the structure stays intact — vodka, lime, ginger beer, crushed ice — but the heat is removed and replaced with Sichuan pepper. Not as spice, not as garnish, but as a background note that lifts aroma and changes how the drink moves across the palate.

Carbonation does the rest. Ginger becomes sharper. Lime feels brighter. And the gentle numbing effect of Sichuan pepper lingers just long enough to make the next sip feel new again.

It’s not a novelty Mule. It’s the same drink — simply adjusted for place.

Quick Make (Inspired by The Upper House)

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
  
• ½ oz fresh lime juice
  
• ½ oz Sichuan pepper syrup*
  
• Ginger beer, to top
  
• Crushed ice
  
• Mint sprig (optional)
  

Method

Fill a copper mug or tall glass with crushed ice. Add vodka, lime juice, and Sichuan pepper syrup. Top with ginger beer and stir gently. Garnish with mint if desired.

#7 — Sichuan Pepper Bloody Mary (Customer Contributed Recipe)

Not every great cocktail comes from behind a bar — or requires making salt foam. Some are born at the kitchen counter.

As customers began writing to us about using green Sichuan pepper oil at home, a clear theme emerged: they weren’t chasing heat, but seeking lift, aroma, and a subtle electric edge in familiar drinks.

One note from a California customer, Georgianna, stood out. Curious after experimenting with the oil, she tried it in a Bloody Mary — lightly coating the rim of the glass, then adding a few drops to the drink itself.

The result was the Tingly Mary.

Rather than turning up the spice, the oil adds a lemony aroma, a gentle numbing effect, and a soft electric buzz that plays beautifully with tomato, celery, and savory notes. Even the celery stalk carries the tingle.

Quick Make (Tingly Mary inspired by Georgianna)

Ingredients

• 4 oz tomato juice
  
• 1½ oz vodka
  
• ½ oz fresh lemon juice
  
• Worcestershire sauce
  
• Hot sauce (optional)
  
• Black pepper
  
• 50Hertz Green Sichuan pepper oil
  
• Celery stalk
  

Method

Lightly coat the rim of a tall glass with green Sichuan pepper oil.

Fill with ice. Add remaining ingredients and 2–3 drops of oil. Stir gently. Garnish with celery and finish with a drop or two on the stalk.

#8 — Baijiu & Pineapple Sichuan Pepper Cocktail (Lost Plate)

Image: Image and recipe from Lost Plate’s “Bring on the Sichuan Heat” cocktail

This drink is a reminder that Sichuan pepper was never meant to replace heat — it was meant to sit beside it.

Developed by Lost Plate, the recipe uses baijiu as a foundation not for shock value, but as a way in. Their approach introduces Chinese flavors through balance, even when the drink itself doesn’t shy away from intensity.

Built on Ming River baijiu, pineapple juice softens the spirit’s sharper edges while cinnamon and anise pull from familiar pantry territory.

Dried Asian chili peppers bring real capsaicin heat. 50Hertz Green Sichuan Pepper contributes something else entirely — citrusy aroma and a gentle numbing lift. Two sensations, running in parallel rather than competing for attention.

Ingredients

• 1½ oz Ming River baijiu
• 3–5 small dried Asian chili peppers, halved
• 3–5 whole 50Hertz Green Sichuan Pepper
• ½ oz cinnamon & anise simple syrup
• 2 oz pineapple juice (Dole 100% recommended)
• Ice
• Garnish: pineapple slice + dried chili pepper

Method

Cut the dried Asian chili peppers in half. Place the chilies and whole 50Hertz Green Sichuan Pepper in a shaker with a small amount of ice and gently muddle once or twice to release aroma and heat.

Add baijiu, simple syrup, and pineapple juice. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds until well chilled. Fill a Collins glass with ice and double strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a dried chili pepper.

#9 Prickly G&T (Chongqing)

If the Baijiu & Pineapple is about heat and force, the Prickly G&T is about control.

In Chongqing — a city synonymous with intensity — this gin and tonic does something unexpected. It cools everything down.

Instead of infusing or muddling, Sichuan pepper is used whole, scattered gently across the surface of the drink. As carbonation rises through the glass, it lifts the pepper’s citrusy, green aroma upward. The effect is immediate but restrained: brighter tonic, sharper botanicals, and a faint numbing hum that lingers just long enough to reset the palate.

There’s no chili heat here. No spice-forward theatrics.
Just má — light, clean, and precise.

It’s one of the simplest expressions of Sichuan pepper behind the bar, and one of the most revealing. A reminder that the ingredient doesn’t need technique to speak. Sometimes it just needs space.

Quick Make (Prickly G&T–Inspired)

Ingredients

• 2 oz dry gin (London Dry or citrus-forward)
  
• Premium tonic water, well chilled
  
• 6–10 whole 50Hertz Green Sichuan pepper
  
• Ice
  
• Optional garnish: cucumber ribbon or citrus peel
  

Method

Fill a highball or large wine glass with ice. Add gin and top with tonic. Gently drop the Sichuan pepper over the surface — do not crush or over-stir. Garnish lightly if desired and serve immediately.

Tip: Let carbonation do the work. Aroma comes first; sensation follows.