Australian researchers brew espresso in minutes with ultrasound

Australian researchers have pushed espresso extraction into lab-speed territory without leaning on heat. At the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Francisco Trujillo and Jaqueline Moura Nadolny used high-intensity ultrasound to brew espresso-strength coffee with room-temperature water in 2 to 3 minutes, a shift they say could cut operational energy use by as much as 75 percent.

The work, published in Ultrasonics Sonochemistry in June 2026, centers on a patented ultrasonic brewing sonoreactor that couples sound energy directly into a coffee basket as water percolates through a freely packed bed of grounds. The system uses a new horn design to excite resonance modes in the basket, turning the basket itself into part of the extraction mechanism rather than relying on the long, hot pressure cycle of a conventional espresso machine.

For coffee drinkers, the most important detail is not the engineering, but the cup. In blind tasting, 100 testers reportedly could not distinguish the ultrasonic brew from conventional espresso. That matters because speed alone does not make a new brew method relevant to espresso drinkers; it has to preserve body, balance, and the familiar punch that makes espresso espresso.

UNSW has said the technology has commercialization potential, and a provisional patent is already in place. Trujillo has also said the team wants to work with coffee-machine manufacturers, a sign that this is being pitched as more than a one-off research demo. If that path holds, the appeal for cafés is straightforward: lower energy bills, faster service, and less time spent keeping water and machines at brewing temperature.

This is not the first time Australian researchers have tried to compress coffee time with ultrasound. In May 2024, UNSW and the University of Queensland reported an ultrasonic cold-brew method that cut brew time from 12 to 24 hours to under 3 minutes. UQ researchers said that accelerated brew still satisfied fans of smoother, less acidic cold brew, and earlier reporting said the system was adapted from a Breville espresso machine.

That is what makes the new espresso work worth watching. It is not just about brewing faster, but about whether ultrasound can move from a clever extraction trick to a credible machine category without giving up the sensory profile espresso drinkers expect. For now, the test is unusually blunt: if 100 blind tasters could not tell the difference, the next question is whether cafés will want the energy savings as much as the cup.