Sound assisted coffee? Meet Elixir

According to the creators of this strange new liquid, Elixir Speciality Coffee ‘looks like whiskey, feels like tea [and is] made from coffee.’ They’re pretty big with the hyperbole too, stating that this new drink is ‘unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before.’

Whether or not that is true is another question, and one that we can’t answer because we haven’t had a swig of it.

Elixir Speciality Coffee is tempting us to rip up the rulebook when it comes to brewing coffee. This stuff isn’t created by simply pouring hot water over some coffee ground – that’d be too simple. Instead, Elixir uses some a ‘sonication-assisted extraction’ process.

Cutting through the marketing jargon, the coffee is exposed to certain sound waves for a predetermined amount of time. It seems (Note: For better or for worse, we’re taking this at face value at believing every word of it) that this rather unique way of brewing affects the extraction at a molecular level, resulting in a very delicate, complex and refreshing cup of coffee.

Elixir Speciality Coffee looks to have been founded sometime late last year in one of the hippest coffee cities on the planet: Sydney, Australia. Former Intelligentsia barista Nick Griffith has been brought on board as a US partner.

Currently on sale in selected outlets in the United States and Australia, Elixir remains something of an exclusive product: Just eight cafes selling the drink to our knowledge in Sydney whilst Pasadena’s Copa Vida is the only place in the United States to make and stock it. But despite it being scarce, many people have been bowled over by it.

“People love it,” enthused Chris Karvelas of Sydney’s Harry’s Bondi. “It’s a new category of coffee. It’s a stand-alone product….it’s lighter than full-bodied alternatives.”

Photo: Elixir Speciality Coffee (Instagram)