SCANDINAVIAN EGG COFFEE

Egg coffee is a Scandinavian treat that’s easy to make and delicious to drink. By adding a raw egg — including the washed shell — to ground coffee and boiling the resulting slurry, you end up with a smooth, mild cup of coffee. Adding the egg takes away any bitterness, gives the caffeine more of a kick and helps separate the grounds from the liquid.

Egg coffee is believed to have been brought to America by Swedish immigrants. Prior to their arrival, people often made “cowboy coffee” by boiling coffee grounds in a pan or pot of water. However, the grounds would pour out with the coffee unless it was poured through some kind of strainer. Putting an egg in with the grounds held them together in clumps. With the addition of a bit of cold water once the coffee was done cooking, these clumps would fall to the bottom of the pan, making it easier to pour out a clear cup of coffee.

Swedish Lutherans in the Midwest regularly made egg coffee for church functions, which led to its “church basement coffee” nickname. In Swedesburg, IA, this would have been “parish hall coffee.” And in fact, egg coffee was served there for many years at church functions, brewed in the big coffee pots that were fixtures in the parish hall kitchen back in the day.

This recipe is adapted from Swedish coffee from the 1927 Swedesburg church cookbook!

Print Recipe

Course Drinks

Ingredients

7-8 cups water
1/2 cup ground coffee
1 egg including washed shell

Instructions

Bring 6 cups of water to a rapid boil.
Add 1/2 cup ground coffee mixed with 1 egg and 1/4 cup water.
Boil for 3 minutes; remove pan from heat.
Add 2/3 cup cold water.
Once grounds have settled to the bottom of the pan, it’s ready to pour into cups. Best to use
a coffee strainer / filter!! (The egg is supposed to hold the grounds together in the bottom.)