Some of the best coffee projects we know of got their start on Kickstarter. From...
Many who grew up in Northern Minnesota or in other Swedish communities remember the smooth, rich flavor of the coffee served at the Lutheran church after services on Sunday. While many folks tout egg shells in the coffee grounds for helping to clarify the coffee, this is the only recipe I’ve found that calls for using an entire egg in the coffee.
According to chemists, the egg is the reason that Swedish egg coffee is so smooth – the proteins in the egg bind with the acid in the coffee to neutralize it.
That could make Swedish egg coffee ideal for someone who loves coffee but can’t drink it because they have a sensitive stomach.
Here’s one recipe for Swedish coffee that you can try for yourself and see if it doesn’t make the smoothest cup of coffee you’ve ever tasted.
You need:
In a small bowl, mix the ground coffee with the beaten egg until the coffee grounds are well coated. Stir in the crushed eggshell, then add in the cold water. Meanwhile, bring 8 cups of water to boil in a large saucepan. Add coffee mixture to the boiling water and stir for about four minutes, or until the foam subsides. Remove from the heat and cover the pan.
Let stand for 7-10 minutes, until the grounds and eggshell have settled to the bottom of the pot. Strain the coffee through a wire or cloth strainer into coffee cups or into a serving carafe. Add sugar and milk to taste if desired.
Some posts on our site may contain amazon affiliate links. We may earn affiliate commission from amazon when you purchase through those links.
Mart Mart says
And rude, judgmental and condescending! Don’t forget that !
Mart Mart says
You’re only 33. Life went on well before you were born. Things happened you don’t know about that didn’t get passed on to you. Crazy Swedes! :P
David says
I’m a 69 year old full blooded Swede whose grandparents came from Sweden. My parents and aunts made the best coffee and it was egg coffee. If you are a true Swede you would know about egg coffee. It’s the best. Not bitter even when it strong. No acid either. Great stuff.
Cajsa says
This is how my mother and mormor in Chicago made our coffee and all the ladies at the Covenant Church, too. Thanks for the recipe I could not remember the ratio of water/coffee/egg and they have all passed on now.
Krille says
I’m Swedish and this is the first time i’ve ever heard of this….WTF?!
laralee says
I have a funny story: when I lived in Sweden, I was a Mormon missionary trying to get people to convert to herb tea ! I missed out on good Swedish coffee. But, my German grandmother made excellent coffee and I did live in Minnesota and drink some good coffee at friend’s homes.
Martin says
haha Swedish egg coffee? I’m from Sweden and have never ever heard of it. Sometimes we use cardamom in our coffee but NEVER egg or egg shell :D
Andreas says
This is quite funny.. I’m swedish, and I have never heard of this ordinary mix…
Robin Briggs says
I have a stainless steel Swedish coffee pot on my range that has been in the family since the 50s. It has a very thick (1 inch) bottom for making coffee this way. It’s made it’s way to San Francisco, and we only use it for boiling water, but I know about its history and this is the way coffee was made. Welcome to Swedish culture in the US
Alex Jokela says
Having grown up on the Iron Range (e.g. Northern Minnesota), I am almost certain that I had had coffee made this way; think church basement coffee after a funeral or something.
I had been listening to Minnesota Public Radio over this weekend, and the Road Food Couple mentioned having been in Iowa, having has “Swedish Coffee”. I looked it up and found this site.
I have been sipping a couple pots of the stuff throughout the day, today. Very smooth.
I also agree with the previous comments; I traveled Scandinavia (several years back), and most of things that we mid-westerners of Scandinavian decent think of the “old country” is just that, it is thoughts of an old country that no longer exists – just stories and memories from a bygone era. Cultures and languages change.
Finland, by the way, has the best coffee (in my humble opinion).
Ed says
I remember, as a kid, my (Upper peninsula, Copper Country, Michigan) Swedish Grandpa making coffee always boiled egg coffee, and all the old folks said he always made the best coffee. I never got a direct recipe from him just remember watching him. He would mix an egg with water enough to fill the large size baby food jar, put the grounds in the bottom of his coffee pot and pour in about 1/3 (one third)of the egg-water mix over the grounds and swish it around to mix it with the grounds. Mean while he was heating the water in the tea kettle, once the water boiled he poured the water over the grounds then put the coffee pot over the fire until it boiled up a few times, he would slosh it around to knock the foam down, repeated a couple times until it would just come to a rolling boil. Then he added a little cold water and let it settle a few minutes before pouring it out through an old fine brass screen strainer into the cups.
When I decided to try to make some I started looking for recipes and all of them I found called for 1 egg which gives the coffee more of a egg flavor then I wanted and I knew he used his jar of egg water a couple days, after several pots of coffee I figure 1/3 egg came out pretty good.
Anders Gardebring says
I don’t know of anyone in Sweden having egg in the coffee nowadays. We usually drink our coffee black and strong, sometimes with a small bit of sugar or some milk, but not always. (Regular American coffee basicly taste like hot water to us!).
The egg coffee is (I would guess) probably an older tradition that the emigrants from Scandinavia brought with them when they came to the United States back in the days. Interesting read!
Klas Johansson says
Hahaha, dont drag us real swedes into this! :D I’ve lived in Sweden for all of my 33 year old life and I’ve never heard of this recipe. :)
Crazy americans! :P Or crazy lutherans. :P
Courtney says
This sounds like a very interesting mix. I will look forward to trying it. Also, I appreciate the fact that you shared such a different recipe with the world, that is outside of the normal “coffee box”. Thank you for helping us entertain culture through taste. Courtney-Blarney Stone Cafe
Red Roaster says
You swedes are funny.