Swedish Egg Coffee

A coffee that many Swedish families make as a tradition with egg.

Food materials:

1 Egg

1/2 Cup of ground coffee

9 Cups of boiling water

1 Cup of cold water

Step 1

Bring 9 cups of water to a boil.

Comments

[Biscuitus]

My grandmother in Iowa made coffee this way although she never specifically called it "Swedish Coffee". Big urn type coffee makers back in the day didn't have paper filters, they had at best an aluminum pan with small holes in it to allow the water to run through. Since you didn't have a paper filter, then how were you supposed to get a cup of joe without all the grinds in it as well? Easy, dump some eggs in there to bind up the grinds. The egg shells I would think cut down on the acidity and since they are made of calcium, they would absorb some of the acid, and you didn't have to bother with seperating the eggs with the shells, you could just crack them and toss in the shells afterwards. When the coffee was done brewing, all you had to do was scoop out the now boiled eggs and voila! That's how it was explained to me.

[kill-a-watt]

FYI to original author and all the angry Swedes: I've seen this on the web before as "Lutheran Church coffee"

[LaGripe]

Haha, makes sense.

[kill-a-watt]

another cite: https://somethingscookingwithlori.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/lutheran-church-coffee-norwegian-egg-coffee/

But I also know the egg in coffee goes further back than that. I'm pretty sure I've read about fur trade era or "civil war" troops roasting their own green coffee beans in a frypan and then using an egg and cold water to clarify it afterwords.

They even had a coffee grinder in a Sharps rifle. That predates the bottle opener on the Galil by decades.

[csprinkle]

The idea is to produce a cup or pot of coffee that is less acidic. It works for me. I have severe GERD (acid reflux) and I thought my coffee drinking days were over until a friend turned me on to "Swedish" coffee. I don't care if it's authentic or not ~ It works.

[LaGripe]

Sweet, glad it's working for you. I've always wondered if it would enable friends of mine who have ulcers to drink this stuff.

[Swedish Person]

I have never ever heard about this before in my entire life, and I have lived in Sweden my entire life. So I call bullshit!

[LaGripe]

Hey man calm down. Just read the thread of comments started by yztay on January fourth. As was stated, it's probably just a name given to it by Swedish descendants living in the American Midwest. For example my grandparents of Swedish descent who live in Nebraska make it and call it Swedish coffee.

[suayres]

Actually, I believe the rationale for the egg is that it coagulates around the grounds and (theoretically at least) collects everything into a cohesive mass, making for clearer coffee, without nasty grounds in it. I don't know if it has that effect, as I've never been brave enough to actually try it, not least because I've never had detailed instructions for how one achieves this alchemy.

[LaGripe]

You are correct. The grounds do stick to the egg quite nicely so long as you don't just end up making egg drop soup out of the coffee. But the eggs also serve various other roles.

[MsJaxFla]

lemonie, I always put my coffee grounds around my rose bushes, but I have never put and egg in before...... not sure about the egg, think it might draw bugs....... hummm, think I might do without the egg in my coffee... still debating on if to try this or not...... okay, I will try it, but with a very small couple of cups of coffee........ grin..... sorry, but still a bit afraid.

Again thanks for the recipe. Okay, I will try it right now.

[MsJaxFla]

I am curious as to this purpose? What is the benefit? And I have always found that boiling ground coffee makes it bitter. So, why do this rather than a lower heat method?

I am afraid to try it......... (sheepish grin).

[LaGripe]

I think the higher temperature allows for a more efficient steeping period and allows the coffee to be stronger and have a richer effect on the palate. The egg shells then also cut down upon the bitterness that may result in the higher steeping temperature. Overall, I find the beverage to be rich, well bodied, strong and satisfying.

[MsJaxFla]

Well, I have heard that some folks put their egg shells in their coffee in regular brewing, but not the entire egg. I guess I am too poor to use an entire egg. lol. Who knows, I might just waste an egg to taste it. It is an interesting recipe for sure. Thank you for your efforts to post your recipe for us to use.

[yztay]

never heard about this and I am swedish

[vemsom]

Im also swedish an never heard of it.
:)

[LaGripe]

That's not to suprising, I mean, it's not a tradition that everyone does and it's not as popular as lefse. Did you live in Sweden or are you American with Swedish roots?

[yztay]

I live in sweden
by lefse do you mean the Norwegian flatbread?

[X22]

I'm also Swedish, and I have traveled and lived most places here - never heard of this drink. I believe this is a "Scandinavian-American" tradition - in other words it is a tradition of families of Scandinavian heritage in the USA Midwest rather than a current Swedish occurrence.

[LaGripe]

X22 You are quite probably right.

yztay: Yeah, the potato flat bread.

[mixtemotions]

Hej! I am excited to try this!! but does the coffee taste like eggs? I guess I'll find out! :) thanks for this instructable!

[LaGripe]

I don't think it tastes like eggs, but it does taste different and I can't quite put my finger on it. How do you think it varies from normal coffees?

[lemonie]

The egg and coffee are discarded then?

L

[LaGripe]

Yes, or I at least have never heard of anyone being able to reuse them in any way but i suppose that you could find something to do with them.

[lemonie]

I guess that the proteins take something out, like putting milk-proteins in tea?

L

[bigmama1079]

I'll preface my "logic and reason" junk with a thank you, as well as appreciation for you writing this 'ible. But the coffee geeks are coming, so I must satisfy their urges.

10 cups of water = 80 oz. = thirteen 6 oz. cups of coffee (approximately)

the perfect 6 oz. cup of coffee (french press, auto-drip, or percolator) is made with 2 tablespoons of grounds, which is 1/8 cup, which in this recipe should translate to about 1 5/8 cups of grounds. So, does one egg provide enough body to replace the robustness given by a pinch more than three times the number of grounds used in this particular recipe?

Most recipes use a similar measure of water but twice the amount of grounds. Maybe it's personal taste, or maybe it's because they use crushed eggshell to help neutralize the acidity produced by such a large amount of grounds. Either way, these measurements seem to produce a rather thin and tasteless brew (for me at least).

Technique is spot on, but I believe you may have some Swedes furrowing their brow at you. Hopefully that clears the air for the dorky scientific part of the coffee debate. Time to go check on the vegan/meat-eater debate...

[LaGripe]

Wow, thanks for all that. I don't really know all that much about it but this is just what my family did at Christmas, I really think I'm going to experiment around a little more now. What is your favorite recipe?