What is Egg Coffee?

Egg coffee is coffee which has been brewed with a raw egg, shell and all. The coffee has a distinct flavor and scent which some people quite enjoy, and as an added bonus, eggshells help to leach the acids from coffee, making this beverage less hard on the stomach. This unique beverage is found in some Scandinavian nations, along with the American Midwest, and it appears in some parts of Eastern Europe as well. Egg coffee is also very easy to make at home.

To make egg coffee, the cook grinds one cup of coffee beans and then cracks a freshly washed egg into them. The shell is crushed and then added to the mixture, along with a dash of salt and some cold water to turn the egg and coffee mixture into a thick paste. Meanwhile, water is boiled in a heavy pot on the stove; depending on how strong people like their coffee, anywhere from six to 12 cups of water may be used.

When the water boils, the egg and coffee mixture is added and the heat is turned down so that the water stays hot, but not boiling. After three minutes, the coffee should be removed from the heat, and most cooks add a cup of cold water to promote settling. The heavier coffee grounds, eggshell fragments, and pieces of egg will settle to the bottom of the pot; if they don't, some people filter the egg coffee to remove them. The resulting coffee is a rich golden brown color.

Egg coffee was very popular in Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden up until around the 1930s, when the demand for this drink began to wane. In the late 1990s, it experienced a resurgence; it's possible that Midwesterners brought the beverage back, since the American Midwest is home to many Scandinavian traditions which are no longer observed in Scandinavia itself. Many Midwesterners associate egg coffee with Lutheran churches, since this beverage is commonly served at church events in this region of the world.

If you decide to make some this beverage for yourself, make sure to wash the egg well first. Bacteria like salmonella often cling to eggshells, and the boiling water may not be enough to kill the bacteria. You can also add other ingredients like nutmeg and cardamom.