what is egg coffee?

January 21, 2018 6:49 PM

Scandinavian egg coffee uses the egg whites to clarify, while Vietnamese egg coffee uses just the yolks to create a creamy texture.

This post inspired by ph indicating socks' question for a coffee filtering solution.

Handily, as well as clumping on to the grit, this method also removes bitterness. (theironbuzz.com)

Scandinavian coffee on eater.com: For those early immigrant farmers, the solution to bad coffee was near-at-hand and came, as one Minneapolis chef’s grandfather put it, “from the ass-end of a chicken.” (linked by Rube R. Nekker in ask.me, also first link above.)

Norwegian coffee on khymos.org: I mentioned egg coffee to my mom, and although she had never heard of it before, she did mention that skin or swim bladders from fish were used when boiling coffee to help clearify it. [...] Could it be that the fish skin originally used was replaced by eggs, perhaps due to a limited availability of fish in the Midwest? After all, both are good protein sources. For the science of how it all works. (Read the comments!)

Also known as Lutheran Church Basement Coffee. (serious eats) (also geniuskitchen)
(1 serve recipe (ineedcoffee.com), for when you aren't making a congregation worth of coffee.)

In contrast, Vietnamese egg coffee (Cà Phê Trứng) according to legalnomads.com "is essentially a Cadbury Creme Egg with a hint of mocha." (second link above.)

Also known as liquid tiramisu (loveswah.com).

previously.

posted by freethefeet (25 comments total)

So, if I'm reading between the lines correctly, determine which one you like best and then find a life partner who likes the other. (And compost the shells.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:36 PM on January 21, 2018 [7 favorites]

No, the egg shells are also useful... for making coffee.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:57 PM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

So, both the whites, the yolk, and the shell can be used to reduce acidity? So if I dump a whole egg in my coffee will my sensitive baby stomach finally be able to handle it?
posted by brook horse at 8:05 PM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

I can see why this is a cool trick you can use at home, or while camping, or on a boat or something. But if you’re at a coffee place then they most likely have an espresso machine, and the only reason why espresso would be bitter is if the barista fucked up or was poorly trained or was using stale or otherwise shitty beans.
posted by um at 8:36 PM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Always thought that the Steve Martin, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," coffee bit was just a goofy gag; turns out, no!
posted by garisimo at 8:43 PM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Clearly, the gag is that's only half as much coffee as you should be using to make a cup of his java.
posted by sysinfo at 9:49 PM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

IIRC the Viennese are also into putting eggs into coffee...supposedly something to do with a leftover habit of thickening it during the war.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:05 PM on January 21, 2018

I have more than one “cowboy chuck wagon” cookbook that says to put egg and egg shell in your coffee pot, but I could never bring myself to try it.

I, too, am wondering if this will make coffee acceptable for my sensitive baby stomach, although I had Swedish coffee recently (without egg) and I tolerated that just fine. Maybe it’s the beans, too?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:45 PM on January 21, 2018

This is so enlightening! Heaven to Betsy is one of my favorite childhood books, and there's a chapter that focuses on the family tradition of Sunday Night Lunch. One very important ritual is the making of the coffee, where the father's method is described as:

"First he put the coffee on. He made it with egg, crushing shell and all into the pot, mixing it with plenty of coffee and filling the pot with cold water. He put this to simmer and while it came to a boil, slowly filling the kitchen with delicious coffee fragrance, he made the sandwiches."

I was so confused and intrigued about this until now and bam, thanks Metafilter!
posted by like_neon at 2:47 AM on January 22, 2018 [7 favorites]

And regionally speaking, from what I remember the book was heavily based on the author's (Maud M Montgomery) own childhood and the fictional Ray family lived in Minnesota and were Baptist, although the two eldest daughters joined the Episcopalian church in the above book.
posted by like_neon at 2:55 AM on January 22, 2018

Also briefly referenced in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon:
"He has learned to make this stuff the Swedish way, using an egg to settle the grounds.”
posted by myotahapea at 3:09 AM on January 22, 2018

Danish, from the absolute sticks (det mørkeste Jylland), and my grandparents made coffee in a saucepan, collecting up the grounds in an egg white before serving. This is supposed to be an American thing now?
posted by Dysk at 3:45 AM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

So, both the whites, the yolk, and the shell can be used to reduce acidity? So if I dump a whole egg in my coffee will my sensitive baby stomach finally be able to handle it?

And if you mix in some hashbrowns and bacon as well, you would have a fine breakfast soup, perfect for the person on the go.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:16 AM on January 22, 2018 [12 favorites]

Is it possible to incorporate a French Press into making egg coffee?
posted by bwvol at 5:23 AM on January 22, 2018

But if I brew this way it'll conflict with my ability to feel pretentious and self-aggrandizing about the fact that I drink my coffee black with no sugar or cream which makes me better and superior to others.

Ugh, fine. I'll give this a try on my next day off.
posted by Fizz at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

i think go light on the egg for larger batches, and don't use your pricey coffee, but it is very smooth; i agree with the person that said that this is for camping. otherwise, i feel like i am out of an egg that i would have eaten

actually, i have been saving eggshells for something...
posted by eustatic at 6:09 AM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was always told eggshells were great for keeping snails out of plant pots (which is what we saved them for), but now I'm going to keep them for coffee-making as well.

(Except this is England, and I mostly drink instant.)
posted by Katemonkey at 6:17 AM on January 22, 2018

Grandma (Minnesota, swedish) used to make egg coffee for family gatherings.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:34 AM on January 22, 2018

The Paleo/Primal guys are also in on the egg coffee game! Mark "marksdailyapple" Sisson writes about it.
posted by theorique at 7:36 AM on January 22, 2018

But if I brew this way it'll conflict with my ability to feel pretentious and self-aggrandizing about the fact that I drink my coffee black with no sugar or cream which makes me better and superior to others.

If it makes you feel better, old fashioned Scandinavian-Midwesterners generally take their coffee black, no sugar, which is probably the reason for these "smoothing" methods.

And by "no sugar" that doesn't mean you're not also having it with cake...
posted by Hypatia at 8:43 AM on January 22, 2018 [5 favorites]

And in none of those places can you get a decent cup of klava.
posted by gurple at 10:12 AM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

Hm.... is the the yolk needed for binding the coffee grounds? Because I could see combining these recipes so you don't have to figure out what to do with the other half of a separated egg...
posted by Karmakaze at 10:21 AM on January 22, 2018

Shanghai Cafe, Salt Lake City, Utah-Vietnamese Iced Coffee! It's a dessert! It's a revelation on a hot summer's day, washes down those vegetarian lettuce wraps in the best of style. I miss it so, those folks are so nice! Mom, and Pop vegetarian friendly place!
posted by Oyéah at 10:54 AM on January 22, 2018

My coworker here in Minnesota has been telling me about making egg coffee for her parents as a kid. It was weird to me at first but now that I've learned more about it perhaps I'll give it a try next time I go camping.

I just sent her the article...

(I use egg shells for snails too... crushed to a fine powder, thrown into the fish tank, to keep the snails happy)
posted by caution live frogs at 12:01 PM on January 22, 2018

I tried this a couple times. It seems to make bad coffee mediocre and make good coffee mediocre. But I'm not a connoisseur so YMMV.
posted by Tehhund at 4:56 PM on January 23, 2018