The Surprising Ingredient Grandma Used For Unbeatable Coffee

MSN Lifestyle ^ | August 11, 2018 | Lauren Cahn

[2ndDivisionVet]

If your family's from the Midwest (especially Wisconsin or Minnesota, both of which have a significant Scandinavian-rooted population), you might remember your grandma boiling up big, big batches of what she called Scandinavian coffee (or perhaps Norwegian or Swedish coffee, if she wanted to get specific). If she was making it for a church get-together, she might have called it church basement coffee and brought along one of these heavenly potluck dishes.

But what was that secret-ingredient coffee that Gran made? If you peeked in the percolator, you might have seen it.

The secret ingredient in Scandinavian coffee

Eggs!

They are what make Scandinavian coffee the richly-flavored, amber-hued, perfectly-balanced perfect brew that it is. Or more specifically, a raw egg—shell and all—which you crack over and mix it into your coffee grounds to form a thick slurry, which you then boil for three minutes in a pot of water (we'll get to the how-to just below).

Why?

Not everyone knows this, but eggs have a seemingly magical power to "clarify" liquids from broth to wine to...yes, coffee. As the liquid is heated, the egg coagulates, drawing impurities out of the liquid and into itself. In the case of coffee, those impurities include substances that can cause coffee to taste bitter or burnt. Ultimately, the impurities also include the grounds, themselves. In other words, the egg acts as an "ick" magnet, filtering your coffee without the need for a paper or mesh filter (yay!). After a mere three minutes, the egg and grounds have formed a unified lump that you can easily strain as you pour yourself a cup....

[2ndDivisionVet]

If you're Lutheran you probably knew this already.

[100American]

Svenska and this strikes a familiar chord of my memory, I know I love dark and strong coffee but I am gonna give this a try

[Zeneta]

So, waking up in the morning, first thing, cracking an egg into your beer is Not Lutheran?

[SpaceBar]

Egg albumin is a flocculant. Home vintners know this.

[FrdmLvr]

My ex mother in law’s parents were from the Ukraine and they owned a diner. She used to tell me her mother always threw egg shells into the coffee grounds and the customers always came in for her delicious coffee. They weren’t Lutheran, though, they were Catholic.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Yep. They serve it at the Minnesota State Fair.

[be-baw]

I might just try that.

[dainbramaged]

I’m familiar with squareheads and their weak coffee.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Did the Ancestry DNA test last year. 47% Scandinavian.

[DaBeerfreak]

I’ve never made coffee that way, but as a kid I remember my Dad making it that way. And it was done that way to trap the coffee grounds.

[mountainlion]

Cowboys used lots of egg shell to mellow out coffee.

[Calvin Locke]

Acid + eggshell....

[Fishtalk]

CHickory!!!

Never forget Chickory.

You could buy coffee with chickory speech in it!!

[SaveFerris]

[flocculant]

O.K. Haven’t had an opportunity to use that one. :)

[xrmusn]

threw egg shells into the coffee grounds
= = = = = = = = = = =
I think I had heard of the egg shells but not the whole egg.

I also ‘remember’ putting salt in the grounds also Not sure if for bitterness or not.

My worst coffee experience was when hitchhiking from San Diego to NY ended up in Louisiana (don’t ask..ha ha) and all my greatness, Dress Blues, hat cocked on back of head and ended up in a Greyhound terminal and ordered breakfast.
Ordered coffee and asked if I wanted strong or mild (while NOT having a New York accent, I definitely didn’t have a LA accent) being an ocean weary sailor, naturally told her strong.
My intro to Chicory Coffee.
Being a trouper, I washed that taste bud killer down with eggs and ordered a second one..THAT will show them.

If I remember correctly someone paid for my breakfast because of the 2nd cup. (Not sure but that is my story and I am sticking to it PLUS it makes drinking that asphalt residue worth it...<: <:)

Remember the old 1950s diners with a surly but ‘nice’ woman behind the counter, a cute bouncy waitress who is just waiting for her opportunity to leave and an ‘old crag’ in the kitchen and it turns out it is mother, daughter and grandaughter, stuck forever, hurting feet and all, with the owner/boss sitting at the end of the counter counting his money...

[jjotto]

French Market Coffee and Chicory is widely available still. Some other brands too.

[ThunderSleeps]

38% viking descent here. Given the rest of my genetic makeup it seems likely our ancestors were the result of a raiding party or two into some other islands up north...

[Liz]

While Italians love to linger over a meal, that same laid-back attitude doesn’t apply to coffee.
Italians don’t let hot coffee hang around to cool off and, Dio mio, they wouldn’t think of making cold brew.
Their choice? Shakerato: Hot caffè shaken w/ ice to chill quickly. Drizzle in milk or cream, add ice, if you prefer.

SHAKERATO--Iced Coffee, The Italian Way
For Two Italians or One American:

METHOD Combine 3/4-1 cup fresh-made espresso (2 long shots) or strong-brewed coffee with sugar to taste
(hot espresso dissolves sugar quickly). Add to pint Mason jar 8-10 ice cubes (about 1/2 cup total); shake vigorously til jar feels cold.
The foam is prized; spoon off and reserve; pour the drinks, then divide up foam.

An American drinks from jar w/ straw.

An Italian strains it into two glasses (no ice).

[Fhios]

That’s Irish lutheran. jokes aside this was my grandma breakfast. I pint of guinness and a cracked egg.

[Sirius Lee]

Coffee: The drink so delicious that you have to throw eggs, butter, cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, chicory, chocolate, gunpowder, crunchy dead frogs, the souls of orphans...anything really, into it, just to keep from gagging on it when you drink it.