Scandinavian immigrants brought egg coffee to the American Midwest. The egg gathers the fine grounds so they sink and act as their own filter, and it softens bitterness.
Lutheran churches made it in big batches after services, so it became known as 'church basement coffee'.
It is now hard to find. One Chicago-area Scandinavian chef says the people who drank it have aged, forgotten it or passed away.
Egg coffee · church basement coffee
How it's made. An egg, often with its shell, is cracked into the grounds and mixed. Boiling water is added and the mix steeps. Cold water is then poured in to sink the grounds and egg, and the coffee may be strained.1,2
How it's served. Made in large batches for Lutheran gatherings after Sunday services.
What time is taking away
What the record says
- Egg coffee uses an egg to reduce bitterness. Some versions use the whole egg, some only the white, and some include the shell.2
- Egg coffee is almost exclusively Swedish-American and Midwestern, according to WBEZ.2
- Scandinavian immigrants brought egg coffee to the Midwest, where Lutherans serve it as 'Lutheran Church Basement Coffee' after Sunday services.1
- Cold water is added at the end so the grounds and egg sink.1
- Boiling water is believed to neutralise bacteria in raw egg, and pasteurised eggs lower the risk further.1
Sources disagree on whether egg coffee is common in Scandinavia: Sprudge says it is popular in Norway and Sweden; WBEZ says it is not common in Sweden. The Minnesota State Fair stand and the Norwegian fish-skin clarifier (klareskinn) were reported in search summaries, but the Star Tribune and Atlas Obscura pages returned 403, so both are left out.
- What's a Norwegian Egg Coffee? · Sprudge, 2021 in the bibliography
- What is Swedish egg coffee? · WBEZ Chicago (Curious City), 2023 in the bibliography
