The Most Popular Location For Swedish Egg Coffee Might Surprise You

Many people could not imagine starting their day without the giddy up they get from a hot cup of coffee. In fact, per DisturbMeNot, Americans drink a lot of coffee, with 64 percent of adults fueling up with at least a cup a day. But it is probably fair to say that most of those people drinking a daily cup of Joe are not drinking Swedish egg coffee. What is Swedish egg coffee? It sounds like an exotic drink you might imbibe after exploring The Scandinavian Mountains on a chilly morning, but this beverage is anything but. 

According to The Spruce Eats, Swedish egg coffee is made by combining a raw egg — shell and all — with your coffee grinds and brewing up a java that is clear and free of any acidic and bitter taste. The egg white apparently draws out all of the impurities from the coffee grinds, intensifying your caffeine buzz, and producing the smoothest cup of coffee that will ever touch your lips.

And while Asser Christensen, founder of the blog The Coffee Chronicler, revealed to HuffPost that this manner of drinking coffee may have originated with the Scandinavian region, it is not necessarily the most popular location where Swedish egg coffee is served up. But hold your horses if you are betting on some of the big coffee chains like Dunkin', Starbucks, or Peet's because they are not the purveyors of this effortless cup of caffeine bliss either.

Asser told HuffPost that Swedish egg coffee is not necessarily popular in Sweden, but the Swedes probably were the progenitors of this method of brewing coffee. Asser noted, "There were no sophisticated filtration methods available back then, so protein-rich substances like eggs, fish skins and antlers have all been added to coffee to help filter out impurities. The idea of adding eggs to coffee is most likely something Scandinavian immigrants brought to America." Sounds like a bizarre food trip with Andrew Zimmern, right? However, Asser went on to explain that today, "...it would be more accurate to name it 'Midwest egg coffee,' since that seems to be the only place [where] people consume it regularly."

Yep, apparently Swedish egg coffee is a super popular in the Midwest, particularly in churches. The Takeout shared that this coffee has been a staple of the region for decades and has even been dubbed "Lutheran egg coffee" or "church basement coffee," with one church in Minnesota estimating they can serve as much as 3,880 cups of this clear amber concoction in a single day. But what about the coffee's ties to Scandinavia? Richard Tellström, a professor of food history at Stockholm University explained, "The custom is today forgotten in Sweden. When I sometimes teach my students how coffee was cleared 200 years ago, they look at me with eyes big as the Grand Central clock," (via The Takeout).