How Eggs Completely Transform A Bitter Cup Of Coffee

While money can buy the best bottled coffee or a delicious cafe drink, it takes some serious work to brew a good cup of joe at home. Instead of exchanging cash for a fresh, hot cup, you've got to do extensive research, shopping, and brewing to craft the perfect pot of coffee. Sadly, the home-brewed beverage often tastes anything but, ending up too bitter and harsh. Luckily, with a little learning and some unexpected ingredients, your coffee can taste just as good as a cafe's. One such unlikely addition that can give your coffee the boost it needs is an egg. No, that's not a typo. Hear us out before you make that face. 

Egg coffee has been a thing for hundreds of years and is still big in Norway and Sweden, not to mention the Midwest. However you choose to brew, adding an egg to coffee grounds takes them from dry to moist, much like potting soil, and actually makes for better coffee. The water has an easier time passing through the enhanced grounds thanks especially to the egg whites, as they are a strong clarifying agent. 

When heated during the brewing process, the proteins in egg whites split apart and bind to other molecules present in coffee grounds. As the whites congeal at the top of the brewing vessel, they remove unsavory tastes from the brewed coffee, such as excess acidity, resulting in a clearer, lighter cup overall. While this trick can be done in anything from a drip machine to a French press, one special Swedish technique is a common way to prepare egg coffee that really helps keep all that nasty bitterness at bay.

To brew an egg coffee, start by boiling a pot of water on the stove. (Actual measurements will depend on how much coffee you want to make.) Stir together your ground coffee with a splash of water and an egg, then add the grounds to the boiling water. (The boiling water should kill off any harmful bacteria, but to be safe, it's best to use fresh pasteurized eggs.) Bring this mixture to a simmer until the coffee grounds float to the surface, then remove the water from the heat. Before indulging in your cup of egg coffee, add a little cold water and let the coffee steep until the grounds sink to the bottom, similar to the mechanics of a French press, then strain and serve.

If you don't want to switch up your whole coffee routine, we don't blame you. Luckily, you can also make egg coffee by simply cracking an egg into your coffee grounds before brewing the beverage using your usual method. Crush and toss the shell in there too for good measure, since this alkaline layer can also bring balance to acidic brews.

While the idea of adding an egg to coffee might seem foreign to some, egg coffee is commonly enjoyed in some U.S. states as well as other countries all around the world. For example, a sweeter alternative to Vietnamese salted coffee, Vietnamese egg coffee dates back to the 1940s and is a popular treat that consists of a rich coffee drink topped with luscious, custardy foam made of egg yolks and condensed milk. If you're still not sold on the idea, think of egg coffee like adding egg white to cocktails to take the sour edges away. It's really the same concept.