I am fascinated with food prepared by the settlers, so I was ecstatic to try out boiled coffee from 1896! The pioneers did things so differently and it’s surprising to see just how much has changed in the way we prepare things today, like coffee.
I often cold brew my coffee which helps the coffee to not have that typical burnt and bitter flavor that I simply do not care for. Surprisingly though, this boiled coffee tasted smooth, was clear and I actually enjoyed it black, straight out the pot! I find this coffee is best enjoyed freshly made and hot!
We are making Boiled Coffee from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 The Original Boston Cooking School Cookbook. You can watch how we prepared this Boiled Coffee and flip through this cookbook from 1896 here!
Here is the recipe from the actual cookbook! I love collecting old cookbooks so I was thrilled when I got my hands on this cookbook!
I do have a granite ware coffee pot – it’s an enameled steel which is a steel coffee pot coated with a smooth porcelain glaze to mimic the granite look.
Scald a granite-ware coffee pot. This helps to remove any stale odors, keeps a steady temperature and prevents the water temperature from dropping. If we add hot water to a cold granite-ware coffee pot, the water temperature will drop leading to a poor tasting coffee.
Crack egg into a bowl and crumble in egg shell. Add coffee grounds and 1/2 cup cold water. Mix well.
Dump coffee mixture into the granite-ware coffee pot. Add boiling water. Boil 3 minutes.
Here’s the coffee after the 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Dump into coffee pot cold water and let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Coffee is ready!
I could believe the grounds and egg stay at the bottom of the pot! It’s a quite good cup of coffee. I recommend giving this method a try! Let us know what you think if you do!
Boiled Coffee from 1896
1 cup ground coffee
1 egg – the whole egg and shell
1 cup cold water
6 cups boiling water
Scald a granite-wear coffee pot. Crack egg into a bowl and crumble in egg shell. Add coffee grounds and 1/2 cup cold water. Mix well. Dump into coffee pot. Add boiling water. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Dump into coffee pot cold water and let sit 10 minutes before serving.
This works best with plain (not flavoured) fresh ground coffee beans.
