# Pharisäer

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/pharisaer/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> A Pharisäer is a North Frisian coffee: strong hot coffee sweetened with sugar, with a shot of rum, hidden under a thick layer of whipped cream. Legend says it was invented at a christening on the island of Nordstrand in 1872, so guests could drink rum without their teetotal pastor smelling it.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Coffee cocktails
- Served: Hot
- Origin: Germany, Nordstrand, North Frisia
- Glass: Mug or heatproof glass
- Also known as: Pharisäer Kaffee, Pharisee coffee, Pharisaeer

## Ingredients

- 1 cup (about 240 ml) strong hot coffee
- ⅛ cup (about 30 ml) dark rum
- 2 sugar cubes
- a thick layer whipped cream, unsweetened
- a dusting cocoa (optional)

## Steps

1. **Whip the cream**: Whip the cream to soft, fluffy peaks and keep it cold.
2. **Warm the rum**: Warm the rum gently in a small pan until it just starts to simmer, then take it off the heat.
3. **Sugar, coffee and rum**: Put two sugar cubes in a mug, pour in a cup of hot strong coffee and the rum, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
4. **Hide it under cream**: Top with a thick layer of whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa if you like, and serve straight away while the cream is thick.

A **Pharisäer** (*Pharisee*) is North Frisia's famous coffee: strong hot coffee, sweetened with sugar, with a generous shot of **rum**, all hidden under a thick layer of **whipped cream**. Nescafé describes it as a long coffee with a shot of rum, topped with cream and dusted with cocoa. Its name comes with one of the best stories in coffee: a teetotal pastor, a christening, and a cup handed to the wrong person. Here's the recipe, and the legend.

## The short version

- **Coffee, sugar and rum**, under a thick cap of whipped cream.
- **Serve it at once**, while the cream is still thick and fluffy.
- **From Nordstrand**, an island off North Frisia in northern Germany.
- **The legend dates it to 1872**, at a christening.
- **Named after a pastor's cry**: "Oh, you Pharisees!"



## What's in a Pharisäer?

Foodal's recipe, per mug:

| Ingredient | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Strong hot coffee | 1 cup (about 240 ml) |
| Dark rum, warmed | ⅛ cup (about 30 ml) |
| Sugar cubes | 2 |
| Whipped cream, unsweetened | A thick layer, whipped to soft peaks |

Nescafé adds a dusting of **cocoa** on top. The Pharisäerhof on Nordstrand says it still makes the drink to the "old original recipe", without giving it away.

## How do you make one?

1. **Whip the cream** to soft, fluffy peaks and keep it cold.
2. **Warm the rum** gently until it just starts to simmer, Foodal suggests.
3. **Put two sugar cubes in a mug**, pour in the hot coffee and rum, and stir to dissolve the sugar.
4. **Top with the cream** and serve straight away, Foodal says, while the cream is still thick and fluffy.

## Where does the Pharisäer come from?

**Nordstrand**, according to the legend told by the **Pharisäerhof**, the farmhouse where it is set. In **1872**, the house's owner, farmer **Peter Georg Johannsen**, held a christening. Among the guests was the pastor, who had strictly forbidden his flock to drink alcohol. So the guests put rum in their coffee and hid it under whipped cream, Foodal says, so the smell wouldn't give them away, while the pastor got plain coffee with cream. Then, by mistake, he was handed a cup of rum coffee. First horrified, then ready to forgive, he raised his finger and cried: **"Oh, ihr Pharisäer!"** ("Oh, you Pharisees!"), after the Biblical sect accused of hypocrisy.

The sources tell it with small differences:

| Detail | Pharisäerhof | Foodal | Nescafé |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The pastor | Pastor Bleyer | Gustav Beyer, a very strict clergyman | Gustav Beyer, a strict Protestant |
| Where | A christening in the house, on Nordstrand, 1872 | A local congregation | Northern Frisia |
| The host | Farmer Peter Georg Johannsen | Not named | Not named |

It's a good story, but it can't be checked, so treat it as legend. The Pharisäerhof, which took its name from the drink, now calls the Pharisäer Nordstrand's "national drink".

*Contains alcohol: for adults only. Take care heating rum near an open flame.*

## Pharisäer vs other coffee cocktails

- **[Irish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/irish-coffee/):** coffee, Irish whiskey and sugar under floating cream.
- **[Rüdesheimer Kaffee](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/rudesheimer-kaffee/):** coffee with flambéed Asbach brandy, from the Rhine.
- **[Einspänner](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/einspanner/):** Vienna's black coffee under whipped cream, without alcohol.
- **[Carajillo](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/carajillo/):** espresso with brandy, rum or Licor 43.

Explore every drink in the [coffee cocktails chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/coffee-cocktails/).

## FAQs

### Why is it called a Pharisäer?

Because of a pastor's outburst. The legend says that when the teetotal pastor at an 1872 christening on Nordstrand realised the guests' coffee was spiked with rum, he cried "Oh, ihr Pharisäer!" ("Oh, you Pharisees!"), the Biblical byword for hypocrites.

### What was the pastor's name?

It depends on the source. The Pharisäerhof café, where the story is set, calls him Pastor Bleyer; Foodal and Nescafé call him Gustav Beyer. Like the rest of the story, it can't be checked.

### Why the whipped cream?

In the legend, to hide the smell of the rum. Foodal says the guests put a thick layer of whipped cream on top so the aroma of the alcohol wouldn't give them away.

### Where can you drink the original?

The Pharisäerhof on Nordstrand, in North Frisia, says the drink was invented in its house and still serves it to the old original recipe. It calls the Pharisäer Nordstrand's "national drink".

### How much rum goes in a Pharisäer?

Foodal's recipe uses ⅛ cup, about 30 ml, of dark rum to a cup of coffee. Nescafé describes it as a long coffee with a shot of rum.

## Sources

- [Pharisäer Café: gemütlich genießen auf Nordstrand](https://www.pharisaeerhof.de/pharisaeer-cafe/)
- [German Pharisäer Kaffee recipe (coffee with rum)](https://foodal.com/drinks-2/coffee/recipes-java/pharisee-rum/)
- [German coffee and culture](https://www.nescafe.com/gb/coffee-culture/travel/german-coffee/)