# Swedish Kokkaffe Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kokkaffe/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > Kokkaffe is Swedish boiled coffee. Use about a tablespoon of very coarse coffee per 180 ml of water. Bring it to the boil in a pot, either adding the coffee to boiling water or starting both together, and boil it only briefly. Leave it 3 to 5 minutes while the grounds sink, then pour gently, or strain it into a flask. ## At a glance - Ratio: About 1 tbsp per 180 ml water - Grind: Extra coarse - Water temperature: Boiled briefly - Brew time: about 4:00 - Category: Boiled & Traditional (Boiled) - Difficulty: Beginner - Origin: Sweden - Also known as: Swedish boiled coffee, Scandinavian boiled coffee, kokekaffe, boiled coffee ## Steps 1. **Boil the water**: Bring the water to the boil in a pot or kettle on the stove or over a fire. Many Swedes put the coffee in the cold water and bring the two to the boil together instead. 2. **Add the coffee**: Stir in very coarsely ground coffee, about a tablespoon per 180 ml of water. 3. **Boil briefly**: Let it boil briefly, under a minute in one guide and one to two minutes in another. A long rolling boil brings out bitterness. 4. **Settle**: Take it off the heat and leave it 3 to 5 minutes while the grounds sink to the bottom. A splash of cold water helps them settle. 5. **Pour or strain**: Pour gently into cups, leaving the grounds behind, or strain it into a flask to keep it hot. **Kokkaffe** is Swedish **boiled coffee**, the old way of making coffee across Scandinavia: very **coarse** coffee and water brought to the boil in a pot, left for the grounds to **sink**, and poured off. In Norway it's called **kokekaffe**. It's simple, strong and full-bodied, and it's still made in summer cottages, on hikes and over campfires. Here's how to make it. ## The short version - **Very coarse coffee**, at least French press coarse. - **About a tablespoon per 180 ml** of water, according to one guide. - **Bring it to the boil** and boil it only briefly, for a minute or two at most. - **Off the heat**, and let the grounds sink. - **Pour gently**, or strain into a flask. - **Too fine a grind** makes it muddy and bitter. ## How does kokkaffe work? It's the simplest kind of **boiled coffee**: the coffee and water are heated together in an open pot, briefly brought to the boil, then left alone so gravity pulls the grounds to the bottom. There's no filter, so the grind does the work: **very coarse** grounds sink cleanly and don't over-extract. ## What grind size should I use? **Very coarse**, at least as coarse as for a [French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/). A finer grind clouds the coffee and turns it **muddy and over-extracted**. ![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with extra coarse highlighted for Swedish kokkaffe](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#extra-coarse "Kokkaffe needs a very coarse grind.") ## How do you make kokkaffe, step by step? 1. **Bring the water to the boil** in a pot. 2. **Stir in the coarse coffee**, about a tablespoon per 180 ml. 3. **Boil it briefly**, for up to a minute or two. 4. **Take it off the heat** and leave it 3 to 5 minutes to settle. A splash of cold water helps. 5. **Pour gently**, leaving the grounds, or **strain it into a flask**. Brew mode on this page times the boil and the settling for you. ## How long should kokkaffe boil? Sources differ. Coffee Voila suggests about **30 to 60 seconds** at the boil once the coffee is in, warning that longer brings out **bitter** flavours; Our Coffee Corner says **one to two minutes** of gentle boiling. Home Sweet Sweden, writing from Sweden, puts the water and coffee in the pot together and simply brings them to the boil: "The coffee is now ready." Either way, a long rolling boil is what makes boiled coffee harsh. ## Cold water or boiling water first? **Both are traditional.** Wikipedia and Home Sweet Sweden describe adding the coffee and water to the pot together and bringing them to the boil. Other guides boil the water first, take it off the heat briefly, and stir the coffee in. Try both: the coffee is boiled only briefly either way. ## Kokkaffe vs other boiled coffee | | Kokkaffe | [Cowboy coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/cowboy-coffee/) | [Egg coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/egg-coffee-scandinavian/) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Where | Sweden and Scandinavia | American West | Scandinavian-American Midwest | | Coffee | Very coarse, boiled briefly | Coarse, usually steeped off the boil | Mixed with egg, boiled | | Settling | Gravity, or strained | Cold water splash | The egg binds the grounds | | Cup | Strong, full | Strong, full | Smooth, clear | ## How is kokkaffe served? Often from a **flask**, strained so it stays hot, especially outdoors. In Sweden, coffee is closely tied to **fika**, the coffee break with something sweet. ## A short history Coffee reached Sweden in the **late 17th century**, and Wikipedia describes kokkaffe as a historic method that is **still common in northern Sweden**. Clearing boiled coffee is old, too: Richard Tellström, a food historian at Stockholm University, told The Takeout that **fish skin**, often from lutfisk, was used in the 1700s to clear coffee, a forerunner of [Scandinavian egg coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/egg-coffee-scandinavian/). The same article says the habit faded once drip coffee makers became household items in the 1970s. ## Norwegian kokekaffe Norway's **kokekaffe** is the same tradition under its Norwegian name: coarse coffee in a kettle, left to settle. It now has [its own page](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kokekaffe/), with the Norwegian Coffee Association's steep-off-the-boil method, the Tias Eckhoff kettle and the Tromsø cholesterol research. *General guidance only. Take care with boiling water and open flames, and let the pot cool before handling it.* ## Kokkaffe vs other methods - **[Cowboy coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/cowboy-coffee/):** America's campfire coffee. - **[Scandinavian egg coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/egg-coffee-scandinavian/):** boiled coffee cleared with an egg. - **[French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/):** coarse coffee steeped, with a filter. - **[Stovetop percolator](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/stovetop-percolator/):** another classic outdoor pot. Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/). ## Words used in this guide - [Extraction](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/extraction/): Extraction is the process of water dissolving flavour compounds out of ground coffee. - [Steeping](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/steeping/): Steeping is leaving ground coffee to sit in water so its flavour dissolves out, as in a French press or cold brew. ## FAQs ### What is kokkaffe? Swedish boiled coffee: very coarse coffee brought to the boil with water, then left for the grounds to settle and poured off. It's a traditional way of making coffee across Scandinavia, called kokekaffe in Norway. ### How long do you boil kokkaffe? Briefly. One guide suggests about 30 to 60 seconds after the coffee goes in, warning that longer brings out bitter flavours; another says one to two minutes. Some simply bring it to the boil and take it off the heat. ### What grind is used for kokkaffe? Very coarse, at least as coarse as for a French press. A finer grind makes it muddy and over-extracted. ### Is kokkaffe the same as cowboy coffee? They're close cousins: both are unfiltered coffee made in a pot and poured off the grounds. Kokkaffe is traditionally brought to the boil with the coffee in; many cowboy coffee guides now add the coffee just off the boil. ### How is kokkaffe served? Often from a flask, strained to keep it hot, and in Sweden it's linked with fika, the coffee break, and with coffee outdoors. ## Sources - [Coffee in Sweden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_in_Sweden) - [Typically Swedish: kokkaffe (boiled coffee)](https://homesweetsweden.com/typically-swedish-kokkaffe-boiled-coffee-giveaway/) - [Scandinavian boiled coffee (kokekaffe)](https://www.ourcoffeecorner.com/scandinavian-boiled-coffee-kokekaffe-the-old-world-brew-that-refuses-to-die/) - [How to make Swedish kokkaffe](https://coffeevoila.com/swedish-kokkaffe/) - [Let us praise the humble glory of Swedish egg coffee](https://thetakeout.com/let-us-praise-the-humble-glory-of-swedish-egg-coffee-1846012719)