Specialty Kosher Coffee? Yes!
If you are like my wife, whenever you buy coffee (or anything else for that matter) you always look for a certification of kashrut. But is that always really necessary? Isn’t coffee inherently kosher, like tomatoes, green peppers, etc?
Sure, supermarket coffee is in many cases certified kosher (e.g. Starbucks, Maxwell House, and Dunkin Donuts). But what if we are looking for superior specialty coffee? The kind artisan roasters make. The kind that can be found only in the best cafes. Well, the short answer, most specialty coffee out there is actually kosher coffee. But as with any kosher question, the answer requires more details, so let’s take a deeper look:
The good news
Orthodox Jews generally purchase raw unprocessed fruits and vegetables without looking for a certification that the produce is kosher. Is coffee an unprocessed raw vegetable? To answer that question, I have spoken with a mashgiach, several orthodox Rabbis, and I did some online research.
The result: for regular whole-bean, un-flavored coffee, no kosher certification is needed --same as other raw materials such as; tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, green peppers, etc. The reason is that coffee can be treated in the same manner as a raw vegetable and therefore does not need a hechsher unless it has been chemically processed.
Now, does roasting have any effect? The answer is no, coffee roasters do not use their machinery for anything but coffee. The only exception is decaf and flavored coffee which has been chemically processed and cannot be called kosher unless it has been certified.
The bad news
Having said that, most people are not aware of this… and hence they will not buy coffee that is not certified as being kosher.
One of the Rabbis said, “To me it seems everybody in this discussion is right. Coffee without flavorings and special treatment need not have a hechsher, and yet …people don't know what really requires a hechsher, and people looking at one coffee package don't know if other flavored coffees are run on the same machinery. Therefore, as right as you are, it probably is wiser to go with a hechsher.”
Also it seems that KVH, from the Vaad Harabonim of New England, is not accepted by everybody on a national level. However, given the nature of coffee it would seem to me to be acceptable. A more accepted hechsher is the OU which is given by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. But it may be only available for the traditional supermarket national brands (did I mention Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts already?).
The bottom line
Most of us are not Rabbis, and we are looking for simple solutions for the complex problems life presents us…therefore we will keep looking for the hechsher.
So, if this got you thirsty, we are now carrying Jim's Organic Coffee, a certified kosher coffee (KVH). Click here for Jim’s store. And Chazzano Coffee Roasters which received its Kosher Certification from the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit.Click here for Chazzano’s store.
Also, if you want to know which coffees are processed without any additives and the equipment is not shared with other types of coffee we can also give this information to you. Le’chaim!
Further reading
More details and in depth discussion can be found in this article (click here).
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REVIEWS & COMMENTS
CIVET
samuellaw178 | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 22:33I guess civet probably isn't a kosher coffee if that will add to the list. =P
MY CONCLUSION...
jbviau | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 22:29...after reading through this discussion is that I'm really glad I don't have any dietary restrictions.
I FIND IT INTERESTING WHAT
intrepid510 | Wed, 10/26/2011 - 15:53I find it interesting what is considered acceptable without a certification. I wish buy fair trade would be this easy once knowing the rules!
NOT A MAJOR FACTOR EXCEPT
Wakeknot | Fri, 10/07/2011 - 10:11Kosher is not a major factor for me except that often kosher products are better products if only because the manufacturer cares a little more. I love kosher turkeys, why not coffee?
KOSHER OR NOT, IT'S GOOD
EricBNC | Sun, 08/14/2011 - 22:08I like the coffee from Chazzano - I don't doubt it is kosher if they claim it to be - I do know what I have tried from this roaster is good.
ANTICA ESPRESSO & COFFEE ...
Antica Tostatura Triestina | Fri, 04/08/2011 - 10:50... is all Kosher certified too.
GOOD TO KNOW.
Nuance Coffee and Tea | Mon, 01/24/2011 - 17:05I was just having a discussion about this very topic, last week, with some friends. This has given me some answers to the many questions that came up. Thank you for the information. I will pass it along.
NON-JEWS WORK PREPARING FOOD
Marion | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 08:13Yes, if observant Jews expected all of their prepared food to be only handled by Jews we would all be eating only home cooked food, and never eating out! Even in Kosher restaurants, and kosher frozen food, non-Jews work preparing food--under supervision, of course. This is true here and in Israel. It might be a different kind of Jewish community if we valued physical work like cooking, and serving food enough to actually do it, rather than to pass the labor on to Gentiles.
ROASTE.COM: NOT RELEVANT IN OUR CASE
Eyal Rosen | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 07:36Bishul means cooking, something entirely different as far as I understand. Most coffees in the supermarket that have a kosher certification are handled by non-Jews (Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, etc). Same for most other products in the supermarket of course.
ISN'T ROASTING BY NON-JEWS AN ISSUE TOO?
Jennifer Gordon | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 07:34Isn't roasting by non-Jews an issue too (bishul nochri) -- or is that not considered relevant because further cooking-type action needs to be done to make the coffee edible according to the usual method of consuming it? (Though I've certainly eaten coffee beans.) Just curious.
not that it makes any difference if we're coming from the viewpoint that a hechsher is necessary.
I AM PUZZLED BY IS THE LUKEWARM ENDORSEMENT OF KVH
Hellen | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 07:13What I am puzzled by is the lukewarm endorsement of the New England Vaad Harabanim (KVH), which I never heard was less than stellar. It is the main agency for New England and has the regional heavy hitter industries under its supervision (supermarket products).
ROASTE.COM: GOOD INSIGHT, BUT NOT VALID IN THIS CASE
Eyal Rosen | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 07:09Hi Ira,
Great insight. I spoke with a moshgiach in Israel who specialize in the specialty coffee and coffee-roasters. I am also coming from the roasting industry and I know the machinery well. A coffee roaster machine cannot be washed, with water or with anything else. It's a big machine that takes only green coffee beans. Anything else would ruin it. Also specialty coffee roasters don't deal with anything but coffee. Any one of the roasters on our site fits the above description.
Further, one of our roasters, Chazzano Coffee, told me after reading the article, that in fact it's all true, but the real question for observant Jews should be- is the coffee roasting co. closed on Shabbat. Which is a great point (although this is only a requirement for roasters with Jewish employees and most roasters don't roast on Shabbat anyway).
Bottom line, we all agree that to be 100% sure, the certification is needed.
ANYTHING THAT IS HEATED OR PROCESSED NEEDS A HECHSHER
Ira Axelrod | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 07:06Having been a moshgiach for 30 years, perhaps I can help. One of our
first rules of thumb is that ANYTHING that is heated or processed needs a hechsher. The classic case involves freeze-dried items that became popular when used by the astronauts for long journeys. You would think that something that healthy and well-preserved would automatically be kosher. NOT!! What happens if you freeze dry something (which requires heating) in a vessel that, a few minutes before, had just cooked shrimp? Sure, it has allegedly been "cleaned", but that doesn't mean the vessel has been
kashered, which IS required. There are a thousand other examples like this.
One more, for the record: Can you guarantee that the vessels used to brew the coffee weren't washed in the same HOT water as a pan that just had bacon and eggs? You get the picture. Tomatoes and green peppers are pure vegetables, never having been heated or processed. You can't compare coffee to that. Hope this helps.