Coffee: Is it Kosher?

Written by Yitzchak Zeitler

The summer is upon us, meaning days of travel, road-tripping, and the like.  This travel sometimes includes locales outside the confines of a nearby local Orthodox community. This type of travel involves many halachic conversations you wouldn’t necessarily have at home, including those about kashrus.  Is it possible for something to be kosher even without a hechsher?  Personally, I’m very much a worrywart. It takes a lot for me to start gambling with the prospect of Gehinnom. Still, the more one learns halachic sugiyas and/or what to ask their Rav before embarking on such halachic expeditions, the more comfortable one can feel with their decisions and, as a result, can get to the actual purpose of why you are there in the first place: vacation!!

We chose coffee as the subject of this article as a super-easy way to show how complicated kashrus can be.  Our goal is to discuss a basic Kashrus concept and educate our readership on the fundamentals required to make Kashrus decisions.  Personally, I have never stepped foot in a Starbucks, but maybe after reading this article, I just may or still won’t. 

Of note, the purposes of this article concern coffee purchased from a location in Chutz L’aretz without a hechsher.  We are not discussing any halachic considerations regarding buying food at this location, whether any of it is kosher at all, or the issurim or heterim of eating it in public places with a gentile audience.

I personally love living in Eretz Yisrael for many reasons, but one is that many, if not most, coffee shops have a hechsher, which eliminates the kashrus guessing game.  In addition, if you find a rare location without a hechsher in Israel, it is often operated on Shabbos, leading to various Shabbos shaylas, which are not the focus of our conversation today.  There are many heterim regarding businesses owned by Jews that are open on Shabbos, but there are also major hashkafic considerations involved, and thus it is important to discuss with your Rav.  I also like milk with my coffee, and super close to 100% of the milk in Eretz Yisrael is considered Chalav Yisrael; even the Rabbanut milk is Chalav Yisrael, but you’d be best not to drink any Rabbanut milk before Monday, so as not to drink any that was milked from the cow on Shabbos.  Which you certainly do avoid when drinking milk from the Mehadrin Hechsherim.  I personally don’t drink Rabbanut, but this is each and every one’s own personal hashkafic shayla to ask their Rav.

I am also focusing on black coffee because, as many don’t realize, there are many other halachic challenges when buying flavored coffee.  For instance, unless something has changed, a Starbucks Refresher is a common drink that people think is kosher, but in reality, it is Very Much not.  For starters, it contains white grape juice concentrate, which falls under the prohibition of Stam Yeinam, the prohibition against grape beverages produced by Gentiles.  Additionally, the lemon or lime slices inside, like all citrus fruit slices, are “sharp.”  When they are cut with a treif knife, they themselves become treif.  In other instances, certain keilim used to make drinks are washed in the same sink as other keilim used to make hot ham sandwiches.  Different-flavored syrups require a hechsher to ensure the ingredients are all halachically permissible.  Most teas have added flavors, so any tea ordered at Starbucks definitely needs a hechsher.  The cream in a frappe needs to be kosher certified.  So do the pareve milks, lemonade, and the hot chocolate base, which is made with natural and artificial flavors.

This brings up a super serious and important point.  It’s important to read any hechsher signage in public stores and restaurants very carefully.  My wife shared a story with me about how a Starbucks opened in her local non-kosher grocery store.  There was a Teudat Kashrut sign at the Starbucks kiosk, and local Frum members saw it and just assumed everything there was kosher.  They would go and buy cake and muffins along with their coffees, assuming nothing was wrong.  Lo and behold, they soon had a rude awakening when they found out that only certain drinks were actually kosher, not the rest of the items being served.  This is a common occurrence in Chutz L’aretz, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to be vigilant and to ask questions first.  Often, we think the items look so delicious, and there is that sign on the wall, so what could possibly be the problem? It’s better to be safe than sorry and to find out after the fact.     

Moving on from flavors, let’s discuss Bishul Akum, or cooking performed by a non-Jew.  Coffee is made by extracting the flavors from ground coffee beans using hot water.  Bishul Akum is one of the many gezeiras or decrees made by Chazal to distance Klal Yisrael from getting too close to non-Jews for the worry of intermarrying with the gentiles and then assimilation, and so on.  There are two criteria for a food item to be subject to Bishul Akum: Firstly, the item must be cooked and thus not edible raw.  Secondly, the item must be considered “Oleh al Shulchan Melachim”.  There are major discussions on how far this goes, but this is an item that is chashuv or significant enough that a king would eat it at his table, or possibly even something we’d invite a non-Jew over to a meal to eat with you.  I think we’d all agree that a bowl of cereal is not something you’d necessarily invite someone over to get to know them, but coffee definitely is something that Kings have drunk throughout time. 

Since we have already led you on to believe that drinking kosher made by a non-Jew is okay, let’s discuss the allowances to drink the coffee that don’t make it subject to Bishul Akum.  This is part of a wide-ranging halachic conversation among the poskim, with some common responses that coffee is just flavored water and that, since water is not necessarily chashuv, coffee would not be subject to Bishul Akum.  Another reason is that coffee beans themselves are edible without cooking, such as when covered in chocolate or used in various desserts, and thus are not subject to Bishul Akum.

What conversation could we have about coffee if we didn’t discuss milk?  If you are not makpid on Chalav Yisrael and will drink milk called Chalav Stam, then there are fewer shaylas for you, provided you are currently in a country with strong government oversight of the dairy industry.  What do I mean by that?  The creation of Chalav Stam was started via the heter written by the Chazon Ish and made famous by the Teshuvah of Rav Moshe Feinstein, ztzl.  For milk to be kosher, the Gemara and then the Shulchan Aruch both state that the non-gentile milk producer must have a fear of repercussions if they were to tamper with the milk and mix in non-kosher milk in the supply.  The repercussions should outweigh the desire to tamper.  The Chazon Ish and Rav Moshe both said that, with the combination of Government representatives' checks, oversight, and various penalties, it would be unreasonable for a Dairy Producer to try to cheat the system.  For sure, the standards today are beyond what were in place when they wrote their responses, and even though Rav Moshe says that a “Baal Nefesh” should avoid it, it’s perfectly permissible within the confines of halacha. 

Finally, regarding the coffee itself, the best suggestion is to purchase black coffee and add your milk of choice, as there is no ambiguity about the kashrus.  If the coffee comes straight from the machine with no milk or other substances coming out of the same spout, then there is no issue.  If, like in some gas stations, the spout dispensing the coffee also dispenses milk at the same time, if you are someone who drinks Chalav Stam via Rav Moshe’s heter, then the rest of this explanation is moot. 

If you are makpid, however, on Chalav Yisrael, there are a few heterim to consider: Firstly, if the coffee comes out of a spout from which no milk comes, perfect.  If, however, the machine produces coffee and milk from the same spout, we don’t assur the keilim.  Additionally, when discussing this conversation with your Rav, you can bring up the concept of “Butil B’Shishim”, that any drops of milk that may pour into your cup are “Butil”.  There is a little bit to explain with regard to the conditions regarding a “Bitul”, but as you surely have more than 60 times coffee to milk, this is in play.  Lastly, if the machine uses milk powder instead of actual milk, there are major halachic authorities who say one may be lenient specifically regarding milk powder, as it was not included in the decree against Chalav Akum.

All in all, this was merely an introductory review of coffee and some of the Kashrus considerations behind making your next purchase when you’re off in the wild, far outside your neighborhood.

Don’t forget to consult your Rav or Authorized Halachic Authority when questions arise or when making halachic decisions.