Does Coffee in Capsules Require Enhanced Kosher Certification?

Coffee, or more precisely the coffee cherry, grows as a tropical fruit that requires plenty of heat and rain. However, it's the sun that nurtures the coffee and gives it its unique character, even changing its taste and the level of acidity and caffeine in the fruit. Coffee has two main varieties, the most famous of which is "Arabica" which grows at high altitudes in mountainous soils. In places where daylight and relatively cool nights slow down the ripening process and develop particularly hardy and aromatic beans with a fruity or floral character, making them quite acidic with a low caffeine content.

The second type, "Robusta," grows in lowland areas with hot and humid climates. This gives the beans greater volume and roughness, higher bitterness, and also higher caffeine content. However, to create an enjoyable coffee, there will always be a blend of both varieties, with different proportions chosen from growing countries like Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kenya, Ethiopia and others, at different roasting levels.

Throughout all stages of growth – from when the coffee tree produces a white flower, until it sheds its petals and begins to grow a red-orange fruit, sometimes even yellowish, resembling a cherry but consisting of two green beans or seeds connected to each other and surrounded by adhesive, coated in a red, fleshy pulp – there is no need for any kosher certification.

Even during harvesting, which is done using several methods, no special kosher certification is required, and even during the peeling of layers to extract the green, unprocessed coffee beans, no special kosher certification is needed, despite the variety of methods used. Some alter the caffeine level, sometimes the peeling method is done using the wet method, where coffee beans are soaked until softened, then separated, and only later in the process is care taken to remove the fleshy coating and the sticky mucilage before they undergo a second washing and drying. Sometimes the peeling is done using the dry processing method, where coffee beans are spread over large surfaces to dry in the fresh air for three weeks or more, while the coffee beans are stirred with special rakes from side to side without removing the coating. Only afterward, when the beans are dry, is the skin that still covers the coffee beans carefully removed.

Generally, even the roasting process, which is done for each type and variety of coffee separately, does not require special kosher certification, except for decaffeinated coffee – where there is concern that the caffeine extraction may have been done with forbidden alcohol before roasting, and flavored coffee requires good kosher certification because of flavor ingredients such as vanilla, chocolate, and countless other formulas. This does not affect the roasting ovens, because typically the mixing of flavor ingredients is done after roasting to prevent the ovens from absorbing flavors that could impair the production of authentic coffee. But even this information is not definitive and depends on the production process.

However, there is a kosher issue, found mainly in coffee capsules.

Coffee capsules are a kind of brilliant invention that provides concentrated and filtered coffee in various styles. The kosher issue is not only because of the composition of different types of coffee but also because of the coffee grinding process. The principle of the capsule is based on ground coffee compressed into a small cup, through which hot water passes, absorbing the coffee flavor without the need for additional filtering. Therefore, the correct and precise grinding has a tremendous impact on the extraction process and the flow duration when preparing the coffee. For example, the more finely ground the coffee beans are, the stronger the extraction will be, and the water flow into them will be slower, and the coffee we get will have a pronounced bitterness. In those with medium grinding, the flow will be faster and absorb less bitterness. The packaging form and nature also change the shelf life and the taste of the coffee, so a company that respects itself needs the best grinding and packaging machines on the market.

But here lies the main problem: The price of these machines is quite expensive, and it's not reasonable for a coffee factory to dedicate machines for traditional coffee without blends, and for decaffeinated coffee, and for flavored coffee, a separate machine for each. Thus, at the packaging stage and even the grinding stage, supervision is needed to ensure that the machines are properly kashered before packaging coffee that is without kosher concerns.

The problem is amplified because, in practice, many coffee companies perform the packaging and compression in machines that previously packaged hot chocolate powder and the like. And not only powder containing non-supervised non-Jewish milk, but also other types of food powders which only a good imagination can know what they contain. So it's possible that despite all stages of coffee production being done without any concern, it may be forbidden precisely at the time of packaging.

Finally, there are factories and companies where much is hidden rather than revealed, and they may also use anti-caking agents so that the coffee doesn't become a solid mass like poured oil after time, or anti-foaming or foaming agents to give the coffee a luxurious appearance, which may be derived from animal fats, so even coffee in capsules requires kosher certification.