For religiously observant Jews, keeping Kosher food and drink laws is very important. So over the years, we've had many inquiries about whether our coffee is Kosher. All of our coffee (all brands and wholesale included) is certified Kosher by a local San Francisco area rabbi from the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of San Francisco, (See their ORC certificate below).

However, we took Kosher coffee a step further with our Cafe Jerusalem, Star-K certified Kosher coffee - and offered an entirely Kosher brand certified by a more nationally-recognized, certification organization.

Our straight and decaf coffees under the Organic Coffee Company brand are Star-K certified Kosher coffee as well.

Coffee beans are inherently Kosher because water is the only substance the beans come into contact with during harvesting, processing, and roasting process. It is only when flavoring, decaffeination, and drinking coffee in a coffee shop come into play, that Kosher issues arise.

For flavored coffees, flavorings (both natural and sometimes artificial) are added after roasting. Due to the sheer number of types of flavoring, the chances of a non-Kosher flavoring or process are higher, so this is an area of close inspection by the rabbis.

Decaffeination is another area of Kosher concern. There are a variety of techniques for decaffeination, but they boil down to two processes: the natural water-based process that we use which uses activated carbon to filter the caffeine or a chemical solvent method which dissolves the caffeine with ethyl acetate. Ethyl acetate is created with grain, so it is not Kosher for Passover. Since the Rogers Family Co. uses only the water method, for our decaf coffee, all of our decaf coffee is kosher on Passover.

Lastly, the manner in which milk and sugar are added, and the location of the purchase of brewed coffee have Kosher implications. If you are trying to keep Kosher, then it’s best to buy Kosher certified coffee and brew and drink it at home with your own milk and sugar added to taste. But if you’re out and about, it’s best to order plain black coffee in a paper cup.

However, true coffee connoisseurs know that coffee should be good enough that you do not need to add milk and sugar anyway! Give that a try with your Café Jerusalem coffee, and you’ll experience a whole new realm of flavors arising from the quality of our green coffee and the skill of our masters coffee roasters.