🥤 What Is a Kosher Drink?

A kosher drink is any beverage that meets the dietary laws of kashrut, just like kosher food. While many drinks appear to be kosher, their production processes and ingredients can complicate things — especially for alcohol and processed beverages.

✅ General Requirements for a Kosher Drink:

1. Ingredients Must Be Kosher

   • All components, including flavorings, colorings, preservatives, and sweeteners, must come from kosher sources.

   • Some additives (like glycerin or emulsifiers) can be animal-derived and need kosher certification.

2. Production Equipment Must Be Kosher

   • Shared factory equipment used for non-kosher products may render a drink non-kosher unless it’s properly cleaned and supervised.

   • Hot or fermented beverages, in particular, require kosher supervision of the production line.

3. Supervision and Certification

   • Kosher drinks typically display a certification symbol (hechsher) from a kosher authority, such as:

     • OU, OK, Star-K, Kof-K, etc.

   • Look for these symbols on the label to confirm kosher status.

🍷 Special Cases to Know:

1. Wine and Grape Juice

• Most stringently regulated of all kosher beverages.

• Must be:

  • Produced entirely by Sabbath-observant Jews

  • From kosher-certified grapes and equipment

• Boiled wine (Yayin Mevushal) can be handled by non-Jews and still retain kosher status.

• Look for “Kosher for Passover” labels during Pesach, as many wines add non-kosher stabilizers otherwise.

2. Beer

• Most unflavored beers made from water, hops, barley, and yeast are kosher by default.

• Flavored, craft, or barrel-aged beers may require certification due to additives or use of wine casks.

3. Spirits & Liqueurs

• Vodka, whiskey, rum may be kosher if made with simple ingredients.

• Liqueurs and flavored spirits often contain non-kosher additives (cream, colorings, etc.).

• Look for kosher-certified versions if unsure.

4. Sodas, Juices, Teas

• Must be free of non-kosher ingredients like grape juice (unsupervised) or animal-derived stabilizers.

• Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and major brands often carry kosher certifications in many regions.

• Herbal teas and health drinks may need extra scrutiny.

🛒 Kosher Drink Examples You Can Recommend:

• Kedem Grape Juice (kosher grape juice)

• Bartenura Moscato (kosher wine)

• Gefen Apple Juice (certified kosher fruit juice)

• Kosher-certified cold brews or kombucha

• OU-certified Coca-Cola or Sprite in North America