Is Coffee Halal?

Coffee is the roasted seed of the Coffea plant, usually arabica or robusta, ground and extracted with hot water or steeped cold. In its plain form (black coffee, espresso, Americano, Turkish or Arabic coffee) it is Halal. Nothing in the bean or the brew comes from pork or from an animal, and it does not intoxicate: caffeine is a stimulant, not an intoxicant.^[4]

Coffee also has a long Muslim history. It spread from Yemen in the fifteenth century, where Sufi circles drank it to stay awake for night prayers, and from there to Mecca, Cairo and Istanbul. In 1511 a governor of Mecca briefly banned it, and the ban was soon overturned; coffee has been accepted as permissible ever since. Gulf hospitality still centres on qahwa, lightly roasted coffee brewed with cardamom and sometimes saffron, served in small cups with dates.

What decides it

The coffee is never the question. What gets added to it sometimes is.

In cafés and chains

• Flavoured syrups (vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, seasonal flavours) are made to the chain's own recipe, and full ingredients are usually in an allergen folder rather than on the menu. Many are simple sugar syrups; some flavourings use an alcohol carrier. Ask, or see vanilla extract for how carriers are treated. Halal-certified syrup brands are common in Muslim-majority markets.
• "Irish cream", "rum" or "amaretto" style syrups are normally alcohol-free flavourings named after the drink, but ask what that market's syrup actually contains.
• Toppings such as marshmallows or jelly pieces bring gelatin into the cup. Whipped cream is usually fine; see cream.
• Dessert coffees like affogato, or coffee soaked into tiramisu, follow the dessert's own rules, and tiramisu is often made with Marsala or coffee liqueur.
• Plant milks (oat, soy, almond, coconut) are Halal; barista versions add plant emulsifiers and vitamins.

At home and when travelling

Plain beans, ground coffee and unflavoured pods need no certificate. Light or dark roast, single origin or blend, espresso or filter: none of these changes the answer. Instant granules are spray-dried coffee; the flavoured and "cappuccino" mixes are where creamers, foamers and flavourings appear, so read those sachets. Airport and hotel black coffee is fine; flavoured pods and hotel urns need the same syrup check as a café.

The bottom line

Order black coffee, espresso or a plain latte with confidence. Treat flavoured, seasonal and bottled specialities like any other processed drink: read the ingredient line, and choose certified syrups or plain drinks if that is your standard. For the other everyday drink, see tea.

What a certifier checks, and the civet coffee ruling

Indonesia's LPPOM MUI sets out where coffee can pick up a Halal question. Plain roasted beans are critical only when butter or another animal fat is used in roasting. Sachet and instant mixes add sugar refined with processing aids such as enzymes and activated charcoal, milk, creamer, emulsifiers and flavourings, each with a source to confirm; a café drink means checking every ingredient in the cup ^[5].

Kopi luwak, the coffee made from beans that civets eat and pass, has its own ruling. In July 2010 the Indonesian Ulema Council declared it Halal once the beans are washed, so producing, selling and drinking it is allowed ^[6].