Tag Archives: alcoholic beverages

Mashke Goes Mainstream

By: Rabbi Zvi Holland

Kashrus Kurrents, Spring 2023

In the last year, STAR-K certified a host of iconic brands in the
alcoholic beverages category from almost all the way around the globe: from the
green pastures of Kentucky, to the shores of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor; crossing
the Atlantic Ocean to the Emerald Isle, Ireland; and completing the journey in Italy.
These newly kosher-certified brands include selected products from Baltimore’s
own Sagamore spirits; Wild Turkey and Skyy Vodka; Bailey’s Irish Cream Original
(STAR-D Dairy, non-cholov Yisroel); and Frangelico, all of whom have joined
the STAR-K Family just this year.

Kosher certification for spirits addresses a number of serious issues that have cropped up, as the industry has globalized and consolidated operations. Growing use of additives and processing aids that need certification – such as flavor chemicals, glycerin and the use of shared transportation bottling lines with dairy and non-kosher products – makes kosher certification more and more relevant, even in product categories that […]

Kashrus in High Spirits

By: Rabbi Tzvi Rosen

Winter 2005

Jewish life-cycle events, be it a bris, a bar mitzvah, or a wedding, are special occasions that we anticipate eagerly and celebrate with joy. At any simcha, we fill our cups with wine, raise our glasses of schnapps, and with great fervor pronounce a resounding “L’chaim!” in honor of the blessed event. This custom of melding alcohol with simcha has been a Jewish practice from time immemorial. The cup that is raised today, however, bears very little resemblance to that of yesteryear.

Looking Through the Liquor Glass

By: Rabbi Tzvi Rosen

Fall 2012

GO TO LIQUOR LIST

Unquestionably, the latest operative terms in the burgeoning liquor industry are ‘transparency’ and ‘innovation’. Never before has there been more consumer enlightenment, courtesy of the information highway known as the Internet. Moreover, new venues have been introduced to tweak standard products or present new ones, so that distilleries can gain a greater share of the market. What previously was assumed to be a glatt kosher choice in the liquor cabinet has now become not so glatt.