Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes. In Islamic law, wine is a drink that is forbidden to be consumed and can be intoxicating. At the same time, coffee is a beverage with raw plant materials. If it is not mixed with other haram ingredients, coffee is certainly halal to consume.
Then, what about wine coffee or coffee wine which is now increasingly known to the public?
The term wine coffee is increasingly known to the public along with the rise of coffee shops in various regions in Indonesia. Given the name, which is identical or similar to an intoxicating drink, the question arises, is it halal to coffee wine?
What is the Process and Taste of Wine Coffee?
Mustika Treisna Yuliandri, in his review on ottencoffee.co.id revealed, actually wine coffee is not something new in the coffee industry. Wine coffee is a type of coffee whose handling process produces a unique taste resembling the aroma of the wine. “Wine coffee can also be called fermented coffee or coffee that undergoes a fermentation process before becoming coffee beans,” he wrote.
According to Triesna, the best coffee to be processed into wine coffee is coffee grown at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level (masl). The higher the coffee is planted, the more sap will be. As for the coffee beans, you can use any type.
The fermentation process is carried out on coffee that is ripe and red. Coffee beans that have not been peeled will be stored in a particular place. Fermentation and drying are done repeatedly until the coffee looks dry and ripe. This process takes 30 to 60 days, characterized by the coffee emitting an aroma like alcohol or wine.
This coffee does not contain alcohol like wine. Does it feel like it? “I’ve tried wine coffee from Takengon (Aceh). I think it’s unique. It’s fresh, sour and the sensation is different,” said Triesna Yuliandri.
How is it Halal?
Coffee is included in the list of non-critical products, likewise with the fermentation process carried out on coffee. This is because the purpose of fermentation is not to produce an intoxicating alcohol content but to produce its distinctive taste when brewed.
However, what makes coffee unable to be certified halal is the naming of the coffee as wine coffee. Halal Partnership & Audit Services Director of LPPOM MUI, Dr. Ir. Muslich, M.Si., said that the decision on halal certification rests with the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (KF MUI). In this case, KF MUI has halal certification criteria. There are product criteria, and among the product criteria, there are criteria for product names.
“Even though the ingredients are all halal when using certain names as part of the product name, and it doesn’t meet the criteria, then the product cannot be certified,” explained Muslich.
Meanwhile, the name of the product cannot be certified as halal, which includes the name of the product containing the name of the liquor. This group comprises non-alcoholic wine, champagne, root beer, Rhum raisin-flavored ice cream, and 0% alcohol beer. Indeed, this policy is carried out as an effort to prevent and educate people so that people are not in a state of tasyabuh, consuming food products that are similar to those that are haram. (FM)
