Question:
Ha Rav, am I doing bishul on Shabbos by making coffee this way: Pouring boiling hot water from the urn into a third cup then put a spoon full of honey into the water then pour the instant coffee in the cup. Is there a problem using honey instead of sugar?
Answer:
Hello,
It isn’t clear to me what you mean by “Pouring boiling hot water from the urn into a third cup”. Do you mean that you pour directly from the urn into this cup, then it isn’t a third vessel (kli shelishi) rather a kli sheini (second vessel)? Or do you mean that you pour the boiling water into one cup and from there into a second cup, which would be a kli shelishi? Let’s go through both scenarios. If the honey is placed into a kli shelishi , that is fine. However, if it is only in a kli sheini, then it depends on the brand of honey that you are using. If the honey is precooked, then it is permitted, however if the honey wasn’t, then it may not be placed into a kli sheini.
Regarding the coffee, if you are using a kli shelishi, you may place the coffee in the kli shelishi, however it is preferable to put the coffee in the cup and pour the water over it then putting the coffee inside the water. (Both ways are permitted, and this is only a preference.) If the cup is only a kli sheini, it is permitted to place the instant coffee into cup after the water in already inside it, but only if all of the coffee is instant. There are some coffees that are a blend of instant (precooked) coffee, together with 3-5% raw coffee beans. These coffees may not be placed in a kli sheini.
Best wishes
