The Se’uda Mafseket – the final meal that one eats before the Tisha B’Ab fast – may consist of only a single cooked food. The question arises as to the status of tea or coffee in this regard. Since the tealeaves or coffee beans are cooked, must we consider the tea or coffee a cooked food, such that one may not drink tea or coffee at the Se’uda Mafseket together with another cooked food?
The Zera Emet (Rabbi Yishmael Hakohen of Modona, Italy, 18th century) maintained that indeed, tea and coffee are considered cooked foods, and thus one may not drink tea or coffee together with another cooked food at the Se’uda Mafseket. The Hida (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806), however, disagreed. In his work Mahazik Beracha, the Hida writes that according to the custom of Middle Eastern Jewish communities, this restriction regarding the Se’uda Mafseket applies specifically to food items, and not to beverages. Therefore, one may eat a cooked food and drink tea or coffee at the Se’uda Mafseket.
The Hida drew several proofs to this theory, but Hacham Ovadia Yosef refuted these proofs. Nevertheless, Hacham Ovadia proposed a different basis for allowing tea or coffee with a cooked food at the Se’uda Mafseket. According to some Rishonim (such as Rabbenu Tam), cooking a food by pouring hot water on it ("Irui Keli Rishon") does not qualify as Halachic "cooking." And although other Rishonim disagree, and claim that such cooking indeed does qualify as "cooking" with respect to the outermost layer of the food, some Aharonim (the Ginat Veradim) claim that this applies only by force of Rabbinic enactment. As far as Torah law is concerned, all Rishonim agree that pouring hot water does not have the effect of "cooking" in the Halachic sense. Therefore, Hacham Ovadia reasons, since the prohibition against eating two cooked foods at the Se’uda Mafseket was enacted by Hazal, and is not a Biblical prohibition, we may rely on this view and not consider tea or coffee as having been cooked.
This argument, however, does not apply to the coffee used today, which has already been roasted before the hot water is added. It is for this reason that one may prepare coffee on Shabbat; since the beans had already been cooked during the manufacturing process, one does not perform an act of Halachic "cooking" when he cooks the beans a second time by pouring hot water on them ("En Bishul Ahar Seliya"). Hence, since the coffee has been cooked, it should be considered a cooked food with respect to the Se’uda Mafseket regardless of the issue of whether pouring hot water has the effect of Halachic "cooking."
Hacham Ovadia therefore proposes yet another reason to allow tea and coffee, noting that when drinking tea or coffee one essentially drinks flavored water, and does not actually eat the tealeaves or coffee beans. Clearly, drinking boiled water does not forbid one from then eating a cooked food at the Se’uda Mafseket, and therefore drinking tea or coffee – which is essentially drinking hot flavored water – likewise does not make it forbidden to eat a cooked food.
In his conclusion, Hacham Ovadia advises one who wishes to drink tea or coffee before the fast to do so before the Se’uda Mafseket, rather than during the final meal. Nevertheless, those who do drink tea or coffee during Se’uda Mafseket certainly have a basis on which to rely.
Summary: One may not eat more than one cooked food at the Se’uda Mafseket – the final meal before the Tisha B’Ab fast. One who wishes to drink tea or coffee before the fast should preferably do so before the final meal, as according to some opinions tea or coffee counts as a "cooked food" with respect to the Se’uda Mafseket.
