Is it permissible to prepare instant coffee, hot chocolate or tea on Shabbat, by pouring hot water on the powder or tealeaves?
A Halachic principle establishes that when hot water is poured onto raw food from a "Keli Rishon," meaning, from the original utensil in which it had been heated, it cooks the first layer of the food. Accordingly, it is forbidden to pour water directly from an urn or hot water kettle onto raw food. Seemingly, then, it should be forbidden to pour hot water directly from an urn or kettle onto instant coffee or hot chocolate powder.
However, there is another Halachic principle which states that one does not violate the Shabbat prohibition of cooking by cooking a food that had already been cooked previously. If a food had already been cooked, cooking it a second time does not constitute "cooking" as defined by Halacha. Therefore, it is permissible to pour hot water directly over instant coffee or chocolate powder. All powders made for instant cooking had already been cooked as part of their processing. Whether it’s hot chocolate powder, milk powder or baby formula, the processing of the powder entails cooking. Likewise, instant coffee has already undergone a process of roasting, and cooking a food that had been roasted does not violate the Shabbat prohibition of cooking. Therefore, it is permissible to pour hot water directly from an urn or kettle onto any instant powder or instant coffee on Shabbat.
This Halacha does not, however, apply to preparing tea from teabags. The leaves inside the bags are raw, and had not been previously cooked. As such, it is forbidden to pour hot water directly from an urn or kettle onto a teabag. One who wishes to prepare tea on Shabbat must first pour the hot water from the urn or kettle into an empty utensil, and then pour the water from that utensil into the teacup. Tealeaves are classified as "Kaleh Habishul" – a food that is easily cooked - and therefore one may not place them in the "Keli Sheni," meaning, in a utensil into which water had been poured from an urn. Instead, one should pour the water from that utensil into the teacup. He may place the tealeaves into the teacup and pour the water onto the leaves from the "Keli Sheni," or he can pour the water into the teacup and then place the tealeaves in the water in the teacup.
Summary: It is permissible to prepare instant coffee, hot chocolate and other powders by pouring hot water on the powder directly from the urn or kettle. To prepare tea, one must pour the water from the urn or kettle into a utensil, and then transfer the hot water from that utensil into the teacup.
