FAQs

Q: Can I drink coffee in a non-kosher hotel?

A: The answer to your question depends on where the coffee will be coming from � your hotel room or the hotel kitchen � as follows:
In many hotel rooms you will find a small coffee maker and a few pouches of ground coffee. If you can determine that all of the coffee pouches are kosher [either because they contain pure unflavored coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or are certified kosher] then you can assume the coffee maker has always been used for those varieties and may be used as kosher. If one or more varieties are not kosher, then you should refrain from using the coffee maker.

On the other hand, we are not able to recommend you taking a cup of coffee or hot water from the hotel kitchen or restaurant. In most cases, coffee served in a non-kosher hotel from an urn, metal coffee pot, pump bottle, or other container cannot be assumed to be kosher because the containers may have been previously used with non-kosher hot drinks and/or washed together non-kosher dishes. For example, coffee urns are sometimes used in hotel kitchens as �ladles� with which soup is moved from large kettles into individual bowls. There are limited situations where one can determine that neither of these concerns applies, and in those cases it would acceptable to drink the coffee; otherwise we cannot recommend it.