The Beverage Timespan for a Bracha Achrona

Q. If one sips a revi’is of hot tea or coffee, is a beracha achrona said?

A. The Mishnah Berurah (210:1) writes that there is a great debate surrounding this question. On the one hand, many argue that since one will not drink a revi’is of hot tea (approx. 3 oz) within the time span of k’dei shtiyas revi’is (the time it takes to drink a revi’is – a few seconds), no beracha acharona should be said. On the other hand, some argue that since the normal way to drink hot tea is to sip it slowly, the shiur of “k’dei shtiyas revi’is” for tea would be a few minutes. Additionally, since Raavad and Vilna Gaon maintain that you have k’dei achilas pras (3-4 minutes) for every drink, one should certainly recite a beracha acharona on tea if it was drunk within that amount of time. There is no definite resolution to this disagreement. It is said that the Chasam Sofer and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt”l would recite a beracha acharona on tea. However, the Mishnah Berurah writes that the common practice is not to recite a beracha acharona on tea. Still, the Mishnah Berurah writes that scrupulous individuals leave a revi’is of tea to cool in their cup, and then drink it quickly so they can recite a beracha acharona without question.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.