[Avodah] Question on video Can I Drink Kosher Coffee from an Uncertified Restaurant?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Aug 02, 2018 at 07:44:58PM +0200, Ben Waxman via Avodah wrote:
: Could he mean that one can rely on various kulot b'sh'at dachak
: (someone driving all night long?) but not to pop in and grab a
: coffee on your 10 minute walk to work?

Until last week or so, the star-K had guidelines for using Starbucks. Then
they announced they were getting out of the business of being responsible
for up-to-date info about the halachic issues of a product they aren't
inspecting and certifying. (Just to be clear, in contrast to stories with
headlines that made it sound that star-K changed their halaachic stance.)

To quote those now-defunct guidelines
<https://www.star-k.org/articles/kosher-lists/1709/starbucks>:

> When one is traveling, (traveling means when one is away from home and no
> other viable kosher certified coffee option is readily available), this
> creates a situation of shaas hadchak i.e., a difficult situation and one
> need not be concerned with the restrictions on the beverages listed below
> (based on the Psak of the Noda BYehuda quoted in Yad Ephraim, Y.D. 122-6,
> D"H Shelo' it can be found in Shu"t Noda B'Yehuda Kama 36) . One does not
> need to be driving on the highway to fit into the category of traveling.

Nothing as drastic as driving all night.

So, for example (for those who drink cholov hacompanies), Cappuccino,
regular coffee, Macchiato, a latte were only deemed okay when
travelling. (Even though a regular espresso was fine. I don't know why.
I don't know the issue we're discussing and I can't see the pattern.
Check the web page for a full list.)

Again, the advice on that page is based on increasingly stale info
about Starbucks ingredients and procedures.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             We are what we repeatedly do.
micha at aishdas.org        Thus excellence is not an event,
http://www.aishdas.org   but a habit.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   - Aristotle