Can Mormons Really Never Have Hot Drinks?

Have you ever played a game of Telephone? It's the game where a bunch of people sit in a circle, with one person whispering a phrase to the person next to them until the circle's completed. The point of the game is that what the last person hears is usually much different from the original phrase — illustrating the dangers of spreading gossip, or at least the danger of that one wise guy who would deliberately whisper a completely different sentence just to be a pain. In any case, this broadly explains why a lot of people are under the impression that Mormons can't drink hot beverages.

It's true that Mormons are taught not to consume "hot drinks," but this teaching is interpreted to apply only to coffee and non-herbal tea. Other hot drinks are permitted, so Mormons are free to drink as much hot chocolate as they want. Interestingly, the "hot drinks" prohibition also applies to cold versions of coffee and tea — crafty young Mormons can't sneak their way around the rule by getting a grande nitro cold brew from Starbucks.

The advice not to drink "hot drinks," and to abstain from alcohol, is part of the Word of Wisdom, a section of the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants. While it was not intended as a commandment when it was written in the early 1800s, it is frequently interpreted and enforced as such by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although the current prohibition against coffee and tea isn't tied to the caffeine content of those drinks, Mormons have often historically avoided all caffeinated beverages, though this isn't universal. 

There is some wiggle room when it comes to soda — the Brigham Young University campus began to allow caffeinated soft drinks in 2017, and high-profile Mormon Mitt Romney has occasionally been seen in public imbibing caffeinated Diet Coke. Mormon religious teachings are also part of the reason why Utah drinks the least alcohol of any state.