What is meant by hot drinks in section 89 of the doctrine and covenant? I know that the LDS are against the taking of any kind of recreational drug including widely legal drugs like tobacco. However, when reading section 89 of the doctrine and covenant there appears to be an explicit ban on "hot drinks". Is this interpreted as referring to tea and coffee or is this a literal ban on warm beverages of all kinds that have no drug properties e.g. peppermint tea or even just hot water?

What is meant by "hot drinks"?
"Hot drinks" refers to tea and coffee.

The LDS Student Manual for the Doctrine and Covenants references a quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith providing this clarification:


  “I understand that some of the people are excusing themselves in using
  tea and coffee, because the Lord only said ‘hot drinks’ in the
  revelation of the Word of Wisdom. …
  
  “Tea and coffee … are what the Lord meant when He said ‘hot drinks.’”
  (In Joel H. Johnson, Voice from the Mountains [Salt Lake City:
  Juvenile Instructor Office, 1881], p. 12.)


The church has reaffirmed the meaning of "hot drinks" in recent times. For example, see Word of Wisdom on LDS.org:


  latter-day prophets have taught that the term “hot drinks,” as written
  in [D&amp;C 89:9], refers to tea and coffee


While it may seem peculiar now days to single out tea and coffee as "hot drinks," during the temperance movement of the 1830s they were both seen as substitutes for alcohol.