At first, I burned myself on my gaiwan almost every time…

No, really, I did!

The first ten or so times I used the gaiwan, it went something like this, “Okay, I picked it up all right…whoops, spilling half of it all over…YIKES that burns…hold steady…OWOWOWOWOWW *clatter*, CRUD!”

And I’d stare at my red, sore fingers and think, “What the devil am I doing wrong?  Everybody makes this look and sound so easy–nobody ever mentions constantly burning your fingers!”

I wondered if maybe it was just common knowledge, and that one had to develop blisters and callouses or something.  So I kept at it, getting a little better every time and just resigning myself to pained fingers and lots of spilled tea.

Now that I’ve emptied and filled two different gaiwans about a hundred times (not much when you’re talking about multiple infusions, but enough to make a few observations), what I’ve learned is this:

1. No, you *don’t* have to burn your fingers every time!

2. The gaiwan itself really does make a difference.  I now have a $4 gaiwan from a Chinese housewares shop and a $18 gaiwan from the Jing Teashop.  The more expensive gaiwan is thinner, sounder, and the *lid fits much better*.  I’m convinced that it is the better make of the lid and the subsequent fit that makes much of the difference.  Less spilling and less burning steam!

3.  It isn’t so much the gaiwan that’s burning you as the steam coming from open spots on the lid-to-cup seal.  Try to make sure you’re only leaving the pouring spout area open–that way, the fingers on either side of the gaiwan’s mouth won’t get burned along their length by steam escaping from either side.

4.  Be careful to rest your “top” finger (I tend to use my pointer or middle) on the knob of the gaiwan, not just the lid.  The lid will burn–I’ve learned this even with the Jing Teashop gaiwan, where the knob is hollow in the middle. If I put my finger in the middle of the hollow knob “button,” yeeeowww!

5.  Really only do use one hand.  It seems tricky at first and you’ll spill a lot, initially, but using two hands ruins the seal and makes the whole process too “busy” with fingers, resulting in steam and burns and yet more spilling.

6.  Go ahead and “lower” the lid down into the body a little more–I spent too much time trying to “pull back” the lid from a tiny spot right on the lip and burning myself that way.  You can “sink” the lid down at an angle into the body and still keep a good seal all around.  This seems to strain better, too.

 That’s all.  Yup, it’s pure common sense, but it took me a bit to work it all out, so I hope it’s maybe helpful to newcomers-to-gaiwans.

The rest of you can feel free to laugh at me–I’m so new at this!