I am mystified by the common practice of "awakening" fisted leaves at the
boil, then steeping the resulting cabbage in tepid water. I almost always
work up from the coolest brew that will make a pleasant taste, to much
higher temperatures when delicate notes are gone anyway.
-DM

Having not seen the entire universe of fisted tea awakeners, nor even a properly contrived sampling, I cannot speak for the science of the matter, but I have observed some brewers performing this. While they do use hot water, the water is added quite slowly to the leaves. Thus -- you will correct me if I'm wrong -- the ultimate temperature is somewhat below boiling. Further, they work quite quickly, more quickly than I am capable of. So, I wonder if "at the boil" isn't subjective enough to warrant discussion. Does the tea taste good? We'll just let the mouth make these decisions.
Michael