Ah, the gaiwan experience! You love it or you hate it, right?
Well, I believe that most people can enjoy it once they figured out how
to best pour the tea.
If you have a problem with burning your fingers on the cup itself, try
the following method I've adopted and never had a problem with heat
since:
A gaiwan usually consists of 3 parts: cup, lid and saucer. From what I
gather, you pick up the cup and lid when you pour your tea and leave
the saucer behind. I pick up the saucer with my thumb and middle finger
while holding the lid into place with my index finger (I slant the lid
before picking up the gaiwan). That way, you're grabbing the cold
saucer and are holding onto the (usually quite touchable) knob on the
lid. Most lids have an indentation in the knob that make it quite easy
to keep it in place with the index finger.
I agree that the trickiest bit is to judge the right gap for the lid to
allow free pouring while holding back the leaves effectively. But this,
as everything, is a judgement that you'll master with practice.
Just my 2 cents...


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