Novice question about yunomis

[caulfield]

Does it burn your fingers? Can you walk around drinking out of it like a mug?

I'm new to non-Western tea traditions, but I really like learning about them. I bought a gaiwan, but I always burn my fingers on it.

[theredbaron]

It depends. If your drink Sencha from your Yunomi than it won't burn your fingers as Sencha is brewed with much cooler water than Black tea.
It also depends on the glaze and clay of the particular Yunomi.

[JBaymore]

A yonomi HAS a "handle". It is built into your hand.

They are made to be gripped so that the thumb is placed on the top of the rim/lip and the middle finger is placed on the bottom surface of the foot ring. The rim remains cooler due to air circulation and not being filled to the rim and the thicker foot ring remains cool because of the thermal mass of the clay causing the temperature of the clay to be lower.

best,

...............john

[David R.]

I don't think that the purpose of a yunomi is to be filled much. You can always grab it by the top. In Japan, people tend to drink with two hands, one hand on the side and one hand underneath. I think it is tradition more than a heat problem.

[Running for Tea]

In my experience, if the yunomi is hot enough to burn my hand, the tea will certainly burn my mouth. Using my thumb and middle finger around the top has worked well for me. Its the position I find comfortable, and its fine as long as I avoid filling to the rim. My thought is that you are more likely to spill and burn yourself than to burn your fingers holding it. That being said, I comfortably walk around with my yunomi and haven't had much trouble

FYI: I drink Japanese greens, so my water temps are lower, but my later steeps do get hotter.

[jbu2]

you should drink tea at about room temperature to fully enjoy tea taste , even when i drink hotter tea if you can held it from the top and bottom it shouldn't be in your mouth, so basically what other people said only that i find holding the cup from the button necessary so the cup will be steady and not to hold it on just two fingers (i fill it up almost to the top)

[debunix]

I've noticed a huge variation in the size & insulating properties of cups purchased as Yunomis. Some have lovely thick walls, like my seafoam yunomi that I'm drinking from right now, and I confidently fill it repeatedly with puerh brewed on the boil without fear for my fingertips. Some have delicate thin walls, like my pretty blue tenmoku yunomi that I grab for green tea sessions or small volume brews only.

Thin walled cups are great for green teas if you tend to stop the brewing session when temps hit 180s or 190s at most, or if the brew volume is low enough that fingers have a cool zone at top and if there is a cool footer on the bottom.

It's hard to predict the insulating properties until the cup is in your hands--even if they're from the same artisan, and look very similar in photos, they can have a very different feel in the hand.

[yalokinh]

you can just let the tea cool down if it is too hot, at most you'll wait 2 minutes depending on how much liquid it holds.
I find taller vessels to cool down faster