Stirring tea with lid of gaiwan

[Poohblah]

Is it common practice/kosher/useful to stir the tea leaves with the lid of the gaiwan while the tea is steeping? I do this frequently to entertain myself during those longer steeps and it made me wonder

[beachape]

May cause tea to explode. Avoid at all costs.

[beachape]

...don't think it is standard practice unless you are moving the leaves aside to drnk grandpa style. Don't think it will will hurt you but your tea may steep faster. Oh and the explosions...

[Poohblah]

Well shoot. The fact that I like to use nitroglycerin as a sweetener probably doesn't help either... I should wear my goggles while steeping tea

[tingjunkie]

"Stir" may not be the best word, but I've seen many a tea master use the lid to distribute or spread out the leaves evenly around the gaiwan. If you are doing it throughout the infusion, you are probably losing a fair amount of heat which could be used to extract all the yummy goodness from the leaf.

[IPT]

It is not really done here because it does let heat escape. As mentioned earlier, when drinking directly from the Gaiwan, it is done to move the leaves out of the way for drinking. Another way to move the leaves is to blow across the top of the water. That'll move the leaves out of the way as well. The exploding feature is quite rare and only happens a few times a year, so it isn't something you have to worry about.

[rabbit]

Depends, if I think the water was a bit too hot, or if the leaves are tight together (such as gunpowder or tgy) I will stir, but only a minimal amount.

[edit] as for the exploding feature... that could actually happen if it was microwaved distilled water in a sterile gaiwan, but the cap wasn't sterilized.