Is There A Right Or Wrong Way To Stir Tea/coffee?

[AndiFlatland]

Which way do you stir your tea or coffee - clockwise or anticlockwise? And is it right or wrong either way? I can't see that it matters at all. But the reason I ask is because when I was a kid, about an aeon ago, sitting down to my evening meal with my family, my mother suddenly let forth a howl of disapproval at me. When I asked what was the reason, she said, without a hint of irony, "You're stirring your tea the WRONG WAY!!"
I had always unthinkingly stirred it anticlockwise, and never noticed that both my parents and my sister stirred theirs clockwise. It felt normal and natural to stir it in that direction, and I've done it that way all my life.
Any thoughts?

[Hopkirk]

.... is the correct answer.

He talked about temperature gradients, and said the steeper the graph between temperature of coffee and surroundings the quicker the transfer of heat.

[jim360]

Has anyone actually tested that, though? I'd say the difference would be minimal, although it has to be said I was attracted to answer (a) more than (b).

[Old_Geezer]

If served in a china cup then you cuss yourself for being stupid and leave half a cupful when the train arrives. If in a paper cup you don't care because you take it with you.

[jomifl]

When I stir with my right hand I stir clockwise but when I stir with my left hand I stir counter clockwise. Either because the left hand mirrors the learnt co-ordination of the right hand or because the wrist joint works more easily that way.

[LazyGun]

@Jim I think the difference would be minimal too. Great question though- go test it, physics boy- could be a nobel prize in it for you! :)

[LazyGun]

And actually O_Gs answer is the best, pragmatically speaking. I often curse, having to leave my china cup half full of coffee at the platform :)

[murraymints]

Anti clockwise ..I'm a rightie...
I also wear watch on right wrist !

[pixie373]

I would pour half the coffee out and then put the milk in. (not cream. I refuse)

[jim360]

I only drink herbal teas at coffee shops anyway.

[jomifl]

mm, doesn't it chafe when stirring your tea?

[LazyGun]

@murraymints Away with you, you minion of Satan! Wearing watch on right wrist? Sacrelige!! :)

[aelmpvw]

do ambidextrous people wear two watches?

[beso]

I usually stir mine clockwise with my right hand or anticlockwise with my left.

Does the "right way" depend on the hemisphere where the stirring is undertaken?

[murraymints]

And I also use my right hand to bless the misguided !!! Lol...

[AndiFlatland]

Crikey! What a clamour of responses! Though as expected, it's pretty inconclusive, but gravitates towards "doesn't matter either way".
Interesting that weecalf has raised the issue of being chided for being left-handed, and I've sometimes wondered whether my mother's childhood experience of that may have fed through genetically into me in the womb: She was forced at school, as a left-hander, to write with her right hand, and was chastised for using her left hand. The result of this was that she became very confused over the years as to which side was which, and her writing was never neat or straight.
I like the analogies with opening packs of crisps at the wrong end, etc, which I've done many times, called myself a berk, then continued to eat them regardless. But if a packet of biscuits contains on its wrapper the words "Open by cutting", I absolutely refuse, and will defiantly and laboriously loosen the welded corners of film at the end until I have a nice neat tunnel which I can fold back down when I've extracted adequate biscuity supplies. Or if a packet says "Open other end", again, I will absolutely not comply. Mostly one finds it makes not one whit of difference.
And 'milk or tea first?' doesn't bother me at all - I've always drunk my coffee black, as I think milk spoils the taste of coffee, and it also leaves a scummy film on the mug, thus necessitating washing it after every drink - which you don't have to do with black coffee (or tea) for at least a month!!

[Clanad]

Depends on which hemisphere you're in, northern or southern, no?

[woofgang]

Clanad, did you know that the water swirling down the sink drain thing isn't true? I have tested it!

[mibn2cweus]

Always stir clockwise when closer to the South Pole and anticlockwise when closer to the North Pole . . . otherwise the Earth's rotational and orbital speeds will be adversely affected.

[heathfield]

Adding cream to coffeee will initially cool the coffee. But thereafter the fats in the cream act as an insulator, and they slow down the rate of cooling. After a given time, the coffee with the cream will remain warmer than coffee with no cream.

[joggerjayne]

Surely, physically, if you're right handed, the natural motion is clockwise, as if you were winding something up.

Anti if you're left handed.