When will the hot cup of tea cool faster?

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The discussion centers on the cooling rate of a cup of tea and whether clenching the cup affects this rate. It explores the principles of heat transfer, comparing conduction from the tea to the hand versus convection to the surrounding air. The idea is that the temperature difference between the tea and the air may not be as effective as the heat transfer to the hand. A suggestion is made to conduct an experiment with two cups to test the hypothesis. Ultimately, the question remains whether clenching the cup will indeed result in faster cooling.
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I just sat with a cup of tea, and started wondering about this. If the cup just sits there, the tea will cool slowly. Will it cool faster if I repeatedly clench and let go of the cup? The difference between the cup surface temp and the surrounding air is higher than than between the cup and my hand, but then again I sense that the heat will have an easier time transfering to my hand than to the air...and so I sit here wondering :) What do you think?
 
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The root question is; is conduction at T_coffee times Flux_mass coffee less T_hand more effective than convection at T_coffee less T_air times Flux_mass air
 
You could actually make two cups and do the experiement. Drop a thermometer in each, and clench only one. My hunch is that the clenched one cools faster.
 

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