Generally
It's
濃茶 using a special water; and it is traditional to use the
鶴瓶 for this
点前 decorated with straw and paper strips.
The main difference is that the guests get to taste the water, either hot or cold (Vocabulary) before you prepare
濃茶.
名水
Preparation
👆 You can use the same decoration also for the 台子 in January!
点前
「お見受け(みうけ) いたしますと、名水 を 御心配(しんぱい) いただいた よう で ございます が、お水 を 頂戴(ちょうだい) いたしたい と 思います 」(I see you troubled yourself to get some famous water, so I would like to taste it).
Proceed to unpack the
茶碗 and purify the
茶入; but, after the
茶碗 is moved closer after removing
茶筅:
茶巾 is put on the lid side closest to the
釜,
帛紗 is tucked away, then the lid with the
茶巾 on it is opened by pulling it away and placing it on the other side: First pull the lid forward with R from its far side enough that you can grab its front with two hands. Pull it out completely, then put onto right side (with the
茶巾 on top).
Directly afterwards, cold water is scooped and served to the guest. (You need to re-hold the
柄杓 to put it on the
蓋置.) After the first sip of the second guest, the main guest inquires about the water's origin (so they all drink from the same bowl one sip each)
Bowl comes back, everyone bows.
Bowl is then rinsed once with hot water (open the lid with the bare hands), then hot water is added again for 茶筅通し and everything proceeds as always.
Lid is closed as it is opened, with the last bit pushed in with the R thumb.
In the book they take out the
水指, but Burkus said it was left in the room because of seepage.
Variations
The
水指 can also be used without 名水, in which case there are no decorations, and it can be decorated with
柄杓 and
蓋置 (including 湯返し). (In fact,
立川宗嘉 does this even with the 名水, and I think it makes sense.)
香江茶室 uses the つるべ for
薄茶, too; putting the
茶巾 on the 釜蓋.
Vice versa, you can also do 名水 without the 釣瓶! In that case, decorate it with a straw cord as usual. The
点前 changes slightly, and mirrors 洗い茶巾, because you need to open the
釜 lid to put the
茶巾 on it. Then open the
水指 lid separately for more focus on that moment (KMR VII 25).
KMR also explained that there is a 名水 where the
釜 is wrapped in a paper cord. But we don't anything more about that.