Ive had bud that tasted bad, but got me high as shit. While the Plant i grew beside it tasted like candy and had a good buzz but nothing like the instensity the other plant had. I would say there are too many variables to figure out why your not acheiveing the taste you want without "us" using the same exact "Plant" and basicially doing exactly what you did, to figure out why your not getting the taste your trying to have in your product. I say keep trying.Flush always
With one packet per ounce with a decent dry mine have played a lot longer(6+months). They will start to feel crunchy when they are shot, it really depends on how hard you make them work.