i believe this tea is actually addictive, i crave for it when 2 days go by without drinking it :-)
the way i prepare it:
i found it best not to preheat the pot, i get more of the milky flavor, and less of the bitterness.
steeping time is a bit tricky:
• 1 minute for the first steep, clock from the moment the boiling water hits the tea, and not after you stopped pouring (stir a bit and pour into the serving pot).
• 20 sec. for the second steep (real quick, stir and pour)
• 40 sec. for the third
• 2 minutes for the fourth
• as much as you want for the fifth and up
• by the 6th you still get taste, but no flavor (this tea just doesn’t loose it’s taste, i’ve reached 12 steeps and i still can get some taste from it, but no flavor at all)
Trick: to get a full rich flavor that give your taste buds a journey with every sip, i usually do 3 consecutive steeps, and pour all 3 steeps in the same serving pot, THEN i drink. you get all the flavor varieties and combinations of all 3 steeps in one pot. i love it.
How much tea and water do you use? (and also, what temperature) The instruction booklet for the tea uses more or less the same brewing times that you have recommended, but only suggests to use 1/4 of a teaspoon of tea (not sure how much water). That sounds like a very small amount of tea.