Ignorant on all things tea-related

[Sheepums]

I recently bought the Scorpio and Sagittarius teas from the Zodiac collection, but I have no experience with tea. I've made 7 cups so far, but all I taste is slightly tea-ish water? I boil the water then I let the tea steep for 4 minutes, but the taste turns out very subtle, and I can't seem to pinpoint the flavors that make them flavored teas.
I read somewhere that tea is supposed to taste very subtle, so I'm wondering if this is true.

[Poohblah]

Flavored teas are not subtle. They are bold (and usually obnoxiously so). Of course, if you're used to eating whole raw habenero peppers, everything will taste bland by comparison. Try using more tea, and make sure your water is decent. Water that is high in chlorine content or has a strong mineral/metallic taste straight out of the tap will mute flavors of almost anything else.

[Sheepums]

Flavored teas are not subtle. They are bold (and usually obnoxiously so). Of course, if you're used to eating whole raw habenero peppers, everything will taste bland by comparison. Try using more tea, and make sure your water is decent. Water that is high in chlorine content or has a strong mineral/metallic taste straight out of the tap will mute flavors of almost anything else.

Hmmm, now I'm wondering whether my sense of taste or brewing methods are wrong... Do you think I can gradually adapt to the taste of tea? I think it might be all those years of soda and other sugary drinks.
But then I might be making it wrong, since my brothers can't seem to taste anything either. I've tried bottled water and filtered tap water. The filtered water works slightly better to bring out the taste, but I still find it very subtle.

[xdunlapx]

How much tea are you using for how much water?

I've read (I'm still a newb) that you use 1 teaspoon of tea to 8oz of water as a starting point. Then you go from there to see if that's too strong, too light, etc.