This update has made the gathering portion of the game much less monotonous and has actually made it fun, I think the expansion (with respect to labyrinthine-ness) of the cavern might maintain the excitement of exploration, as well as buffing the enemies heavily.
The mixing of the teas is fine mechanically, there is a missing sense of sense to the ingredients and teas and the teas themselves are not independently rewarding (the buffs are underwhelming and short).
I think being able to get over the hurdle of the caverns (and saves) has made me see the potential of the game even more, but its flaws as well.
Well thank you for giving the game another shot :D
The tea is probably going to feel wonky for a while until there's enough content in the game for it to be useful. Most of these teas (so far) are combat related, but the early game enemies are weak, so that's part of why it feels underwhelming. I also wanted to encourage the player to mix the teas together and get crazy combos, so using them independently really isn't the point of the mechanic. I'll probably still update them a bunch until they feel 'right' to me.
Once again thank you for your feedback, your reviews have been very insightful, especially since I'm still struggling with gamedev tunnel-vision and all that :)