Good job man! The strange taste is the infamous "peppery" tast of Jack Herer. I get that same thing from mine, but the high is well worth it. Jack like 70 days of flowering best. The range is 50-70, but I am at 64 and all of a sudden the buds started growing again. (I've been helping them too) Try to wait the fulll time if you can. Smoke is so expensive, that's why I chopped one of mine down early and let the second keep growing. Lookin' forward to your next log. =)