One of my wifes inlaws brought me a PouChong from Taiwan. It was better than anything from the shelf. Teavana does carry some good teas. I keep finding some great tea bargains in the discount bin at my local tea shoppe. SF Chinatown has gone off the deep end for expensive teas perse. I did find some very good shelf teas. The monthly Puer tea tastings stopped after about a year. In the past few days I discovered Georgian Old Lady. I stopped by the tea shoppe riding the bicycle as the rest of the country has winter. Like Teavana I recognize what I havent seen before. Then I remembered I got an email saying several Georgian teas were tasted picking GOL for the shelf. I looked at the dry long black thin leaf and hoped it was something special. It is the most balanced tea Ive tasted. The wet leaf is the top two leaves on stem. It is aromatic with nose mouth throat stimulation. It reminds me of a cross between Assam and Java. I put some in a cup and still have drinkable taste after ten infusions. There is no bitterness, no astrigency. It keeps on giving and giving. My bladder gives up before the tea. I cant think of any tea criteria where this tea doesnt hold up. This is the only black tea that I would consider the only tea for the rest of my life.
Jim
PS Benjamin Carp mentioned the only reason coffee become more popular in the US after the Revolution was the availability of cheap coffee and sugar from Jamaica.