Freshness in Tea

It's finally cooling down and getting chilly that I can have my tea in the afternoons again.
Many people are obsessed on the freshness of coffee, why not in tea? I found these answers to How old is Too old?

Green teas need to be as fresh as possible to be flavorful. After a year, they're probably too old. Indeed, some would argue that once the picking season has passed, they've already lost much of their flavor. I believe that white teas are the same but am not as familiar with these. I'm also not very well-versed in Japanese greens, which are processed differently than Chinese.
Oolongs are best fresh, and I find that mine lose much of their flavor after a year. I tend to toss any left after 2 years. I'm assuming that those greener oolongs, such as baozhongs, are more susceptible to fading flavor.
Black teas last longer (I suppose this is due to roasting?). I've read that 2-3 years is probably the time limit. I think that some black teas actually need to sit for a bit before the flavor is full. At last year's Tea Expo, I was thrilled to try some Nilgiri that had just been picked and processed the week before (the plantation manager/owner was giving a tea-tasting). He noted that this was much too soon to be sipping, but he wanted us to try it. Very raw-feeling and not something I'd want to drink much of, but a great learning experience!
Aged teas, like puerh and aged oolongs, are meant to be stored for quite a while. I have several puerh cakes and touchas that are stuck in the dark nether-regions of my cabinet drawers (or tucked in a dark closet), waiting for another decade or two. I believe that aged oolongs are re-roasted(?) annually, so I tend to purchase rather small amounts of these pricey teas from superior vendors who deal with them for me.
Scented teas are good for 9 months for optimum flavor, depending on how they are scented. Some teas like Market spice have a 2 month shelf life.
Herb teas - Some herbs like Rooibos do not expire. Some herb blends keep their flavor longer than the teas.
Of course, all of the above depends on some really important factors:

• If the tea is sealed in airtight containers and kept out of the sunlight, it will last much longer. This is how a quality vendor would store the tea.
• How many times the tea has been moved from one container to the next (as it passes from processing to
  retailer, importer, retailer, shops) can impact the quality of the tea.
• Harvest and processing dates. Teas are processed soon after picking, so the harvest date
  should be similar to processing date -- these dates are important for two reasons. First, so you can know how fresh the tea is (especially relevant for greens/oolongs). Second, it lets you know that vendor is nowledgeable, cares about the tea, and has a good relationship with the company/farm/plantation the tea is purchased from.

Here in the U.S., it can be hard to get greens and oolongs during the harvest season, except from those vendors who actually travel to the country's tea farms.

So I guess I can start checking the tea for dates! Get some fresh tea and maybe do some tea tasting to compare some old stuff in your tea collections. Winter's approaching! let's prepare ourselves to enjoy your tea fresh-er!