I'm going to be giving it a try here in Chattanooga soon as the weather warms up. Not commercially, just my own private bush or two though.

I grew it when I lived in DC. Was just a bit warmer than where I am now. I need to get one of these and try again.

Good news is that there was apparently an article in some magazine about these here very recently, as the nursery I called to ask about mentioned "Oh yes, its been a very popular request after the article in WXYZ magazine. We'll let you know after our annual show what we'll have available."

So good news for starting now, there's a lot of interest so the nurseries will likely be stocking more choices than usual.

There's a convention that the hardiest forms have the least agreeable flavor. In USDA 7 I'd wonder about being able to grow tea that people would want to drink. Here in western USDA 8 tea plants have been grown for decades but are burnt by coldest winters.