Thinking about "growing my own" - tea, that is! !

My recent purchase of a spearmint plant, followed by an Echinacea plant (purple coneflower) has led me to thinking about growing my own tea garden. Upon further researching the subject, apparently you can make your own green, oolong or black tea by utilizing the Camellia Sinensis shrub. Problem is, if you grow it from seed, it takes three years for this sucker to grow big enough to start using its leaves for tea, and I just don't know if I have that kind of patience!! Looks like I'll be doing some searching at the local greenhouses to see if anyone has an actual plant that I can buy.