Why does my loose leaf tea taste and smell dusty?

I recently bought some black loose leaf tea however upon smelling it it had a very dusty smell almost like dirt. I figured that the tea had been sitting in the same place in the store for awhile and that this problem would be non-existent once the tea was brewed. However to my dismay the tea had a over powering dusty/musty taste. Any idea what a person could do to remedy this?