I categorized puerh in these categories:-
Young Ripe (cheap)
Young Ripe (expensive)
Young Raw (cheap)
Young Raw (expensive)
Aged Ripe (5 to 15)
Super Aged Ripe (15 and above)
Aged Raw (5 to 15)
Super Aged Raw (15 and above)

Puerh is somehow an acquired taste (especially for aged puerh), so sample in categories and see which one you fall into. Sometimes it may take awhile before you will acquire the liking for puerh, so take your time. Once you have identified which category and specific type of puerh you like, then it is easier for your selection. Not everyone likes aged. Not all young raw are hard to drink. So sample sample sample.

For puerh, there is a Up and Down in terms of its character/taste. When it is Down it will lose its flavor and taste, but it doesn't mean that piece of puerh is gone. It 'may' still go Up but this may take from days, weeks or even years. So don't throw away your puerh when it is Down. Keep it aside for future tasting.

When tasting, always go for ripe first then only raw. Preferably you drink in sequence of grade too, from low to high. Reason, raw taste is stronger than ripe. So if you tasted raw first, you cannot fully enjoy the ripe. Same goes for grade sequence, higher grade will overwrite the lower grade.

For a start, go for Big Factory Puerh such as Menghai-Dayi then Xia Guan then explore the rest as you go. These days it is 'safer' to buy from big factories be it genuine or cleanliness.

If you are lost and don't know where to start, go for standard recipe such as Dayi's 7542 (raw), 8582 (raw), 7452 (ripe), 7572 (ripe). Then you can venture into their more special/premium editions.

Next venture can be more specific to which mountain you like too. But take note when they say eg, Bulang mountain, this mountain area can be very very big. Not all quality are the same. But in general, if the leaves are from very old trees (hundreds to thousands of years old) and is at high altitude then it 'should' be better. Don't be surprise with the price difference when it come to these criteria.

Also, first batch puerh are usually better. You can identify the batch by the number on the packing. Eg. Year 2009's first batch will be labeled 901, Year 2010's first batch will be labeled 001, and so on... Another thing to look for is, Spring tea is usually better than other season's harvest, but this can be hard to identify especially when it come to big factories where they usually mix the leaves.

I don't buy tea online, but here are some places i look for puerh reference:-
http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/

http://stores.ebay.com/Dragon-Tea-House

A chinese seller for new products and price reference:
http://goodtea114.taobao.com
I don't know how to read chinese, but looking at the pictures and google translator helps

A tea seller was sharing his experience with me that back then young raw can be very hazardous to drink. He knows some other sellers who has actually admitted into hospital because of the tasting too many young raw. Can be damaging to liver and if serious lungs.

The good news is that these days younger raw are easier to drink, but here are his advise:-
1) Don't drink young raw with empty stomach
2) If you drink young raw, compensate back by the same amount of water
3) Drink age raw or ripe

Hi, found this interesting yet informative thread, I love chinese tea too. 

I started chinese tea since 12 years ago, following friends to tea shop and get 'hooked' lol.

I started with Oolong tea (such as Tie Quan Yin, etc.) then Green Tea (Long Jing, Mei Jia Wu, etc.) and three years ago, started with Pu-Er.

Like most of ppl, I do not like Pu-Er initially as was cheated with bad quality Pu-Er, after few years later, during one of the tea exhibitions, someone introduced me various type of Pu-Er like previous posts stated, young raw, old ripe Pu-Er, etc.  I started with young raw Pu-Er as it is easy to get adapt, slowly I also start liking the old ripe Pu-Er.

Two year ago, I have bought Xia Guan (下关）Duo Cha and Yi Wu （易武）spring young raw Pu-Er (three rolls, each roll with seven pcs), keep them in well ventilated space/clay pot (紫砂）for natural fermentation.

Starting to learn to differentiate taste of different years of Yi Wu young raw Pu-Er. 

Just to share a brief story of my tea experience, there are lot more to learn and experience from this thread.

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Added on September 22, 2010, 3:42 pm

My recent medical report showed that my ALT/APT (liver) are higher than the normal, could it be the cause of young raw Pu-Er tea? Usually I drink around 3 - 5 pm during weekend approximately 500ml.

Hi there. "Gong ting" means palace, in this case it means "imperial grade puerh". When u see this term being used, normally the tea uses shoots as primary material, that's why the strong flavor. But from what I heard, puerh using gong ting material will lose its flavor faster because of its finer buds that's why it's not meant for long term storage.

6th infusion already diluted. Not really high quality tea leaves.

Get ready your bullets, the 6th Malaysia Puer tea fair is on Nov

Can u give a front cover screenshot? Well, it happens at times, especially in unknown factories. I have had the same thing before but what I found is a nail. 

I think you been misled. Where got limited to 2000? China population is so huge and it won't arrive here if it produces only limited units.