I don’t get beer
the trick is to be 15 and get started with a 40 of colt 45 that your friend’s mom got for you and your friend for helping with yardwork. choke that down just for the buzz and then actual craft beer is like candy
THe trick is to be 10 and your family allows you a little pony beer (old 8 oz glass bottle) 1-2 times per year. It takes away the mystery and when I was older, I didn’t feel a need to go get alcohol behind anyone’s back. And when I was 21, I drank occasionally, like with pizza sometimes or spaghetti, or a mixed drink socially or something.
Of course, for those that are alcoholics or otherwise get addicted to the alcoholic effects, it can be a struggle, but not really probably relating to when you start drinking in such cases.
Of course, for those that are alcoholics or otherwise get addicted to the alcoholic effects, it can be a struggle, but not really probably relating to when you start drinking in such cases.
There’s actually a well known, clear link between drinking debut age (first drink) and rates of alcoholism, as well as other adverse effects (something about employment I think, and drug use for sure).
If I recall correctly the age of debut is statistically even more impactful than the age one starts drinking regularly, when it comes to rates of alcohol dependency.
A lot of other things factor in as well, and a lot of things factor in to push an early debut of course… but drinking debut age is definitely a factor in alcoholism.
Stealing keystone light from your parents in 7th grade makes all other beer taste amazing except for Miller light
How old are you? (this is a legit question, not trying to judge or anything). Do you drink coffee? If so, how do you like it?
Late 20s, never got into coffee except for mocha on rare occasions
I have a working theory that the availability of sweeteners has altered drinking preferences over generations.
When I was growing up everybody drank coffee and beer (and smoked cigarettes, which is probably a little related but a different story).
Coffee and tea were the only feasible way to get caffeine. Sure, cream and sugar was available and used, but as you get more acclimated to the taste you can forgo the stuff and just drink it black.
Likewise, beer is what you had. That was it. There were no sweetened alcoholic drinks in the can or 12 oz bottle form. With the exception of wine coolers but that was marketed more towards older women. And those usually only came in 4 packs. You could do wine or hard liquor with a mixer, but that was expensive and/or likely to get you hammered too quickly. If you wanted affordable casual drinking with friends you were drinking beer. And there weren’t even craft beers or microbrewers, just watery chilled donkey piss like Budweiser, Coors, etc.
Most people who started drinking did so with beer. By the time you had a year of sneaking beers with your buddies you were already used to the taste. Hell, I remember when Zima came out and it was a big deal (it was one of the first widely available easy to drink sweetend adult beverages, probably malt, I would guess).
And weed wasn’t common either, except in very secretive circles, so if you wanted a buzz, you were drinking.
Anyway, now you’ve got a whole cornucopia of alcoholic drinks that are easy to sip, caffeine that tastse like a soda, and vapes that taste like candy.
Nobody has to ever acquire a taste for bitter things again.
It’s a nice theory, but you’re forgetting about ciders and drinks like mead, which can be very sweet.
As for caffeine, I found that if you started drinking it with sugar, you have to actually want to give up sugar to switch to black. There’s no need to ever drink it black otherwise. I gave up sugar in my 30s and had to acquire a taste for black coffees. I gave up milk around the same time, which also dulls the bitterness. My parents, who are now in their 60’s and 70’s still drink milk and sugar. My gen z brother also prefers black.
Also that doesn’t explain things like german marzipan, which is bitter AF, and used in desserts. Same goes for cocoa, or dark chocolate. They’re entirely optional bitter products that are still popular.
Additionally, new craft beers are selling their bitterness as a feature in the form of IBU listings. (Successfully, I might add, I’m a sucker for a high IBU beer)
Bitter is just another flavour profile, and some people like it, some people don’t.
i use a non-dairy creamer for mines, and the low cal options. i use the non-aspartame sweetener.
i like dark chocolate too, but i prefer mostly 85%-90%+ anything lower than that is just to milky and sweet.
Did you grow up in a renfair? 😛 I never even met anyone who had ever drank mead until I was in my late 20s and hanging out with DnD nerds.
Since the 1970s, in the US beer consumption has steadily gone down 20%, wine up 40%, spirits took a deep dip but came up to 105%.
Growing up I definitely had friends that very quickly switched to mixers as soon as they could or wouldn’t drink beer but I’d say, as a whole, a general trend, less people in today’s times have grown up with bitter profiles being a necessary part of their imbibing, be it alcohol or caffeine, so when they do get that first sip of some old skunk beer they understandably recoil. Since they have no reason to continue drinking it when there’s a Mike’s or White Claw next to them… that’s that. I hear way more people say they don’t like the taste than I did 20 years ago. But it’s just a pet theory, might be other factors going on, too.
You’re on to something about choosing flavor profiles though. After about a year or two drinking sugary creamy coffee I gradually switched to black. I like the flavor, as well as dark chocolate and stout beers. I think some people are wired for it, like in the examples you provided. Interestingly, I’m not super crazy about sour, and I’ve met a few people who absolutely love it. Candies, drinks, etc.
Ha ha ha, no I just had some devious friends coming up. Mead is probably the easiest thing to make yourself at home, and you can do it with really unassuming ingredients. Bread yeast, and store bought honey will make a perfectly serviceable mead. Just buy flour and bake some bread at the same, and no one suspects a thing… until you overdo it, and get violently ill in the living room lol, tends to be a give away. I actually think the friend who started it was part of a DnD group, so it may still have started there.
I still do it as a hobby but with proper yeast and nutrients etc. now. Plus I actually know about things like stabilization and back sweetening! Muuuch nicer end product!
My point was more that sweeter options have always been available. I don’t know what it’s like in the US, but you can always find cider here. Doesn’t matter how small or backwater the pub is, there’ll be one on tap.
As for beer consumption going down in the US: You can get some really dry wine that’s quite bitter too. (And ciders and meads too come to think) and conversely you can get some really sweet, easy drinking beers too. Also, alcohol consumption across the board is down globally, so while I don’t dispute that beer consumption is down everywhere, I’m just not sure it can be entirely blamed on being bitter. Things come in and out of fashion. My personal working theory is that it’s become too expensive to drink casually.
I’m not super crazy about sour
Oh I love sour! I make my own hot sauces too, and while I do make them quite hot, I also add straight citric acid to them, and many people find my sauces to be pretty gross lol! Guess I’ll stick to my day job ha ha ha!
Sweet is actually the flavor I could take or leave. Not saying I hate it or anything, it’s just kinda low down on my preference list. I’m very much a savory snacker!
We must be the same age. Zima was a revelation, especially with the jolly rancher in it. Then in college it was just Beast Light because that’s what was available to me.
I don’t even want the buzz, so if I’m going to drink socially it’s all about taste.
Late 20s you need to revisit all the shit you didn’t like before, especially moldy cheese. Sweet starts to suck a bit and bitter gets good.
Also not sure if it’s my addiction but black coffee is amazing. It’s an acquired taste and most people go milk and sugar - > milk - > black. Green tea, black tea, mushrooms, spicy, wasabi, mustard, strong gouda, grana padano and so much more are all so good.
What’s weird is ciders exist that taste just like juice yet they are the niche drink.
I can drink a lot of beer and I can drink a lot of apple juice, but I can only drink a couple of ciders before I am done.
It is possible that you just haven’t had one you liked yet. The are a lot of different flavors and styles. I like some but not others. Then again, why bother since drinking isn’t really all that great for you anyway. 😄
For me, anything with hops in tastes awful.
Well I do like ginger joe, so there’s that
I’ve had two styles I liked, a lambic and a Berliner weiss. They aren’t really “beer” the way most people think of it.
I don’t get beer
neither do I … gotta buy it to have it
Since others are posting about the how and not the why:
I don’t like most beers, but the ones I like are refreshing (mainly Almaza the local standard here in Lebanon, a Pilsner if that means anything to anyone). It’s slightly bitter like tea, less so than coffee, and fizzy but not as much as a sugary drink. It complements a lot of foods, doesn’t really get you drunk quickly (I don’t drink to that point), is pretty widely available, and is nice to drink during a chat because it takes a bit of time, kind of like coffee or tea.
Supposedly Almaza is similar to Asahi or Kingfisher from India.
I’ve also enjoyed “interesting” beers but that’s how beer works for me. I’ve had Guinness, it’s interesting, more of a curiosity for me, very bready, I can see myself having it often if it was widely available.
If you’re talking more about the American movie style “buy a 96-pack of canned yellow water and consume half of it while watching American football alone” beer I have no idea what that’s about.
Just think of it as stanky sourdough social beverage. If that doesn’t appeal to you, there you go.
I’m with you. I tried to acquire a taste for it in college, but it still tastes like sour regret to me.
You just need the right beer. Sam adams and Octoberfest. Cali squeeze blood orange tastes like orange hi-c. Devils gap Jalepeno ale. There are some good tasting beers
I’ve tried some “good” craft beers based on friends’ recommendations and still not good. I think beer just isn’t for me. I much prefer cider.
If you like cider but not beer, have you tried a mead yet? There’s no need to keep trying beers if they’re not for you.
I rarely consume alcohol nowadays (maybe 1-2x a year), but I’ll keep that in mind.
Good for you. I’m a more frequent drinker but I think it’s a good thing that it’s going out of fashion – it’s definitely one of the most harmful intoxicants.
It’s pricey too. I’ve been drinking alcohol since my early teens. If I had to estimate how much I’ve spent on booze during that time, it would probably be enough to pay for a decent car.
You should find a smoothie beer. They exist in all fruit flavours, I personally love them. And sour beers. Vault City and Funky Fluid are my two favourite breweries.
Recently visited The Wee Tap in Edinburgh and have tried lots of Vault City. None beat Azvex Operation Genome [26.05] Mango and Blackberry Ice Cream Sour though. Could put that in the meal deal isle with the other smoothies and no one would notice the difference.
Ooh, haven’t tried that one!
A beer shop close to me has a deal with Vault City (started two months ago): they get ALL the beers Vault City produces. I guess I’ll be spending more money going forward lol.
Btw, if you like sours, try the Foundation by VC. It’s what all their sour beers are based on, and it’s really good!
Sounds like one of those new-fangled places to me!
Sure, but kinda ALL beer is an acquired taste, and frankly I don’t think I’ve ever thought, “I sure do want a tasty beverage and don’t care about the alcohol content” and ended up drinking beer. Even if you’re not getting drunk, the alcohol is the point, and everything else is mitigation.
That said, when I am feeling like a little bit of alcohol, I like a nice malty dark beer, stouts of course, but even a simple schwarzbier dark lager can do the trick. A very dry cider is even better though, edging close to the point where I might actually pick it purely for taste.
All beers are bitter, things humans evolved to stay away from (bitter signals poison). If you like beer, it’s because you’ve become accustomed to it, not because it’s a good flavor to humans.
There are so, so many beers that aren’t bitter.
Not exactly true.
All diet drinks. Whatever sugar substitutes they use taste awful no matter what. Now there are products I can’t consume because the default version has fake sugar as well. Nasty stuff.
Part of it is just getting used to it. I used to hate the no sugar versions of Coca-Cola®️. Other than the taste the viscosity is also ‘wrong’ in Coke zero. The sugary versions is much thicker.
I switched anyway because I was drinking too many calories.
Strangely though, real Coke now tastes weird to me. There is this strange aftertaste that I never noticed before switching to zero.
It also helps with the Zero-style ones that they use a couple of different sweeteners.
One of the tricks I found is that when I occasionally want sweet tea, I’ll take a packet of Equal, sucralose, and stevia and add to my glass. You get more of the sweet but without enough of each one that the bitterness or other weird taste you get when you use enough to make it super-sweet doesn’t happen. It just tastes sweet.
im the same with diet “soda”, now the sugary ones is just too sweet and you know you feel bad drinking it. i think mexican coke, aka cane sugar is the best one from what ive heard.
I cut back my regular Coke addiction with Coke Zero, and was not happy. I found Pepsi Zero tastes closer to what I like than Coke Zero does. And if I add a teaspoon of sugar, it’s almost pleasant to drink.
I have a friend who is from a non-“western” country, and moved to North America. This has been one of their biggest gripes with living here: food (especially but not exclusively prepared food) is either full of sugar, or full of artificial sweeteners. Seeing as they don’t particularly like sweet foods, and they absolutely don’t like the taste of artificial sweeteners, this means that like half the food in a grocery store or restaurant has to be immediately written off. For example, if you want a soda thats not so overwhelmingly sweet, currently the only options are Bubly and imported stuff. Obviously, there are other drink options, so its not like its the end of the world, but having a glass of milk or cup of tea with your pizza just doesn’t hit the same. At the same time, everyone is talking about dieting and about how terrible everything is for you, yet no one seems to consider just making food less sugary.
aspartame, is the most common amongst diet sodas brand names. people dont like stevia soda, because some people apparently taste it differently.(the brand names like zevia, makes it sickly sweet)
Stevia is so gross. It ruins anything it touches. Aspartame is ok. Splenda is a migraine trigger.
For coffee, a demitasse spoon of sugar - moderation is the way, or I like a lot of milk no sugar (but that probably ends up with the same amount of sugar from lactose)
For tea, mostly unsweet is fine.
For soda, moderation again but I like the diet version better than the sugared ones. Diet coke is fine and doesn’t give me a headache. Once in a while though, not every day. Just when I want something that is nothing.
Diet Dr Pepper is the only one I like and I assume that one of the flavors in it is covering up that nasty fake sugar flavor and aftertaste.
I like them all, but definitely Diet Dr. Pepper the most. I assumed it was because Dr. Pepper has kind of an artificial/medicinal flavor.
I like it better. I can’t stand regular coke or pepsi, it tastes like syrup. Diet ones are better. Nowdays I’m enjoying Pesi Black, really nice taste.
Totally agree. Since they have a super tax here all the drinks have gone either fully diet or reduced sugar and added sweeteners to it.
I can’t stand it. Coke is basically the only hold out left and the full sugar version is getting less and less prominent in supermarkets.I’ve found that the fake sugars taste acidic, so if I go with acidic soda like orange soda, it masks it well enough. I didn’t drink much soda but sugar free orange Fanta is my go-to now.
I like diet drinks in the right spots, diet A&W root beer has a lovely smoky taste imho, perfect for sipping something cold coming home from the grocery store when I don’t want sugar or caffeine to disrupt my system
i love the little frozen bits of root beer you get when you make a float with diet root beer.
Just skimmed through the thread. You know what beverage I don’t see in here? Ginger Ale, because it is objectively amazing.
If you like that bite, you might also try (non-alcoholic) birch beer. It’s generally stronger.
Maybe it was just the brand I had tried, but the last time I had birch beer it tasted like milder, sweeter root beer.
if that’s the case Irn Bru is also on that list…though it’s an acquired taste.
Real ginger ale, not that shit they sell at grocery stores.
Also spruce beer, which I’ve never seen outside Quebec.
Agreed.
Matcha. Every everyone says it’s this wonderful day and when I try it it’s like drinking blended lawn clippings.
It’s delicious. I also love sencha. Black coffee is also superior compared to the sugar bomb coffee drinks most of the country drinks.
Look, I champion black coffee wherever I can. I drink it decaf…
But I draw the line at matcha. Don’t lie to yourself.
Lmao your opinion is already compromised with the self admission of decaf coffee which in itself is an oxymoron.
It’s like saying sugar free Frappuccino!
Saying Decaf isn’t coffee is implying that caffeine is what makes coffee, coffee. I disagree with that assessment as I enjoy the flavor of coffee as well.
A frappuccino doesn’t need sugar to be a frappuccino. It needs milk (well, milkshake) and cappuccino. Neither of those is a pure sugar ingredient.
Decaffeination is often associated with less flavorful coffee because it is a bit tricky to remove only the caffeine and not any of the numerous flavor chemicals, and decaffeinated beans are notoriously difficult to roast properly.
The most-common methods of decaffeination involve chemical solvents, usually ethyl acetate or methylene chloride. In the direct method, the coffee beans are steamed and then rinsed repeatedly with the chemical solvent to flush away the caffeine.
What country? Sounds shit
USA. 99% of people drink Starbucks/Dutch Bros. Drinks that have 500+ calorie starting points before the modify them to hell and back and turn them into a 1000 calorie meal.
A large part of obesity epidemic around here is all of the empty calorie drinks.
Matcha does taste like grass, I agree, and I still like it. I guess if I ate grass I probably wouldn’t hate it, at least from a taste perspective
Monster energy drinks. Tastes like what I imagine dumpster juice is like.
And any drink with Stevia in it. Instant dealbreaker if I see it in the ingredients.
Agree on the stevia. It’s sweet but not like sugar. And leaves a weird aftertaste
The smell too. Idk what it is about the smell of Monster when it gets warm, but it’s god awful.
Probably ethyl butyrate I think it’s in Monster too, but there’s a lot of weird crap in energy drinks to make it taste/smell medicinal. The recent Lab Coatz vid reverse engineering Red Bull has a whole laundry list of bizarre chemicals.
I’d say that, even aside from anything specific to Monster, most carbonated beverages are optimized for drinking cold and aren’t great when warm.
Fair enough. Tho there’s something about the smell that just permeates a car after you open Monster if you don’t immediately toss it when empty. Not that I’m even a fan of the flavor anymore. Liked it when I was in high school, but can’t stand it as an adult.
Original Monster tastes like battery acid and I don’t know why I love it (especially khaotic)
I’ve tried a lot, and never really liked any of them, but I thought Monster was the best tasting of the energy drinks. Red Bull was by far the WORST energy drink I’ve ever had.
Interesting about the stevia! May I ask what it tastes like to you? A couple of years I bought a liquid stevia sweetener on a whim (the “regular” one might have been sold out), and was surprised that it tasted… Idk. Sweet, but way warmer than regular sweetener. Hard to describe. Used up the bottle, then bought my regular sweetener again and somehow, it tasted awfully bitter to me now. Somehow, I can’t go back now and really like stevia.
Its hard to describe but I’d say it’s not the immediate taste so much as it is the aftertaste (both are bad but the latter is worse). It’s just a lingering, unpleasant fake sweetness that sticks around for way too long.
Interesting. I can’t relate, but I guess just goes to show his subjective the question is.
Our local coffee shop only has sugar in the raw, and stevia. Blech.
there isnt much options for sweetners, its either sugar, stevia, somehow they might have ethyrthiol, but that can causes loose bowel movements, so itas uncommon
I know it’s not for everyone, but I personally prefer Splenda or sucralose.
I’m just gonna go ahead and be the guy that says… all alcohols.
I’ve tried beer, wine, tequila, vodka, hard liquors, spirits, fruity drinks, creamy drinks, coffee flavored rum, hard seltzer, hard cider, champagne, you name it. They don’t all taste horrible-- coffee (even though I don’t usually drink it) and fruit flavored drinks can be acceptable-- but I haven’t ever tried a single drink that tastes good because it has alcohol, it’s always because the alcohol is overpowered by something else. Just give me the something else please.
Some people notice the taste of alcohol a lot more, and when you’re younger it’s also the case of it being more distinct. I’ll say as someone who does like to drink their alcohol, if you don’t like it, please don’t force yourself into it. If anything you may be able to serve as the DD for friends who like to have a few drinks while out.
Your perspective is appreciated. Luckily (with some minor exceptions) my social circle is supportive of my choice not to drink and enjoys my chauffeur services.
Be sure to mention you’re the DD, some restaurants and bars may not charge you for your drink. And I’ll be honest, a good Shirley Temple is refreshing of a non-alcoholic cocktail.
Thanks for the tip!
And yeah shirleys are great
For me, it’s the smell. I always get a whiff of an underlying, rotten garbage smell underneath anything alchoholic.
I’ve had maybe a dozen drinks since my first one 7 years ago, and most of those were bagged fruity frozen drinks that, yeah, helped hide the alcohol flavor. Would have been better as just nonalcoholic frozen fruity drinks. Mocktails can be good but imo most of the ones I’ve had were overpriced for juice and soda water.
Outside of those, I had some sips of an IPA and a pilsner on a food tour, tried a couple cocktails my folks made after they got back from a cruise (which was weird because I never saw them drink before), tried whatever drink has a salt rim at a restaurant (it was terrible). Haven’t had anything this year. Never been buzzed.
I’ve never seen an opinion be so terribly wrong before.
You must be new here.
I’m gonna drink my ice water and I’m gonna like it
Beer.
For me it’s anything diet or zero branded. Fucking aspertane. That bitter aftertaste just feels like someone raped the sugar out of the beverage.
Beer.
Sincerely, a German.
I see like 50 mentions and alcohol and energy drinks. I got something different.
Kombucha.
Holy shit, it’s like a soda that went off, and I don’t even like soda. It is pungent and awful and I hate that it’s marketed so well. Any time I see it on a shelf I’m like “Ooh, what’s this fancy looking juice? That’s a nice looking bottle. Oh, it’s Kombucha, I would rather drink a cup of foamy dog vomit”
I tried Red Bull once and it tasted like shit medicine juice. Never tried it again.
Every energy drink ever invented.
Red Bull tastes like ass. I never understood how it became the most popular energy drink.
- Alcohol generally, beer more specifically.
I dont particularly like the taste of alcohol, and beer is just way to bitter for me generally. Ive had some wine that was decent, and occasionally ill have a cider, but I generally just don’t understand why people drink alcohol.
- Energy Drinks.
I don’t get why people like them, they taste awful. Red bull in particular makes me wanna throw up. Its so carbonated and so bitter they add so much sugar, and then you just get this sweet-bitter taste that is just awful.
- Alcohol generally, beer more specifically.
I dont particularly like the taste of alcohol, and beer is just way to bitter for me generally. Ive had some wine that was decent, and occasionally ill have a cider, but I generally just don’t understand why people drink alcohol.
I really enjoy the taste of alcohol, especially strong drinks like rum. I drink it neat and it’s amazing.
The bitterness of beer is also pleasant for me.We have a saying (wouldn’t be surprised if it exists in English as well) — taste has no friends. It’s all subjective.
what language is that saying from?
closest I can think of in USAmerican English would be “the customer is always right in matters of taste” (though it’s commonly shortened to just “the customer is always right” and the context and similarity to your quote are both lost)
personally, a saying I use a lot that’s in a similar vein is “to each their own”
Lithuanian.
The customer one we definitely took from English speaking world and even then it isn’t much of a thing.
The equivalent phrase in English is “there’s no accounting for taste”
Yes, and also “to each his own”
I think people don’t actually like energy drinks, they are just caffeine dependent.
I absolutely love the taste of energy drinks. The more artificial and tangy, the better. It’s hard to find, but there’s a soda that tastes like an energy drink without the caffeine and I buy it whenever I can.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. For some reason I like that generic energy drink flavoured energy drink.
You sick son of a bitch.
which drink is that?
It’s called “Illicit Cola”, I have no idea how regional it is
I’ve been saying for years I wish they made decaf energy drinks because I want to drink more of them than is medically advisable, thank you :D
Exactly! I wish there was a bigger market for it. But they make energy drinks that taste like juice instead :/
Sometimes I just want some chemicals.
I’ve never liked beer, most other alcohols I could drink very little. Recently I’ve found some really good ciders, they don’t have any of that bitterness that beer has. So far an unfiltered cider is the best.
Malort.
