I don’t get beer
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
If they taste good because they taste like something else, why not just drink that something else? /hj
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.
I don’t get beer
neither do I … gotta buy it to have it
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. 😄
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.
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.
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.
The smell too. Idk what it is about the smell of Monster when it gets warm, but it’s god awful.
Agree on the stevia. It’s sweet but not like sugar. And leaves a weird aftertaste
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.
Our local coffee shop only has sugar in the raw, and stevia. Blech.
Coffee
I get it, it’s an acquired taste. But I sure don’t like it.
This, coffee tastes like arse
Just skimmed through the thread. You know what beverage I don’t see in here? Ginger Ale, because it is objectively amazing.
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.
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
there will be lots of personal opinions here … mine is that champagne is -not awful but still- overrated.
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”
Kombucha was what she was reacting to.
I worked at a natural grocery store in college. I was totally with OP at first, but many a free sample got me into it. If you drink enough of it, you start to enjoy it, much like beer or wine, it’s an acquired taste. There was a time where I was drinking 1/day. Now since I’m not around it all the time, I’ll get it once every few months, but I still enjoy it very much.
If you like yogurt it’s not that different. Both are ‘off’ and it’s just the cultural context that you grow up in that teaches which one is acceptable.
Seems like you only had bad or strong kombucha?
Foamy dog vomit is a band name I would claim.
That will be IPAs for me. If I wanted to drink grapefruit pith I can think of better ways to do it.
I’ve always found IPAs more like chewing pine needles, but agreed. IPAs are fucking disgusting.
I used to hate IPAs, but then I accidentally picked up a Red Rock IPA that snuck into a sixer of lagers and that specific beer unlocked in me whatever makes people love IPA, now it’s the only kind of beer I want to drink.
The thing about IPAs is there are many, many different styles, it’s a very broad description. Some do taste very citrussy, others don’t at all.
Red IPAs for example are more malt based flavor, WC IPAs are usually milder. It depends on the hops used and the individual recipe. It’s hard to find two that taste alike.
Not criticizing your taste, and if you don’t like them you don’t like them, just that they aren’t all citrus hop bombs.
On the one hand, you’re right I could probably try some more since there are lots of styles, but I have had several.
On the other hand, this is the same thing people tell me about anime, and I find it to all be bad-ime.
Well then maybe bars should start distinguishing them better, so we’re not just seeing 80% IPAs everywhere and wondering yet again why the entire world has lost their damn minds.
I agree. When they first became popular they were fine, but after the how much hops can we pack in arms race started they became kind of nasty…
Oh God, and why is it always like 3/4 of the options, everywhere? It’s objectively terrible.
Because it’s easy to make compared to other styles. Better profit margins and a good way for a new brewery to get their foot in the door. It’s also the first “craft beer” most people try so there’s a culture/image factor.
I tried Red Bull once and it tasted like shit medicine juice. Never tried it again.
I’ve heard that it tastes better for people with a lot of tooth plaque, as it masks the taste of plaque
Beer.
I’ve been drinking beer for nearly 20 years, and I agree. The only time it tastes good is when I’m craving alcohol. I would never drink it casually for the taste. And given that I’m a Millennial, I’ve tried pretty much every variety of beer in existence. They’re all bad.
Try a radler on a hot day. It is a light beer like a pilsner mixed 50:50 with lemonade, either fizzy or flat lemonade. It is also called a shandy in the UK
It is very thirst quenching without being too sweet from the lemonade.
Thanks for trying but I’ve had shandys (shandies?) before and they’re among my least favorite beer varieties.
I am of the opinion that alcohol and sugar should never mix. I swear it makes the hangover worse. FWIW I don’t drink for the taste (because all alcohol tastes bad), I drink to get drunk.
FFS hops are a preservative that make beer taste terrible. Why would anyone want an extra hoppy beer.
Pagan.
Most regular energy drinks. Red Bull and regular Monster taste like battery acid to me. Remember NOS? That too. Also Rockstar. All battery acid.
The flavored variants can be better though.
Oh the white peach is genuinely habit forming. One day I opened the fridge to find out hubs had picked me up one on the way home and genuinely felt myself salivate.
Oh dang. I already shared a comment above about how much I can’t stand Red Bull, but we have a slushie machine at work and last summer one of the guys filled it up with white peach red Bull, and HO-LY SHIT. I couldn’t stop drinking those things!
bawls are the only good energy drink
Are those considered delicious by anyone?
Sour beers / goses. I keep coming back every couple of years to see if my tastes have changed and they always taste awful to me. I’m glad most brewers hopped (pun somewhat intended) on the IPA train because I much prefer them over the sour options.
Must be one of those cilantro situations, I’m the complete opposite. Give me sours all day and take away all the IPAs, blech
Fine by me, you take all the sours and I’ll take the IPAs. Cheers.
Excellent!
I don’t think I could drink a ton of sours all the time, but the super hoppy IPA trend was the worst thing to ever happen to craft beer. Give me a nice rich stout instead. Even in the middle of the summer!
I could and have drinken Guinness all day
Ah Guinness, the Coors Light of stouts. I’d love to introduce you to a Russian Imperial, or a Breakfast Stout!
You might be onto something, when sours and goses got kinda popular in the late 2010s everyone I knew that hated IPAs was all about them, I love IPAs and every sour I’ve ever had tasted like sweaty socks. Heard similar from other fans of pale ale
Christ, just give a stout or porter, please.
Beer.
Sincerely, a German.
These are inside thoughts.
Keiner von uns.
Ok
Beer
In my opinion, it really depends on the beer. I’m not a fan of Pilsners, and IPAs. But I really love aged lambics without any added fruit juice (I think it’s called oude gueze?), and sour red Flemish ales. I’m also a fan of really heavy stouts.
I tried a number of beers over the years I drank, I never liked a single one of them. Sure I never tried every kind of beer.
On the other hand, I liked pizza from the first bite. Sure there are toppings I dislike on pizza, but the vast majority of pizza, I like. There was no finding the perfect pizza.
Beer is bad.
The first beer I had was a very, very good homebrew. Going from that to a commercial IPA was very disappointing.
Champagne. It tastes of bitter, sour and fizz and because of its stupidly intense carbonation, drinking it needs to be done in tiny little wincing sips, lest it bubble up through your sinuses and come out of your nose.
I swear people only pretend to like champage because they believe it’s the drink for ‘classy’ celebrations, so disliking champagne is, in their mind, a ‘low class’ and ungrateful thing to do.
There’s a lot of bad champagnes because the name only represents it origin and a certain production process but it’s not an indication of quality.
Apart from that there are teriibly sweet champagnes too but mostly people serve brut/dry versions that tend to be on the sour side. I’ve had champagne that just tasted like grapejuice.
I hesitate to even recommend it because I don’t want it widely known but better than any champagne I’ve had is:
Raventos Blanc Blanc de Blancs Xarel-lo
It’s what champagne should be IMO. The gentle fizz, the flavor is perfect, it’s gentle and delicious.
I’ll echo something others have said in reaction to other drinks, but it sounds like you’ve not had good champagne then.
What does ‘good champagne’ taste like to you?
let me introduce you to Prosecco or Lambrusco.
It’s only bitter if you get a dry type. Get a sweet champagne.
Eh, I’ve tried both. The bitterness I’m talking about comes through on the back of your tongue after you swallow a sip, just like with the dry stuff. I think it’s the carbonation that causes it? Sweet champagne just masks the taste a bit at first, but after a few sips it’s just as strong.
