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Comment by b212 | Hacker News Reader

Exactly.

What's worth adding here is I generally have huge logical problem with the whole "acquired taste" thing, I mean if something tastes like crap (I'm referring to coffee, alcohol, marmite etc.) why would ANYONE want to acquire the taste? What's the point of it? When I don't like something I just simply try it once, maybe twice and then I'm like "no, thank you, it's gross".

I used to think I'm beginning to like coffee because I really liked coffee cakes or Kopikos (not sure if you have them in the US), but once you realise these things are 60-80% SUGAR (!) then it's not the coffee you like in it at all, you most likely just carve sugar.

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I don't drink coffee, so this is not a defense of coffee, just a reply to your comments about "acquired taste".

Your taste buds and your palate gets used to certain food, so the food you think is delicious is largely impacted by your acquired taste.

You're really missing out a lot with food given your attitude to acquired taste. You don't get to not have acquired taste, everyone has it, it's just a function of the food you keep eating, usually to do with where you're from.

There's a definite plus in acquiring certain tastes, because it'll open up whole new worlds of food & drink for you that you can't believe you previously did without. Examples include: Spicy food, fermented food, dried beef/fish/whatever, heavily fried foods, sweet, savory, stinky cheeses etc. etc.

Some things you really can't just try once. One good example is spicy food (containing capsaicin). Where I grew up there was none of that at all, but as an adult I made a concerted effort to try to wean myself on it because there had to be something to it if so many people were eating it. Today spiciness is one of my favorite food attributes.

Some of us do drink black coffee with no side treats.

I would also say that it is easy to mistake strong flavors for 'tastes like crap'. A good cup of coffee is a 100% pleasant experience, there's no putting up with it tasting like crap or anything like that.

On the "acquired taste" thing. I think there are a couple of aspects to it.

First I think there is a great deal of social pressure to like the local cuisine in addition to whatever family makes. I can't remember where, but I read something linking social pressure and children eating spicy foods (given the pain it can cause folks).

The other bit of this is that taste buds change as folks get older. It is completely possible that the nuances that turned you off some times ago refuse to show up.

With psychoactive stuff (coffee, alcohol) there’s a pretty obvious reason to acquire the taste, if you want the effects.

Beyond that, I find it interesting to put in some effort to understand why people enjoy things that I don’t. Sometimes you end up liking them after all, sometimes not, but I’m not going to categorically dismiss something just because I had a couple of bad experiences with it.

Wrt acquired taste: I used to hate the taste of cilantro, but kind of came across it alot because of Vietnamese friends. After some time I slowly began getting used to it and now I actually love the taste. It's so refreshing and really spices up many dishes making them much more interesting. Point being I think just because you don't like something initially it isn't inherently bad and you could be missing out. :-D

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