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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.
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.
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!
I don't even want the buzz, so if I'm going to drink socially it's all about taste.