I want to like coffee, was it an acquired taste?

[Line_Bore]

My first cup was a life lesson. Dad took me fishing when I was 6. I grew up on the Farmington River (north branch), and he grew up during the Great Depression. First, build a fire on the river bank. Find an old #10 can and fill it with water. Throw in a handful of coffee and sit it on the coals next to the iron skillet. After pulling my first rainbow trout from the rapids, he showed me how to clean it, dust it with cornmeal, salt, and pepper produced from a piece of waxed cotton. A little salt pork and a few minutes later, sit on a log and chew your coffee and eat the freshest fish possible. Mother was not pleased when I started a regular coffee habit shortly after.

Incedently, I ended up marrying a true barrista, so now I can choose between red eye or world class espresso.

To actually address the OP, a muslin potpourri bag full of ground coffee beans will let you enjoy the aroma, even if you never develop a taste for the brew.

 

[Stevew443]

When I was very young (about age 4 or 5), my father would take a little coffee and mix it with milk and sugar and pour it over bread for me. It was about the only dessert we could afford back then. By the time I was 10 I was drinking it black and at the height of my coffee drinking I was going through 5 pots a day. Now, all that was said for this. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks with tubes running down my throat and on a total fast for most of that time. When I got out of the hospital I could not stand the taste of coffee in any way. I have since gotten back into coffee drinking, but I drink only one cup a day. It is an acquired taste. If you want to like coffee, keep trying it. You will soon come to love it.

 

[embalyst]

I'd say coffee is definitely an acquired taste, but I've only acquired a taste for really good coffee. I love a good bold roast Organic Sumatra from Charlotte Roasters brewed in a french press, but I'd rather skip coffee altogether if all I can get I'd Folgers or Maxwell House.

 

[Badgerstate36]

I found that it was an acquired taste. For me, its much like beers that are strong IPAs, porters and stouts. It takes a while to get used to the bitterness.

 

[Donnchadh_Sempill]

Unlike a lot of guys here, I started drinking coffee when I was five. My dad was mechanic at a strip mine. He'd take me to work with him on the weekend when no one else was around. I'd play with my Tonka end-loader and dump truck while he was working on the real thing right next to me.

I started right! Folgers (or whatever canned stuff mom got)...
made in a drip machine...poured from a thermos.

I do love a good cup of coffee, but live on drip coffee.

If you want to start, go to a store where you can grind the coffee beans right there. Only get a pound...and start with Columbian. Go to Wal-Mart...get yourself a tea kettle and a French press. It's quite a simple set-up...and fairly cheap.

Play around with the amount of coffee you use (some like it weaker...others stronger) adjust your brew time. If you haven't found a sweet spot by the time you finish the pound, give up and find another beverage.

Of course you could always just find a coffeehouse you like, and work your way through their offerings...

 

[fightingillini22]

... heheh... back in the '60's when my parents would take us on a trip through San Francisco I remember a large factory somewhere just off the Bay Bridge going into S.F. & South Bay... wow! big flavor bloom... and ya, they probably did use a bit too much robusta for many folks tastes... (zing! jitter jitter) what the hell did we know back then?!

I think you're referring to the old Hills Brothers factory. I've been seeing it every morning on the commute over to Oakland.

 

[Razorburn92]

I think like most said here, it's an acquired taste. I started drinking it at a rather young age...13 I think was when I started to drink it on a somewhat regular basis. It wasn't until I was 15 or so did I start drinking it every morning. I can drink black coffee, but have to have sugar, otherwise it's too bitter. I use 2 small scoops of sugar and 2 small scoops of powdered creamer. That's how I've been making it for years.

 

[1Vader]

Nope I didn't like it the first time I had it. I most specially disliked it when I decided to cut the cream and any sweetener out. Now I only want my coffee black, I don't like anything else added to it except maybe coconut oil for extra workout boost.

 

[Parjay]

The first time I had it the only thing I could taste was "burnt." Since that time I have grown to love coffee and only take it black. I can handle a touch of milk or cream, but I don't like adding sugar. The biggest difference for me was transitioning to fresh roasted coffee instead of the bulk pre-ground stuff.

 

[modyblu]

Strangely, I always liked the taste of coffee.
Now, with beer, It took many upon many bottles before I made myself like it!

 

[YKMV]

so, murrellington,
What's the latest on the coffee trials?