I voted Yuck, but it’s not licorice’s fault.
As a preschooler, I ate half a pound of black Twizzlers and then threw up. Turned out, I’d just come down with stomach flu, but didn’t realize that until after I convinced myself that I was allergic.
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Note to self: Don’t use Baal* as a character reference.
* Or any members of the Baal Movement…
Do you rate the membership on the Bristol scale?
Any good chocolate is good. No specially affinity for dark. Coffee is usually taken black. Greatly prefer slightly sweet cakes and pastries to traditional American cakes w diabetes frosting.
Me, too. But i think there’s a bias on message boards for people who like a thing to be more likely to click than people who dislike the thing. You might get different stars from the “polls only” thread.
What doesn’t surprise me is that not than 90% either love or hate it. It’s a strong and unusual flavor. Years ago, i got a local newspaper that had a “people poll” where they asked 6 random people on the mall some dumb question. (The real thing that the Onion version is based on.) Around Easter I’ve year, they asked people to name their favorite and least favorite jelly bean flavor. Every person mentioned black licorice. 
I’m definitely in the ‘love it to like it a lot’ camp. At Easter when the kids were young I’d get all the black licorice jellybeans. The kids hated them and they were the only jellybean flavor I thought was worth eating.
When I was a kid my mom and Grandma liked a British candy called licorice allsorts. They were an odd combo of licorice and coconut. I really got to like them, too. Maybe I’ll order some…
I like dark chocolate, I almost only drink coffee black (I’ll sometimes splash some milk or cream in it in the morning—never sugar), and I don’t have a tendency to overindulge in sweets. I can take or leave them (usually leave.)
I’d wager you are correct.
I like the anise flavor in cooking, like star anise or especially fennel, but not a fan of the candy.
Some of my coworkers would bring some back from their travels. It wouldn’t last long as about ⅓ of the office couldn’t stop eating it.
Growing up, I always got the black jelly beans - neither of my parents like licorice.
And just to mess with assumptions, I do like dark chocolate and strong coffee. But I have a sweet tooth that will not quit.
Black Twizzlers and Nibs were one of the few candies my dad liked. So I assume it was likely learned behavior - if that was candy around the house, you learned to like it.
I try to limit my candy intake. Basically don’t let it into the house, because if we have it, my wife and I eat too much of it until it is gone. So it is simple to not buy licorice. But she has on occasion brought home some soft licorice - I think from Australia - which is quite good.
IIRC (and I may be mixing you up with another poster in my middle age), you’re in Switzerland or Germany or somewhere there abouts? Salty licorice is particularly contrary to American tastes. Like herbal liqueurs, for instance. Much less enjoyed here, I’ve found, than Germany and Central Europe, at least, in my experience.
If you are in the US, then I’m quite surprised that even a third enjoys it.
I like Good N Plenty and the licorice NECCO wafers. I don’t think I have ever tried any of the hard core stuff.
Seems to be a correlation with me. I dislike anise, dark chocolate and like a little coffee in my cream and sugar. Generally not that much a fan of sweetness, even less after covid zapped my taste buds.
I think I am a bit of an outlier here at least with dark chocolate.
I love dark chocolate, must have creamer in coffee and hate licorice.
I despise licorice…but I love dark chocolate and drink my coffee with just a tiny splash of cream and no sugar. I can take or leave a lot of sweet stuff.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but I do like a good licorice. Around here, we can get soft Australian licorice. My partner occasionally obtains Dutch licorice, even the kind that’s salty (definitely an acquired taste). And we both like Ouzo over ice and cut with 1:1 water (she says that’s how the Greek folks drink it).
Exactly ditto (+ anise-oriented liqueurs). I have no explanation.
I brought some neck from a trip to Finland, and took a tin to my office. Not only did no one like it, they threatened each other to make them eat it, and teased me about the horrible stuff i had impressed on them.
I don’t love salty licorice, but i enjoy a little bit here and there.
It’s not the same flavor as Malort, although that may include some ammonium chloride. I’ve had Malort cake, and it was indescribably awful.
I interpret “real licorice” as the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra. In herb shops you can buy sticks of it to chew. They’re really sweet and they’ll do a number on your potassium balance/blood pressure.
Real licorice candy is made with the real root. The anise flavoring is another thing. The root doesn’t taste like anise. But yes, I like anise and fennel. I like fennel better.
The flavors are very similar. I’ve had licorice root, and I’ve had star anise and fresh fennel. Licorice root is a little more complex, but as similar to the others as real vanilla is to vanillin, and more similar than real wintergreen to artificial wintergreen. (Hot take, artificial wintergreen is better. The leaves of the real plant are very bitter.)