LOVE it. Black.
But I agree it’s an acquired taste. I used to not like red wine, IPA, dark chocolate, and a bunch of other stuff.
Now I love 'em all.
Love coffee, hate stealth coffee. There’s no substitute for a cup of coffee (hot, sweet and milky), but I dislike it in cakes, candies and desserts. Go figure.
Oh - and even though I adore coffee, I consider myself more of a tea drinker.
A teacher I had in high school said that coffee with sugar is a monstrosity. Coffee is bitter by nature. If you add sugar you neutralize it and make it tame. I’ve since followed his way and only drink coffee and tea natural, unless I feel fancy and order a cappuccino or a tiramisu.
Dark chocolate though, is a culinarity in its own. I wouldn’t want to live in a country where dark chocolate isn’t appreciated.
No, sweet does not have a smell. As wikipedia says about cotton candy. . .
Not that you need wikipedia to tell you that. Smell sugar. Then smell cotton candy. If cotton candy were just “spun sugar” it wouldn’t have a smell. Clearly, there’s something else going on: they’re HEATING IT.
Caramel has a smell, but caramel is caramelized sugar. It’s the heating and caramelization of sugar that has a smell.
Coffee is a challenging drink. Yes, when you first try it, it’s just harsh and bitter (I don’t think there’s “sour” in coffee, though). But, like wine, whisky, and beer once you’re able to “taste through” that strong initial impression, it unlocks its charms. I know people say, “but why would I try it again?”
The only answer I can give is: because a billion people can’t be wrong.
A partial list of things I love now that didn’t like the first few times I tried them:
coffee
beer
wine
garlic
onions
fish
tomatoes
asparagus
mangos
The smell of coffee brings back memories of my youth and home and mom’s breakfasts - especially around the holidays. So I like the smell. But I never learned to like the taste. So yes, I hate coffee
When I was in college, I decided that I had to be like everyone else and pull all-nighters, so I had to learn how to like coffee. I put lots of cream and sugar in it and joined the coffee drinking crowd, eventually deciding that it wasn’t so bad after all, as long as it was sweet, diluted, and hot.
Years passed and I got married and got pregnant, and had to go through the agony of caffiene withdrawal in order to have a “healthy pregancy”. Afterwards, I started drinking it again, and I realized just what a hassle that stupid habit was. I had enjoyed nine months of not having to set up the coffee maker, mess with the sugar bowl, and worry about keeping it warm, and I realized that I really didn’t like the taste all that much. It just wasn’t worth it. I got pregnant again just a few months later, and when I quit then, I quit for good. I really haven’t missed it at all.
The thing that bothers me is when they’re handing out the coffee at a restaurant or what-have-you they look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them none for me. It’s like I’ve broken some rule or something.
Don’t like it. I grew up in a family that mostly doesn’t drink it.
I remember when I was a kid someone razzing my uncle because he didn’t drink coffee. He said, “Coffee’s okay, except for the taste”, which perfectly sums up my feelings about it.
The idea of a versatile bevearge that can be enjoyed hot or cold, personalized with additional flavors, and that can be the center of a social ritual appeals to me. How coffee got elected to that position escapes my understanding.
Not long after 9/11/2001 I was travelling with S/O and my son. S/O was juggling said son, a car seat, and a bag. In return for that generosity all I had to do was carry a bag or two and S/O’s large black coffee (no sugar). S/O and junior were safely through security when the agent told me I could not carry the coffee through with me unless I took a drink of it in front of him. From my reaction I’m amazed they didn’t think I had just taken a swig of battery acid. Bleah!! I can, infact vividly recall the taste all theseyears later.
I like coffee drinks with generous additions of sweeteners, creamers, and other flavourings, such as chocolate.
I like coffee-flavoured ice cream, candies, and other desserts.
I don’t like black coffee. Every time I’ve tried to drink black coffee, it has tasted like a cup full of ashes dissolved in water.
I have no problem with any of this. It seems perfectly normal that something that is distasteful on its own can be pleasant when mixed with other flavours. That’s what the history of cooking and food preparation is all about – optimizing the pleasurable aspects of available comestibles.
After all, I wouldn’t be inclined to crunch down on a bulb of garlic or a whole onion, or a handful of red pepper flakes, but all those things can be used to enhance food. Gulping down a cupful of salt would probably kill me, but still salt is a perfectly good ingredient in improving the flavour of food.
What does bug me are those people who go on and on about how coffee is meant to be taken black and if you like it any other way, you might as well leave out the coffee.
Oh, and I also like chocolate-covered coffee beans. Not that I have them very often, but still. Yum.
I think coffee is a lot like smoking.
I took my first swig of it as a kid and absolutely hated it. It was similar to my first, and last, puff on a cigarette. I decided on the spot that the crap wasn’t for me. I suspect most people don’t actually like coffee at first, but once the caffeine gets to work on you it creates a strong craving and the stuff starts to taste better.
So here I am without a caffeine addiction and I spend $0 per year on coffee. The only downside is the looks of disbelief when I tell people I don’t drink coffee. People act there’s something wrong with me when they hear that.
Don’t like the stuff. Although I have been known to quaff and occasional Kahlua and cream, but that doesn’t count. I’ve never ventured into a Starbucks and I don’t think I’m missing a thing.
Another coffee smell lover here who can’t stand the taste of the stuff. On the rare occasion I feel the urge for a hot drink, I go with an Earl Gray or English Breakfast.
I dislike the taste of coffee.
I dislike the aroma of coffee.
I dislike coffee ice cream, tiramisu, and other coffee-added foods.
I dislike some dark beers because they have a definate coffee-like taste.
There are bitter foods I enjoy, but not coffee.
There are many foods I previously expressed dislike fore that I have learned to enjoy: mushrooms; tomatoes; asparagus; liver sausage, to name but a few. I do not think I’ll have the same experience of coffee.
But I don’t hate coffee. Hate is for people I feel are actively malevolent. Coffee isn’t actively anything, it’s just a liquid.
But no thanks, I don’t like coffee.
A couple of my fellow people have mentioned that coffee is an acquired taste, but I don’t know - I’m surprised at all the people here who don’t like the smell of coffee or don’t like it in desserts. Coffee itself was an acquired taste for me, but I’ve always loved the taste of coffee ice cream and tiramisù. I’m thinking you guys must just have an extra chromosome or something. Seriously, you people can’t even stand coffee ice cream with chocolate in it? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I mean . . . 
I’m just surprised at how many people don’t like coffee in sweets. I never realized - me, I’ve always thought it was sort of strange that there aren’t more coffee-flavored desserts.
Who’s fascinated by Starbucks coffee? I can’t recall ever meeting a single person who I would describe that way. I know a lot of people who don’t like their coffee, which is appropriate, since their coffee is bad. And other people who resent their omnipresence. But I can’t recall ever meeting anyone who was particularly a partisan of the Starbucks brand as opposed to any other café.
Um, yeah.
Normally I’d tell you to switch to decaf, but that doesn’t seem to be the problem here . . .
Seriously, you guys are weird. And coffee kicks vanilla’s wussy ass hands down. Now coffee and chocolate together, there’s a team!
I loathe coffee. I can’t stand the taste, can’t stand the smell, and really can’t stand coffee breath.
No, that would be beer.
Eww! That’s like making up your mind on whether you like pizza based on a moldy piece you found in a dumpster! Give it another shot, from somewhere reputable. Also keep in mind that black coffee vs coffee with cream and sugar are two completely different and almost totally unrelated drinks.
EXACTLY! Perfect analogy and I’m going to use it in the future. I typically put 6 splenda in my coffee, btw. Those of you who say you “want to like coffee” might want to try it like I do. My boyfriend doesn’t like coffee, but when he tasted my latte once, he liked it. Because he likes what I put in it. Now when he comes over I make lattes for both of us, at his request. One time he put four splenda in his and told me it didn’t taste very good. I asked how much splenda he put in it, and he said four. He thought that is how much I used. I said “aha! Put in six” so he added two more, tasted it, and said “hey! that’s good!” (My favorite bought coffee drinks are from Seattle’s Best, but I really prefer to make my own at home. I will rarely order coffee at a restaurant since it almost always sucks.)
Beer, I cannot drink. It’s just…nasty. Like licking out a toilet. I feel the same way about black coffee, by the way. Gross. And Starbucks coffee often tastes like something scraped off my stove burner.
I don’t have coffee that often. It goes in spurts. I’ll drink it a bunch for a while, then go a year without any. For me it’s strictly a flavor thing, since I am apparently naturally immune to caffeine.
Originally Posted by Kiros
Coffee can’t hold the jockstrap of chocolate or vanilla.
Chocolate is superior to coffee a lot of the time, but only barely. Vanilla is an ingredient. It is not a finished product. Plain vanilla ice cream is nearly inedible to me. It’s like eating frozen milk. And I hate milk.
It’s because they roast the beans too hot. Some claim they do it to disguise the taste of coffee beans that are lower quality than what consumers expect from other cafés.
I never thought I’d get to do this, but Hi, Opal!
Granted, that coffee at the doctor’s was likely there all day, and I did put a bunch of sugar and whatever they had for milk in it, but it was still gross. I think I’ve been getting by since then on tea pretty well. I don’t think I’d like to have coffee breath, or the aftertaste of coffee in my mouth, or any of that stuff… or be awake at 4 AM because I had too much coffee during the day.
Come to think of it, I don’t know anybody who says they love coffee. They just drink it.
Well I’ll say it. I love coffee. I wouldn’t drink it otherwise, it’s too much hassle and as I said before, the caffeine doesn’t do anything for me. (And before anyone suggests it, no, it isn’t a built-up tolerance thing). But I only love it when it’s doctored up the way I like it.