I don't drink, and don't much like the taste of alcohol in other things; I tend to avoid it.
When I drank, I didn't much like the taste of alcohol; my goal was partly to numb myself, and partly to fit in socially.
There are some liquors that kind of taste OK despite the alcohol in them, and I suspect I would really enjoy a non-alcoholic beverage in the same family concocted with the same attention to detail, but by and large my culture doesn't devote that much attention to non-alcoholic beverages.
Ditto for food, though a lot there depends on the preparation; sometimes I don't taste the alcohol in food. That said, I know many people who swear by the indispensible flavor whatevers in beer, wine, etc. for cooking, and I've never been able to distinguish them from the flavors of (e.g.) good fruit juices.
Thanks for your post! Really good to get the feedback.
Do you have a different attitude to fitting in socially now?
following on from this thread:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/m14/id_like_advice_from_lw_regarding_migraines/c9kr?context=3
User Algon asked:
I don't drink alcohol, but is it really all that? I just assumed that most people have alcoholic beverages for the 'buzz'/intoxication.
I related my experience:
I have come to the conclusion that I taste things differently to a large subset of the population. I have a very sweet tooth and am very sensitive to bitter flavours.
I don't eat olives, most alcohol only tastes like the alcoholic aftertaste (which apparently some people don't taste) - imagine the strongest burning taste of the purest alcohol you have tasted, some people never taste that, I taste it with nearly every alcoholic beverage. Beer is usually awfully bitter too.
The only wine I could ever bother to drink is desert wine (its very sweet) and only slowly. (or also a half shot of rum and maple syrup)
Having said all this - yes; some people love their alcoholic beverages for their flavours.
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I am wondering what the sensory experience of other LW users is of alcohol. Do you drink (if not why not?)? Do you have specific preferences? Do you have a particular pallet for foods (probably relevant)?
I hypothesise a lower proportion of drinkers than the rest of the population. (subject of course to cultural norms where you come from)
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Edit: I will make another post in a week about taste preferences because (as we probably already know) human tastes vary. I did want to mention that I avoid spicy things except for sweet chilli which is not spicy at all. And I don't drink coffee (because it tastes bad and I am always very awake and never need caffeine to wake me up). I am also quite sure I am a super-taster but wanted to not use that word for concern that the jargon might confuse people who don't yet know about it.
Thanks for all the responses! This has been really interesting and exactly what I expected (number of posts)!
In regards to experiences, I would mention that heavy drinking is linked with nearly every health problem you could think of and I am surprised we had a selection of several heavy drinkers (to those who are heavy drinkers I would suggest reading about the health implications and reconsidering the lifestyle, it sounds like most of you are not addicted). about the heavy drinkers - I suspect that is not representative of average, but rather the people who feel they are outliers decided to mention their cases (of people who did not reply; there are probably none or very few heavy drinkers, whereas there are probably some who did not reply and are light drinkers or did not reply and don't drink).
I hope to reply to a bunch of the comments and should get to it in the next few days.
Thank you again! Maybe this should be included on the next survey...
Edit 2: follow up post -http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/m3j/tally_of_lesswrong_experience_on_alcohol/