Could you go into a bit more detail on this? The very idea of forcing myself to "acquire the taste" for alcohol seems distasteful in itself. I've got additional reasons for choosing not to do so, but I'd be interested to hear another point of view and why you'd want to make a fairly drastic change.
The logic of any acquired taste is simple:
It takes a finite amount of effort to acquire the taste.
In return, you get satisfaction for the acquired taste that is only bound by the length of your life. The sooner you acquire the taste, the longer you get to amortize the value.
I've taught myself to enjoy damn near every food and drink out there and I am immensely glad that I have—I now inhabit a world filled with delights.
Well yeah, when you have drugs to "teach" your brain how to enjoy something (i.e. "this flavor = feel goods"), it's not that hard. I always figure that having to aqcuire the taste of something via drugs is a warning sign that said thing is probably not good for your body. Take tobacco connoisseurs for example.
I don't doubt that they can taste and enjoy lots of "woody" and "grassy" flavors in their smoke, but to someone like me without the acquired taste, it smells foul and acrid, and my brain is warning me to stay away.
Even with coffee and tea, the acquisition works just as well if you drink decaf. (I only have one cup of caffeinated beverage a day, but I still occasionally enjoy a cup of decaf in the afternoons.)
>An acquired taste often refers to an appreciation for a food or beverage that is unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it, usually because of some unfamiliar aspect of the food or beverage, including a strong or strange odor (e.g. stinky tofu, Gefilte fish, durian, hákarl, black salt, nattō, stinking toe, asafoetida, surströmming, or certain types of cheese), taste (such as alcoholic beverages, vegemite/marmite, bitter teas, salty liquorice, malt bread, unsweetened chocolate or garnatálg), or appearance.
A lot of people do like the effect of the alcohol, but it's a side-effect, not the main purpose of drinking wine. Personally, it seems to have no effect on me, but I also don't drink very much at a time.
Forcing yourself to "acquire the taste" for wine is no different than forcing yourself to "acquire the taste" for expensive, fine cheeses, or doing the same for fine cuts of meat instead of eating a McDonald's burger.
I really wish that synthehol (of Star Trek fame) were a thing. I was at a champagne tasting of 60+ wines from the best producers (Krug and Roederer come to mind), and made it through 25 or so, spitting each one, and was still terribly buzzed.
If there were a way to enjoy the taste without the effects I would be all for it.
I've never actually had that feeling, and always wondered what this "buzz" effect is. I've been to wine tastings, drank multiple glasses at once, etc., and never felt a thing.