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Comment by dreen | Hacker News Reader

From my biased personal observation, I think the British have a higher affinity for bitter tastes due to their own heightened levels of bitterness. Maybe it's the weather. Incidentally, I believe British comedy being so good is also related to that.

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> I think the British have a higher affinity for bitter tastes due to their own heightened levels of bitterness. Maybe it's the weather.

As a Brit, I resent that! And plenty else besides. And that's despite the brief window of nice weather we're now having.

Which, incidentally, is too hot, and is making many of us terribly bothered. Some of us even border on the flummoxed.

Still more incidentally, I personally don't have strong feelings on marmalade, but I have very strong feelings on the proper way to prepare a scone. This is an issue that divides my nation. I refer the reader to an article which is about as British as the mind can comfortably conceive:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/quee...

And that's despite the brief window of nice weather we're now having.

It's lovely up here in Sunderland in the North East.

And by lovely, I mean it has stopped raining. It's nice and grey now.

Fine work. Here in London, we've apparently done something to deserve sun.

We'll be having words about that.

A strongly worded letter to management should resolve that promptly.

I’ve always been amused that people complain about the weather all year long and then when they finally get their week and a half of summer they complain that it’s too hot :)

I love being downvoted for this. I also love British culture, cuisine, and people. Love all of you. I'm so glad I moved here.

Perhaps you also picked up the British habit of insulting people or groups you're fond of, which is quite shocking at first to Americans? If that's what you meant, I didn't pick it up in your original post, even though I've lived in the UK for over a decade now.

I don't know about that but its always great hearing about US-UK attitudes, especially since they almost always tend to "accuse" each other of the same things.

I feel as that I should be offended, but then I realise the statement might have a sliver of truth in it.

Is British ale/beer bitterer than elsewhere? I've heard it is, but can't confirm as I've never tried it. This might be a piece of evidence in your favour if so.

Prior to the craft beer "revolution" (think 2000s and earlier) it would've been. I don't think anywhere outside of UK and Ireland did this style of hoppier, bitter and often (though not always) darker coloured beer.

It's worth remembering though that from the '80s[0] onward Lagers would've dominated beer sales in the UK. So while we could buy more bitter beer than available elsewhere, we often didn't.

[0] - I've no source from this, it may have started earlier but at a certain point in the mid-late 20th century we shifted to lager. Often very poor quality ones like Carling, Foster's or Tennents that would not compare favourably to those available in Germany, Belgium or Czech Republic.

Belgium? It has an abundance of excellent ales, but it isn't noted for its lagers. They're mass (Maes?) produced. The same goes for the UK. I suspect it's mostly down to marketing by big brewers.

Ah I wasn't trying to say these are all primarily lager-producing countries, but I worded the sentence stupidly. Main thing is even the mass-produced and popular beers in these places are far better than ours. While taste is subjective, I don't think anyone would argue for Carling over, for example, Pilsner Urquell.

I don't think so. Craft beers have been pursuing hoppiness and hence bitterness for years and have totally swamped the other flavours for me. A decent bitter should be warm and comforting, not in your face like some of the craft beers go for.

I'm American, but I developed my taste for beer in the UK. It's so frustrating to be back in the States and want something akin to "a bitter" in the UK, and not being able to express it, because when you say "a bitter" the staff hear "the bitterest thing you have".

Classic British "Bitters" are hardly bitter by today's standards. But they are lovely when served out of the cask in a nice pub. One of my favorite things about going to the UK is drinking the old time, local ale's from a hand-pumped cask.

As a former expat kind of. Most of my Spanish friends would find some of the snacks I had with my bitter to be disgusting along with some of the food I used to have at Lunch.

Easy to find stories on the origins of India Pale Ale and how it survived by ship through the tropics...

Too much gin and tonic.

British cuisine doesn't really use bitterness much. Although Britain brought back curry from India they didn't pick up a taste for bitter cuisine such as gourds.

gin and tonic is pretty much India's national drink. Considering it was basically invented by the British to ..you know.. not die in India.

P.S. and so is hydroxychloroquine ;)

> P.S. and so is hydroxychloroquine ;)

Not any more! (The strains found in India are largely resistant these days, and other drugs are more appropriate.)

Potentially there might also a genetic component? This is highly speculative on my part.

I sincerely doubt it, as there are celebrated British comedians of various ethnicities, for instance Romesh Ranganathan.

Oh I'm sorry, I meant to say "a genetic component to the perception of bitter flavors", much in the same way as with the taste of cilantro.

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