I would love to know what the beer/whisky/wine brought to your time with your friends, it it wasn't for getting drunk/buzzed? Honestly curious.
You seem to think that it's impossible to genuinely appreciate the flavour of alcoholic drinks and to have interest in drinking the many kinds for the variety of interesting flavours.
Why should I avoid certain drinks simply because they have alcohol in them? Can you explain?
Whisky in particular I can't get enough of (in the hyperbolic way, not the "I literally drink as much as I can" way!) - I forgot to include, when looking around the room, that I have ~15 30ml bottle samples of various whiskies that I haven't tried, which I regularly add to and try. After trying them I might add it to my mental list of real bottles to buy in the future... often won't.
edit: The only argument I would make against getting drunk, in my case, is that when doing it I'm obviously not taking the healthiest path. But I strongly suspect my food and nicotine habits are much bigger problems in the long-term.
You might be thinking that I'm being pedantic right now, but having a firm grasp on this concept is important if you wish to understand why people drink what they drink.
Consider how silly it would sound if we talked that way about baking soda.
If wine prices were determined by taste then the most expensive wines in the world would be Oregon pinos, Rioja tempranillos, albarinos, etc. But in fact most of these wines are dirt cheap. The things that determine the price of wine are mostly the brand of the wine itself and the brand of the region it comes from. Taste plays only a very small role in pricing. And the alcohol content actually significantly effects how people perceive the taste, because when people are tasting a dozen plus wines in a sitting they tend to prefer the ones with higher alcohol content because they stand out more as they lose their taste perception, even if these wines wouldn't be that good on their own.
I don't have any objections to others drinking (within safe limits), but really hate the notion (fortunately not widespread among my friends) that if you're not drinking alcohol in a social setting you're somehow weird or even spoiling everyone's fun.
That said, I can see that there is some logic for some people. It's very possible for drinkers and non-drinkers to enjoy each other's company while drinking and not drinking, but for some people, if they feel this way, there's no reason it shouldn't be like any other activity. I'm a big fan of sports, for example English football, I don't mind that plenty of my friends are completely indifferent, they don't mind that I love it. I'd never expect them to come and watch a game with me, or even watch on TV. So I wouldn't have a problem with people thinking the same thing about "getting drunk" instead of "watching football".
Wine? A glass now or then with a particular meal, it's OK. Spirits? Some vodka with OJ can give me a small buzz which, in some ways, can be relaxing for a while. These are the '1-2x a year' sorts of drinks, but never really for the taste of it.
But... beer. Of any sort. I've just never understood the fascination with it. It all tastes gross. It's probably saved me a small fortune compared to some of my friends over the years, and I'm sure I'm (a bit) healthier because of it, although I still eat junk food, so it's not all unicorns and rainbows on that score :)
That's a rather strong conclusion to draw from having tasted at most three different beers (and I wonder if they were all that different... situations where people typically feel pressured to drink aren't known for the high quality of the beer on hand).
None will say that aloud, because everybody knows that it is some sort of social rule, like wearing robes (you should truly put those pants up, Mike), and it's embarrassing for both sides pointing out the anti-social move. Thinking that those who won't drink would be boring or spoil the party(<--classic excuses) to the good guys, who simply follow society rule like "ought to drink in meeting", is a really spread notion, in which even I found myself. p.s. a less idiot excuse imho is that, when you drink with others, there is a mutual and tacit agreement to "relax" social boundaries, to be more natural, to not feel constantly judged ("Come on! I was drunk! I really didn't meant that"<<classic). But when there is one who won't agree putting on this kind of "shelter" or "mask" (not to spoil social relaxation but because he can't sustain the shelter itself), everyone feels embarrassed because you are not sure that this kind of social outcast is going to respect or not the tacit agreement without the ritual drinks. I hope I've been comprehensible.
I've exaggerated a bit - I've had sips of more than 3 beers in my life. I've had tastes of lagers in the UK, a couple German beers, and a few others over time - a swig here and there, etc. 3 was basically full (or near full). There's just nothing appealing at all with any of the types (closest I could probably do would be a cider, which isn't really a beer though, right?).
This feels like a no true scotsman issue. "Well, if you'd had good beer, you'd feel differently!". :) I've had tastes of beer where people said "this is the best stuff here". It's still ... ugh. Can't deal with the taste.
If my life depended on it, I probably could do it, but thankfully I've never been in that situation :)
If that's your experience, I'm fine listing you as "doesn't like beer."
I actually react most strongly to spinach -- once as a child, I gagged on a perfectly good spinach leaf and threw up in my napkin right in the middle of a restaurant on best behavior! But I also definitely have the sense that what I taste when I sample coffee and beer cannot possibly be what other people are tasting.
Spinach and some other veggies - I'm fine with almost everything raw. Can't stand it cooked. Yet people complain about that. WTF? I'm asking you to NOT do any food prep - no energy to cook/heat it up - there's no wasted effort, and it's good for you. I'd still get push back from family over the years as a "picky eater".
My brother got us a juicer, and I'm juicing up loads of carrots, spinach, celery, beans, greens (collard/turnip), etc. Yeah, that definitely doesn't taste awesome, but in some ways, because of the mix, it doesn't taste strongly of anyone type of food - they sort of cancel each other out a bit. It's not a great taste, but doable, and it's healthy.
Coffee - that took a while to be an acquired taste. Why do this but not beer? A) cheaper. B) caffeine kick is more useful to my daily life. I'm not a coffee addict - 2-3 per week is a lot - but generally cheaper to add on to a breakfast meal than a beer is with a dinner. I prefer flavored coffees/mochas/etc, but coffee with enough cream/sugar is workable.
Just... ugh. Can't do it. And honestly, if it was a case of "just try XYZ a few more times"... I'm not sure if I want to get accustomed to something that's $6/ bottle, which would end up adding $12-$20 per meal I go out for. I'd rather be able to leave a large tip if I've enjoyed the meal than pay for expensive bottles of 'the good stuff'.
I most social situations, I'm driving anyway, so it's always easier to bow out and grab a ginger ale or something, if I'm heading to the car in an hour.
When I'm not driving someplace (hotel for a conference, etc), it's tastier to get a fuzzy navel or some other fruity drink with some alcohol in it :)