Comment by thousand_nights

You need to learn how to brew coffee, friend.

Bitter generally means "overextracted" (and sour is the indicator for underextracted) The remedy is some combination of cooler water (maybe 90C), shorter brewing time, coarser grind. Also, wait for it to cool off - excellent coffee is almost always bitter when piping hot, but gets delicious when it has become warm.

Freshly roasted beans, and freshly ground for the brew, is crucial as well. Green beans keep their flavor for, let's say, 15 months. Roasted 15 days. Ground 15 minutes. All preground coffee in the grocery store is garbage. (Let alone instant coffee, which was low-grade to begin with, brewed en masse, rapidly dehydrated, and the remaining solids put in a jar for rehydration)

Of course, many have no interest in any of this process, and that's fine. But they're stuck with bland and/or bitter coffee...

Though, you don't need anything fancy to make good coffee. French press is dead-simple and consistent, and you don't even need a French press - you can use any recipient (eg a jar) and then just carefully pour the coffee out and try to leave the sludge behind. A careful Cowboy coffee, essentially.

Give it a try - you might get some enjoyment out of your addiction. Though, I've basically quit coffee altogether as my body has become immensely sensitive to caffeine, to the extent that half a cup daily will subtly mess up my whole life.

Maybe there is that, but it can also just be an acquired test.

No one likes bitterness initially, the ability to taste bitterness is essentially a poison detector, but it may still trigger with substances that are safe, at least at the dosage you are taking them. As you age, you get to recognize these safe cases with your other senses and override your poison detector, which lets you appreciate the taste.

Herbal tea, tonic water, grapefruit juice, etc... All bitter, and most people dislike them initially, but after a while some will appreciate, and people don't drink them for the psychoactive effect.

Try adding cocoa powder, no sugar. Add the powder first, coffee liquid afterwards to minimize clumping.

The cocoa itself is quite good for you, dissolving it will cool the coffee, and it will deepen the flavor.

I should try cinnamon with this.

Edit: dutch-process cocoa powder uses sodium hydroxide to reduce acidity of cocoa. Non-"dutched" cocoa is much more healthy, but alas acidic.

Just out of interest: do you notice any difference at all between different brands of coffee? I am with on the idea that coffee tastes awful, but despite that I still prefer certain brands that taste subjectively better.