> The reason you like the taste of beer is in large part because your brain has learned to associate that taste with good things happening (the alcohol feeling).

Explain the popularity of non-alcoholic beer.

> Same with coffee, it's bitter, objectively should taste bad

Many fruits, vegetables, and foods (cheeses, unsweetened chocolate) are naturally bitter and widely enjoyed, even though they don't give you a high.

People also enjoy bitter caffeine-free herbal teas.

> Most people don't actually like the taste of alcoholic drinks when they first try them as a teenager.

Many children don't like vegetables either. Adults more often do. Our tastes change as we grow older.