I deliberately tried to get into funky Belgian beers in my 30s.

My reasoning was: other people like these, I think they taste gross, but I'm always telling people they can learn to like things, and if I did learn to like them, I'd expand my range of possible pleasures.

I did end up liking them. Not love them, but enough to appreciate them.

I really doubt that there is anything in the world that is enjoyed by a large group of people that I couldn't eventually get myself to like. And then: how wonderful! More things you like.

That's generally my take as well. There's a handful of things that I just don't like in terms of food/beverage. Most of it is mouth feel, I don't like fat chunks, or raw meat... just feels off. As to taste, other than oysters and any kind of diet ginger ale, not much I wouldn't try a again or for a first time. And even the two of those I tried more than once. Spending plenty at a few places to try oysters in various preparations from restaurants that are respected for them. Nope, I'm done. As to diet ginger ale, they all taste particularly nasty to me.

As to trying to develop a taste for things like coffee, beer or wine... I can only say culture is probably the biggest part of it. I tend to have coffee about once a week, mostly for the caffeine... if I have it more than once or twice a week, it doesn't work. But it really helps me get through being up earlier than I'm naturally inclined to for several days. I'd still like it to taste halfway palatable, so I tend to use vanilla flavored SF syrup, stevia and heavy cream that tends to soften the flavor. But I can imagine someone who really likes chocolate or coffee to go that direction, as they amplify each other.

In the end, culture and personal tastes. There is a lot to be said for fitting in.

Coffee can vary largely in terms of taste, between pull lever ristretto and a French press, it can be considered as two different drinks. Drink a 100% robusta espresso (or a blend containing some Large amounts of Robusta) and then a anaerobic coffee from equador or Panama (gesha, Ethiopian hybrid varietal and the like), and one would taste like an Italian espresso while the other a fruity drink.

Same goes with beer or wine, quality goes up with price but in the end, it's all a matter of personal preference.

Considered what you wrote, your palate is looking for sugary stuff, and this wouldn't work for coffee, chocolate, beer or wine.

Sugar kills everything.

You are partially right about the variability in preferences for sugar, e.g. there are people who like very much sweet wines, but who do not like at all dry wines and there are others who have the opposite preference, e.g. my mother liked only sweet wines, while my father liked only dry wines.

Nevertheless, the effect of sugar is more complex. For example, I do not like cocoa alone or in too high concentration, as too bitter. Sugar is pleasant, but when alone I do not care about it, I prefer most food with no sugar at all.

On the other hand, I find addictive the combinations of sugar with certain flavors, e.g. sugar + cocoa or sugar + vanilla. So, at least for me, the combination of sugar and cocoa has a very different effect than each component alone.