It’s also not as simple as “can you taste bitterness, yes/no.” People have a range of sensitivity to bitter tastes. And there are different taste receptors for different bitter compounds.
Myself, I tried the PTC test recently, and tasted nothing, meaning I don’t taste that particular bitter compound at all. The person administering the test informed me that people without the PTC receptor usually like IPAs, and people with the receptor usually don’t. I do enjoy IPAs, but they’re not my favorite beer and were definitely an acquired taste for me. I thought I didn’t like beer at all until I tried a stout, which is a much sweeter, less bitter style; I worked up in bitterness from there. And I don’t like black coffee or olives.
Moreover, I once applied bitter apple spray to keep my cat from chewing on something, and then forgot to wash my hands before making myself a snack. It tasted so incredibly bitter and awful, I felt like I’d just been unexpectedly punched. So clearly I don’t have low sensitivity to whatever bitter compound is in that stuff.
I wonder if there might be something related to the specific bitter compounds sensed by the various receptors, maybe combined with the plants that existed in various regions during the first human migration to those regions. But maybe it’s something completely different. Evolution is weird that way.
