If you’re a regular coffee drinker, there’s a good chance your first taste of black coffee wasn’t an entirely pleasant one, at least according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. The research, which aimed to explain why some individuals develop a taste for coffee, reveals that love of coffee is actually linked to our genes.

　　如果你是一个经常喝咖啡的人，那么你第一次喝黑咖啡的时候很可能并不是很愉快，至少根据发表在《科学报告》上的一项新研究是这样的。这项研究旨在解释为什么一些人会对咖啡产生兴趣，它揭示了对咖啡的喜爱实际上与我们的基因有关。

　　The paper explains that individuals who are genetically more sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine actually end up liking coffee more than those who aren’t. It might seem backward, but it’s all due to caffeine’s effect on our bodies and brains.

　　这篇论文解释说，对咖啡苦味天生更敏感的人，实际上比那些不敏感的人更喜欢咖啡。这看起来有点矛盾，但这都是由于咖啡因对我们身体和大脑的影响。

　　The researchers explain that those of us with higher sensitivity to the bitterness of coffee also quickly learn to associate that taste with the boost our bodies get from the caffeine it contains. This data was gleaned from the habits of over 400,000 people who submitted samples to the UK Biobank and shows that those classified as heavy coffee drinkers are particularly sensitive to caffeine’s bitter taste.

　　研究人员解释说，我们当中那些对咖啡苦味敏感的人也很快学会了把咖啡的味道和我们身体从咖啡因中获得的提神感联系起来。这些数据来自于40多万人喝咖啡的习惯，他们向英国生物银行提交了样本，数据显示这些人对咖啡因的苦味特别敏感。

　　“You’d expect that people who are particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine would drink less coffee,” Marilyn Cornelis, senior author of the study, said in a statement. “The opposite results of our study suggest coffee consumers acquire a taste or an ability to detect caffeine due to the learned positive reinforcement (i.e. stimulation) elicited by caffeine.”

　　研究报告的主要撰写人玛丽莲.科内利斯在一份声明中说:“你可能会认为那些对咖啡因的苦味特别敏感的人会少喝咖啡。我们相反的研究结果表明，由于咖啡因所产生的正强化(即刺激)，喝咖啡的人获得了检测咖啡因的味觉或能力。”

　　Tasting something as bitter is a built-in protective feature of our bodies. Bitterness is something we tend to avoid because our bodies are essentially warning us that what we’re ingesting might be poisonous or otherwise harmful. In the case of caffeine, our brains learn that the particular compounds in the beverage that taste bitter aren’t harmful but are instead beneficial, giving us a stimulating boost. That’s why your very first cup of coffee may have tasted like dirt, but you can now drink an entire pot and enjoy every drop.

　　品尝苦味是我们身体的固有保护特性。我们往往会避免吃苦的东西，因为我们的身体会本能地警告我们，我们摄入的东西可能有毒或有害。就咖啡因而言，我们的大脑了解到咖啡中有苦味的特定成分没有害处，而是有益的，给我们一种提神醒脑感。这就是为什么你喝的第一杯咖啡尝起来像尘垢一样，但你现在可以喝下一整壶咖啡，享受每一滴咖啡。