First time drinking soda

I was raised in a perfectly normal family, by parents who simply didn't buy soft drinks.

The first time I ever had a coke was at a friend's party. We were in a public venue and there was nothing else to drink. I only had one glass and felt really guilty about drinking something so unhealthy. I thought it tasted synthetic, super sweet and way too fizzy. I liked the sugar, but I didn't like the taste. I was really hyper for the rest of the evening and it took me ages to fall asleep that night.

Hope that helps.

Not sure if this helps because it's more the experience than the taste and not the first time I had soda. One thing I remember from early soda experiences (maybe four or five years old) was being thrilled to get a whole soda to myself once at Grandma's and getting to drink it out of the bottle, too. Little things like that used to be a huge deal to me, along the lines of getting an individual pack of chips to yourself as opposed to having your mom give you a small portion from the large family-sized bag. We usually had cheaper snacks that took some preparation anyway, like Kool-Aid from the mix (add your own sugar) or home-popped popcorn. It was grape soda and delicious. The bottle looked huge to me and I felt sick after drinking it all.

I was born in the United States, but have never been a fan of soft drinks or carbonation in any form. The handful of times I tried it as a child and later as an adolescent, I remember not being able to taste it because of the bubble assault taking place on my tongue and in the back of my throat. Root beer had a much more distinct flavor than cola that I found pleasant, but I could never get past the bubbles. It felt akin to swallowing a mouthful of tacks. I have a high threshold for pain, but soda just didn't seem worth it.

We weren't a fizzy drinks family either. My earliest memory of a fizzy drink was probably about age 7 or 8. I burped and it went up the back of my nose and brought tears to my eyes. I avoided them for years. Still not keen.

Incidentally - OP - I am not at all sure that your assumption that 3rd world countries don't have fizzy drinks is accurate. If it is important to your story, I'd try googling for adverts/sales in such countries.

Pop, that's what we call it in Kansas, is nasty stuff. I was not allowed to drink it until I was in grade school and from the first it burned, was too sweet and too syruppy. I had a hillbilly aunt who used to dump a bottle of Dr. Pepper or Coke over a roast ham for Sunday dinner. That put me off both ham and soda pop.

Back in the 60-70s my mom and dad rented a house to an Afghan family--political refugees, big city people and very nice. They lived next to us and we became friendly. They invited us over for dinner one evening. Mom gave us kids a big talk about eating everything on our plates, swearing it was delicious and asking for more. There was a serious ear boxing in store for any kid who did not eat EVERYTHING. Dad told us cautionary stories about the things he had to eat during the war and made it clear we were to choke down every dish, even if it had EYES.

Thank God we had been prepared for a different kind of dining experience. There was a cloth on the table, and it wasn't vinyl! And more candles than church! The table was set with storebought flowers, actual cloth napkins the size of diapers (My sister humiliated us all by asking for a paper towel so she wouldn't mess up the nice white napkin.) and more forks than we normally saw in a month. Fortunately mom had warned us about the forks--just go from the outside in. Turns out the food was more than edible but our hostess had planted a big frosty bottle of Pepsi Cola next to each plate. Out of pure fear of an ear boxing I choked down that entire bottle of Pepsi and to my memory that was the last soda pop I have ever tasted. --s6

I'm not from a third world country, but I remember early experiences with soda. The bubbles were horrible, but the acidity was at least as bad. CO2 and water make carbonic acid, and there's plenty of both in soda. Coca cola is the worst, because even more acid is added.

Both of my sons had the same reaction when they tried soda for the first time (probably around 6 or 7.) They both said that the bubbles hurt their brains and opted for water instead. My older son (now 14) likes soda, but the younger one (9) still won't touch the stuff.

raised in a third world country

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I was raised in a perfectly normal family,

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My American son is now 24 and he has never liked soda. He would never drink it when he was little. He said the carbonation bothered him too much.

My son-in-law grew up in Pakistan. He has been drinking Coke since he arrived here and seems to really like it.

More people seem to be sensitive to the bite from the acid than the bubbles. At least, I know a number of people (including my wife) who can't tell the difference between a highly-carbonated drink fresh out of the bottle and something that has been left uncapped for a couple of days and gone entirely flat.

I remember the first time I had soda. I was probably around five, and my older brother thought it would be funny to let me try a sip of Sprite, without warning me what it was. It HURT! All the bubbles fizzing and popping, it really hurt my tongue. But then, I have a sensory disorder, so I'm extra sensitive to light, sound, touch, etc. So maybe that's all it was. But in any case, I hated it. I can tolerate soda now, if I have to, although I prefer fountain soda to bottled or canned. It doesn't hurt as much and it seems to taste better. Usually, though, I can barely taste anything because of the bubbles.

Don't worry, my roll-eyes was aimed at both assumptions, not just you.

I grew up drinking soda, but I had a friend in elementary school who'd never had any. We were eight or nine years old at the time, and I convinced her to try root beer. She was very nervous about it, because her mother said it was disgusting, but she finally tried a tiny sip. Then she couldn't get enough of it. I think she drank the whole can, and for a while if she came over to my house she'd ask to have a can.

I'm not who the op wants to hear from but I've given soda another chance throughout my life and always ended up disliking it, mainly due to the carbonation, unless I turned it into a mixed drink that included milk. When I tried Cherry Pepsi it was the best soda I ever had and I thought I could now say that I like soda, but over time, when I'd try drinking an almost full cup, I decided it was too carbonated. Then I tried Dr. Browns cherry and cream sodas. Even better than the Pepsi, but the same thing happened over time. I still don't like soda.