Real coffee does taste "bad" if you're not used to it. What you're enjoying is bland coffee. If that's enough for you, there's no imperative to go for the better stuff.
There's no reason to claim that the better stuff is not better, that's just pointless anti-elitism. As a kid, I certainly enjoyed a McDonalds burger over a rare tenderloin. The tenderloin obviously was better though.
I've been trying for several years! I have worked hard to acquire many acquired tastes, I don't want to have to flash my snob card here. But this taste just completely eludes me. My only hope is that other comments elsethread are right, and my town in Yorkshire maybe isn't home to the most talented or knowledgeable baristas and roasters, and they genuinely are serving garbage. In the meantime, when I need a coffee, I will have a cup of coffee and not a mouthful of the water at the bottom of my fridge's vegetable drawer.
There's no reason to claim that the better stuff is not better, that's just pointless anti-elitism. As a kid, I certainly enjoyed a McDonalds burger over a rare tenderloin. The tenderloin obviously was better though.