taste for

a taste for (something)

1. A preference, inclination, or desire for some kind of food or drink. At first I was repelled by the thought of eating bugs, but they're a common snack in this country, and I got a taste for them eventually. Vampires' taste for human blood is part of what makes them so scary.
2. A strong preference, inclination, or desire to do or acquire something. She had gotten a taste for power after serving as mayor for two years. Tom has a real taste for these daredevil sports.
See also: taste
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*taste for something

a desire for a particular food, drink, or experience. (Typically: get ~; have ~; give some-one ~; acquire ~.) The Smiths have a taste for adventure and take exotic vacations. When she was pregnant, Mary often had a taste for pickles.
See also: taste
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • a taste for (something)
  • get a taste for (something)
  • have a taste for (something)
  • snack on
  • snack on (something)
  • have a sweet tooth
  • sweet tooth
  • sweet tooth, (to have) a
  • a sweet tooth
  • on a whim
References in classic literature
"What a pity it is, Elinor," said Marianne, "that Edward should have no taste for drawing."
"No taste for drawing!" replied Elinor, "why should you think so?
I shall not lose you so soon, and Edward will have greater opportunity of improving that natural taste for your favourite pursuit which must be so indispensably necessary to your future felicity.
"The point is," I concluded my sermon, "that it is the accessibility of alcohol that has given me my taste for alcohol.
I read back in my life and saw how the accessibility of alcohol had given me the taste for it.
Thus perceiving a taste for a certain modern style of poetry in my companion, I bethought me of a poem which I had written on the roadside a few days before, and which, I confess, I was eager to confide to some sympathetic ear.
All meat tasted alike to him, for his taste for meat was one of the vanished pleasures in the limbo of memory.
He considered his disposition as of the sort which must suffer heavily, uniting very strong feelings with quiet, serious, and retiring manners, and a decided taste for reading, and sedentary pursuits.
Here's an illustrative example of the importance of taste for a specific demographic population.
At first, I tried to explain my taste for these things by approaching them from a utilitarian viewpoint.
A CHANGE in your taste for sugar, caffeine, alcohol and carbs can take away the appetite.
They further report that mice lacking the gene for this taste terminator protein are more sensitive to bitter taste and also find it more aversive, possibly because they experience the taste for a longer period of time.
With taste for life[R] Symrise helps its customers to position their brands and products in the middle ground between 'holistic health' on the one hand and 'pure pleasure' on the other.
"Our findings build on previous research in the United States that used animal models to discover fat taste," Dr Keast said."We know that the human tongue can detect five tastes -- sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami (a taste for identifying protein rich foods).
Enjoyment of classical music, by this account, is no different from the taste for fine wines or cuisine-a marker of a cultural elite.