not cup of tea

When I was a teenager, I was a huge fan of Harry Potter series. But when I would talk about it around my friends at the time, almost everybody would say Harry Potter was not their cup of tea. What does that mean? It means that they were not interested in it. Harry Potter was not something that caught their attention or made them want to talk about it. It was not their cup of tea.

One of these days a friend of mine asked me to go to the beach with him, but I told him among other activities going to the beach is not my cup of tea. I like seeing the ocean by far and maybe spending a few hours on the beach, but spending a whole weekend in a speedo or getting a tan are not my cup of tea. Maybe going to the movies or going rollerblading are activities I like to do and therefore are my cup of tea, but going to the beach is not my cup of tea. Take a look at some other examples with that expression:

1) You three visit the museum without me. Looking at fussy old paintings is not my cup of tea.

2) Going to church, Mary said, was not her cup of tea.

3) I realize a fantasy computer game is not everyone's cup of tea, but this one is amazing.

4) I like suspense in movies. It's my cup of tea.