Trying to get started

So I’m 23 and up until like a month ago have never had so much as a sip of alcohol. I never really felt like I needed to, but I always feel like the odd one out when in social settings. My friends are understanding even if they tease me sometimes, but it still doesn’t help the awkwardness.

So my first drink was some cinnamon flavored liqueur and it was awful, even drowning it with a shit ton of root beer was awful. Tried a bit of gin too and mixing that with sprite was gross as well. Now I found out I don’t like the taste of alcohol but the flavor of the drinks themselves were just nasty as hell. Since then I switched to vodka that I mix with some 7-up, had that twice so far and it’s tolerable.

But it’s still not “good” tasting. Any suggestions for a newcomer? Something easy to make. I don’t want to have to buy 8 ingredients to make a cocktail I might not even like lol. Maybe just some good mixers for vodka since I already have it?

I also had a question about my tolerance. I’ve never really looked into it, but is 5 fl oz of 40% vodka mixed with like a 1 to 3 ratio with soda substantial? It got me buzzed but I didn’t feel like I was drunk, maybe like 90% functional. I’m a 5’11, 165 pound guy and I drank the glass over a span of 15 minutes after like 5 hours without food if that helps. Is that normal for someone this inexperienced?