What do potions taste like?

[RealWittyAlias]

What do you imagine potions in your games tasting like? Do they taste good? Medicinal? Really bizarre, like nothing you've ever tasted before? If you were making potion props for a real life game, what recipes would you use?

Here's what I imagine some of the potions tasting like:

Cure (any) Wounds: Something sweet and creamy. Something similar to tea with milk and sugar, but more... nourishing, I guess. Maybe add a few herbs to the tea. Those always feel healthy to me.

Reduce Person: The "Drink Me" potion from Alice and Wonderland. (I know, not that creative of me.) I'm planning on trying to make something that actually tastes like this in real life, but I also want it to taste good so I'm replacing the turkey flavor with some sort of herb that you would traditionally put on turkey but that also tastes good with cherry and custard and pineapple and toffee. I'm thinking rosemary and/or thyme.

Pass Without Trace: Something light and fresh and fizzy. Something that makes you feel like you can just walk without your feet touching the ground. Peach juice with sparkling cider and maybe a little lime juice.

Remove Fear: Straight up vodka. :P

[RealWittyAlias]

Bear's Endurance: Beef broth, carrot juice, and Tabasco sauce.

Darkness: Something really bitter but kind of herby. Maybe espresso and licorice, with a little mint. I doubt this would taste good, but weirdos who like coffee might like it. If I made it in real life I might use dark hot chocolate instead of espresso.

Gaseous Form: Very very fizzy sarsaparilla with lemon and ginger.

[theskyvalker]

Haste/Speed: Red Bull/Popular energy drinks

[Light]

I imagine Cure Wounds to be like Buckley's cough syrup: It tastes aweful, and it works.

[RealWittyAlias]

Endure Elements: Feels and tastes like hot chocolate and cool watermelon/cherry lemonade mint tea at the same time. I have absolutely no idea how I would make this in real life; it'll have to stay in the realm of magic for now.

Spider Climb: Molasses and black licorice.

Neutralize Poison: Something really bitter and gross, like cough syrup and kumquat.

[RealWittyAlias]

I imagine Cure Wounds to be like Buckley's cough syrup: It tastes aweful, and it works.

Makes sense. A lot of effective medicines do taste pretty nasty.

[Light]

Fly might be something really light and foamy.

Enlarge person would be something very carbonated that would make you feel bloated. The entire time you are growing you might end up burping like crazy.

Barkskin would be straight up cedar bark tea.

Invisibility would taste like absolutely nothing.

[RealWittyAlias]

I've never had cedar bark tea. Is it good?

[Light]

.... I've actually never had it either..... Well dang Witty, now I gotta add that to my "things I need to try for assorted nerdy or geeky reasons" list.

It's rich with vitamin C I know that, so maybe it has a citrus kind of taste to it?

[RealWittyAlias]

All I can find about the flavor of cedar tea is that it's "tasty and satisfying", which is not helpful at all. I also found that the oil on top is poisonous and you need to pour it off before you drink the tea, which is quite helpful.

Also, I tried making a Spider Climb Drink. Two ways.

First way was molasses and a couple drops each of spearmint and anise candy oils, all stirred up with some hot water and brown sugar. My little sister preferred this one. I thought it tasted pretty good, but the oils float on top the water and look weird. It does taste more like what I'd imagine a potion tastes like than the second version did.

Second way was warm milk with brown sugar, and a couple drops of spearmint and anise oil, then I stirred in molasses. I preferred this one. The oils mixed in with the milk and sugar and did not float on top the drink, which is always a plus. The drink is creamy and sweet but still a tiny bit bitter and medicinal tasting like a potion. If a really fussy adventurer carried around cream and sugar to mix into their potions before drinking them, this is what their Spider Climbing potion would taste like.

EDIT: Just realized spearmint oil was supposed to go in my Darkness recipe, not my Spider Climb recipe. I'm going to have to remake the S.C. drink without it and see if it tastes as good.

[Astrumvicis]

What do potions taste like?

Endure Elements: Feels and tastes like hot chocolate and cool watermelon/cherry lemonade mint tea at the same time. I have absolutely no idea how I would make this in real life; it'll have to stay in the realm of magic for now.

Spider Climb: Molasses and black licorice.

Neutralize Poison: Something really bitter and gross, like cough syrup and kumquat.

Why not mint and chilli powder for endure elements? One to make your mouth feel super cold...and the other to make it burn. Maybe along with a cool cup of water to wash it down for the full mint freeze and to wash the chilli around your mouth.

Also echinacea makes your tongue tingle really really weirdly. It may be something to use to give some of those recipes a bit of mystery.

[RealWittyAlias]

Why not mint and chilli powder for endure elements? One to make your mouth feel super cold...and the other to make it burn. Maybe along with a cool cup of water to wash it down for the full mint freeze and to wash the chilli around your mouth.

Also echinacea makes your tongue tingle really really weirdly. It may be something to use to give some of those recipes a bit of mystery.

That's a really good idea! I'm gonna have to try it at some point!

[RealWittyAlias]

Resist Energy: Tastes like whatever energy type you're trying to resist. Acid is super acidic, cold is like swallowing ice, energy is like getting a static shock in your mouth, etc. If I was making "real" versions of them for a live game or party or whatever I'd use:

Acid: a shot glass of straight lemon juice.
Cold: a minty drink that's been in the freezer as long as it can without actually freezing into a solid.
Electricity: a really fizzy cocktail with pop rocks on the rim.
Fire: a shot of hot sauce.
Sonic: ...no idea. I will have to think about that one.

[DarkisnotEvil]

What do potions taste like?

I have always imagined a potion of Cure Wounds tasting like a melted Cherry Icee.

[RealWittyAlias]

I used to imagine the same, and the mana potions as melted blue slushies. (I know D&D doesn't really have mana potions. I'm thinking more DragonFable.)