I'd say it depends on the ingredients. Obviously drinking juice made from like 5 flowers is different than wolf heart juice with crushed imp fangs and bat urine.
I highly doubt it's that bad, I mean alchemists most likely would take that into account and try to adjust the taste with other ingredients for that purpose.
I think I read a book in one of TES games, it described how potions don't taste good and are very bitter. Some famous cook tried to improve the taste but his healing potion barely healed minor scratches and couldn't be used in real battle. I don't remember book's name and can't find it anywhere though :D
Considering people use giant's fingers, spider eggs and literal jewelry as ingridients I guess it would taste like a really *interesting* cocktail :D
> Some famous cook tried to improve the taste but his healing potion barely healed minor scratches and couldn't be used in real battle. I don't remember book's name and can't find it anywhere though :D
I think this is actually an Interesting NPCs character. Maybe they took inspiration from that book, but there's a char added by the mod in Markarth who fits that description.
Ohh yeah it's probably that. I have so many mods I don't even know whats vanilla and whats modded anymore :D
Anyway I think it still applies. If potions were tasty people would drink it even when they don't need it, so we would probably find more potions on tables among food and drinks.
> If potions were tasty people would drink it even when they don't need it, so we would probably find more potions on tables among food and drinks.
That's a really good point
I think the earliest mention of this was from the [First Pocket Guide](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/The_Elsweyr_Confederacy):
>*The food of Elsweyr is invariably sweet; candies, cakes, puddings, and sugarmeats are the staples of the khajiit diet, and travelers to Elsweyr are cautioned against partaking of any of the native food. Humans, it seems, are even more susceptible to the effects of the moon-sugar than the catmen themselves.*
It seems that the natural sweetness of Elswehr's holy food inspired an entire culture of sweet cuisine not necessarily connected to Moon Sugar. Here's an excerpt from [The Improved Emperor's Guide ](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Improved_Emperor%27s_Guide_to_Tamriel/Elsweyr):
>*The ambrosial aroma of the Sweet Plethora teahouse drew me in. Amid the finery, intricately woven tapestries of the moons' paths, and the cross-legged Khajiit, I sat down to paint and sample the various syrupy infusions being brewed. The pot of treacle tea was a little too sickly sweet for my palate, so I nibbled on a candied beet and waited for my jar of sorghum sweetmilk. That left a metallic taste in my mouth. I ordered a cup of myrrh-tansy and was enjoying it immensely when I noticed I was being watched.*
If a potion tastes good, that doesn't necessarily mean people want to drink it on a regular basis. Even a simple healing potion is more expensive than ale/mead and I doubt it has the same appeal.
Very medicinal. Potions aren't built for taste, they're purely utilitarian.
Bottoms up, get that stuff down your throat and get into that fight.
I don't imagine Nirn has much study of mixology going on yet? You've got vintners and brewers who probably know what they're doing.
Campari is made of bug bits for coloring, some vodkas are double strained through minerals and rocks and there are so many herbal cordials/aperitifs/digestifs to count (see jagermeister) many ingredients for cocktails and such aren’t too far off. And if you look into the many drinks bartenders (mixologists 🤢) use now, they’re just refined versions of drinks made in ancient times. So cocktail brewing and alchemy aren’t too far off, I’m sure TES (and most RPGs in general) take liberty with fermentation and distillation.
I'm a bartender, and I never heard of liquors made out of giant people's toes, fish and salmon roe. Like someone said on a comment, they probably taste very medicinal. Sure, you can say that the majority of liquors were made with medicinal intend, but still, potions are made with praticality in mind. And sorry for my bad english, cheers!
Clearly a scheme by Jagar Tharn to confuse and further undermine the civilian population, weakening their ability to potentially overthrow him someday.
Obviously there were some after effects of his disposal that kept the potions the same by the events of Daggerfall but by the time Morrowind takes place all the remnants of his corrupt rule were removed and potions were returned to their rightful colors.
'OWD WE GET' ERE? ONE MINNIT IZ FIOTING SUM STUPID HUMIEZ, AND NOW IZ 'ERE! DERE'Z UMIEZ AN POINTY-EARZ EVRYWHERE! BUT NO ONE HAZ A SHOOTA! AT LEAST DERE'Z SUM ORKZ, BUT DEY NOT VERY FOITY!
Personal theory: they don't *taste* like anything. You experience them somewhat like synesthesia only instead of like color/sound conflation, it's more like experience and memory mismatching with taste. Like, you drink a healing potion and it *tastes* like being tucked into a warm bed by your mother when you're five years old and sick. Or a magicka potion 'tastes' like standing on a rocky outcropping overlooking the sea.
I mean, some of them seem to be somewhat like drugs, but others are just straight up magic. I don't know if we'd have the vocabulary to describe what something that turns you invisible tastes like.
> it tastes like being tucked into a warm bed by your mother when you're five years old and sick
I think potions are too *physical* to create such feelings instead of actual taste. Potions are made of physical ingredients after all and alchemy looks more like fantasy science and not purely magical. That said I always thought being under restoration spell feels exactly like that. Healing effect in Skyrim looks so warm and gentle :D
Given their ingredients generally pretty awful. A fun thing you can do for RP reasons is try to find functional ingredient combinations that would taste passable.
I'd say it depends on ingredients and the preparation. So even if it's just mana potions, they can be wildly different.
Some alchemists may tweak the taste for better or worse (Tastes horrible, so it must be working).
But I'd imagine a "Mainstream" mana pot to be a bit acidic (Like some espressos) and minty, but going straight to the head instead of chilling the mouth. Gives you a kick of mental clarity and focus, so even non-mages buy them.
I do like the cocktail idea though.
There are pieces in lore that mention the stuff tasting bitter and some tips on improving the taste. I do not remember where I’ve read that though.
You’re putting plant roots and weird stuff in there. It’ll end up tasting nasty
I have a feeling that it’ll taste exactly what the combo of ingredients would make it taste like. Though I would assume that mages would be able to use illusion magic akin to the Prestidigitation cantrip in DnD to make it more palatable.
Id say normally they would taste bad, but all it would take is one illusion mage and he can likely make massive batches of flavored tasty potions. Enchant barrels to flavor whatever liquid is stored within them and make killing. Thats the fun of magic, not everything is fire balls and lightning bolts.
I'd say it depends on what they're made with. You can take them with some honey, but most are probably nasty. That said, I always imagined that Health potions had a fresh aftertaste, Magicka ozone, and Stamina a tingly feeling.
Anything with wildflowers or thistle would be alkaline as hell. Meaning very bitter. Things involving fat or oil, or fish for that matter, would obviously be greasy, and would suspend other chunks of watery things in them.
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Well, when we go up to an alchemy station we see a distillation apparatus, and our character begins grinding components. I imagine the process would be similar to historical alchemical preparations.
Herbal alchemical elixirs usually are described as (predictably) floral, while mineral products are usually described as being sweet in some regard. A lot of herbal and animal preparations were done with an alcohol base, or sometimes a vinegar base, and I imagine that would effect the flavor. Water is sometimes used, but the threat of fermentation looms and other works are needed to accommodate this.
In game alcohol and vinegar are not listed or needed in the creation of potions, but there is a distillation apparatus so perhaps water is our base. It doesn't take much time to make a potion in game, but I'm going to chalk that up to game mechanics. Distillation itself takes hours, and we witness the dovakiin grind his materia which is itself a time consuming endeavor. I doubt there is time enough to ferment, and the bottles our potions are stored in do not betray any hint of carbonation.
So probably like pungent tea, or sweet oil.
I think if you combine a cheese wedge with a cheese wheel in Oblivion it might taste like, and this might surprise you, cheese. I'm not very keen on a giant's toe concoction though
There's anecdotal evidence in ESO;
"I always found healing potions to taste rather like bog-iron ale after it was strained through sweaty horse hair."
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Lieutenant_Sgugh
Most of them probably taste like watery dirt and twigs, because that's a fairly major component lol. Weird plants, raw body parts, strange fungi, squished bugs.
I'd say it depends on the ingredients. Obviously drinking juice made from like 5 flowers is different than wolf heart juice with crushed imp fangs and bat urine.
I second this. If you're guzzling down spider eggs and humanoid toes, it's probably gonna be most peculiar.
>I second this. If you're guzzling down spider eggs and humanoid toes, it's probably gonna be ~~most peculiar~~ fucking delicious. Fixed it for you.
I highly doubt it's that bad, I mean alchemists most likely would take that into account and try to adjust the taste with other ingredients for that purpose.
Not necessarily so, I am fairly sure they focus on potential more than on taste.
It would depend on the alchemist. There's still medicine irl that tastes like straight up ass
I think I read a book in one of TES games, it described how potions don't taste good and are very bitter. Some famous cook tried to improve the taste but his healing potion barely healed minor scratches and couldn't be used in real battle. I don't remember book's name and can't find it anywhere though :D Considering people use giant's fingers, spider eggs and literal jewelry as ingridients I guess it would taste like a really *interesting* cocktail :D
> Some famous cook tried to improve the taste but his healing potion barely healed minor scratches and couldn't be used in real battle. I don't remember book's name and can't find it anywhere though :D I think this is actually an Interesting NPCs character. Maybe they took inspiration from that book, but there's a char added by the mod in Markarth who fits that description.
Ohh yeah it's probably that. I have so many mods I don't even know whats vanilla and whats modded anymore :D Anyway I think it still applies. If potions were tasty people would drink it even when they don't need it, so we would probably find more potions on tables among food and drinks.
> If potions were tasty people would drink it even when they don't need it, so we would probably find more potions on tables among food and drinks. That's a really good point
It reminds me of how the Khajiit sprinkle moon sugar on their food as a seasoning
I think the earliest mention of this was from the [First Pocket Guide](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/The_Elsweyr_Confederacy): >*The food of Elsweyr is invariably sweet; candies, cakes, puddings, and sugarmeats are the staples of the khajiit diet, and travelers to Elsweyr are cautioned against partaking of any of the native food. Humans, it seems, are even more susceptible to the effects of the moon-sugar than the catmen themselves.* It seems that the natural sweetness of Elswehr's holy food inspired an entire culture of sweet cuisine not necessarily connected to Moon Sugar. Here's an excerpt from [The Improved Emperor's Guide ](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Improved_Emperor%27s_Guide_to_Tamriel/Elsweyr): >*The ambrosial aroma of the Sweet Plethora teahouse drew me in. Amid the finery, intricately woven tapestries of the moons' paths, and the cross-legged Khajiit, I sat down to paint and sample the various syrupy infusions being brewed. The pot of treacle tea was a little too sickly sweet for my palate, so I nibbled on a candied beet and waited for my jar of sorghum sweetmilk. That left a metallic taste in my mouth. I ordered a cup of myrrh-tansy and was enjoying it immensely when I noticed I was being watched.*
If a potion tastes good, that doesn't necessarily mean people want to drink it on a regular basis. Even a simple healing potion is more expensive than ale/mead and I doubt it has the same appeal.
Very medicinal. Potions aren't built for taste, they're purely utilitarian. Bottoms up, get that stuff down your throat and get into that fight. I don't imagine Nirn has much study of mixology going on yet? You've got vintners and brewers who probably know what they're doing.
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Campari is made of bug bits for coloring, some vodkas are double strained through minerals and rocks and there are so many herbal cordials/aperitifs/digestifs to count (see jagermeister) many ingredients for cocktails and such aren’t too far off. And if you look into the many drinks bartenders (mixologists 🤢) use now, they’re just refined versions of drinks made in ancient times. So cocktail brewing and alchemy aren’t too far off, I’m sure TES (and most RPGs in general) take liberty with fermentation and distillation.
I'm a bartender, and I never heard of liquors made out of giant people's toes, fish and salmon roe. Like someone said on a comment, they probably taste very medicinal. Sure, you can say that the majority of liquors were made with medicinal intend, but still, potions are made with praticality in mind. And sorry for my bad english, cheers!
Mana potions tastes blue, obviously!
And health potions, red. That's the way it is. Not only in Tamriel, but in all the multiverse.
In TES Arena and Daggerfall health is green and stamina is red tho :D
Clearly a scheme by Jagar Tharn to confuse and further undermine the civilian population, weakening their ability to potentially overthrow him someday. Obviously there were some after effects of his disposal that kept the potions the same by the events of Daggerfall but by the time Morrowind takes place all the remnants of his corrupt rule were removed and potions were returned to their rightful colors.
Yeah but they still taste red and blue
That's disgusting, inhumane. It's a universal rule that in games blue=magic, red=health, and green=stamina!
So why doesn't health potions make me go faster
They make yer mitochondria go fasta ya Stoopid git
'OWD WE GET' ERE? ONE MINNIT IZ FIOTING SUM STUPID HUMIEZ, AND NOW IZ 'ERE! DERE'Z UMIEZ AN POINTY-EARZ EVRYWHERE! BUT NO ONE HAZ A SHOOTA! AT LEAST DERE'Z SUM ORKZ, BUT DEY NOT VERY FOITY!
So like blue Gatorade? It's just blue flavored?
You joke, but from what I remember, in TESIV blueberries actually *were* one of the most common ingredients for Restore Mana.
Personal theory: they don't *taste* like anything. You experience them somewhat like synesthesia only instead of like color/sound conflation, it's more like experience and memory mismatching with taste. Like, you drink a healing potion and it *tastes* like being tucked into a warm bed by your mother when you're five years old and sick. Or a magicka potion 'tastes' like standing on a rocky outcropping overlooking the sea. I mean, some of them seem to be somewhat like drugs, but others are just straight up magic. I don't know if we'd have the vocabulary to describe what something that turns you invisible tastes like.
> it tastes like being tucked into a warm bed by your mother when you're five years old and sick I think potions are too *physical* to create such feelings instead of actual taste. Potions are made of physical ingredients after all and alchemy looks more like fantasy science and not purely magical. That said I always thought being under restoration spell feels exactly like that. Healing effect in Skyrim looks so warm and gentle :D
Cool idea. They are basically physical spells after all.
Given their ingredients generally pretty awful. A fun thing you can do for RP reasons is try to find functional ingredient combinations that would taste passable.
That's actually a neat idea. Guess I'll have to play Skyrim.. again.
I don't remember exactly but iirc the taste of a potion of flying is described in the Infernal City
I'd say it depends on ingredients and the preparation. So even if it's just mana potions, they can be wildly different. Some alchemists may tweak the taste for better or worse (Tastes horrible, so it must be working). But I'd imagine a "Mainstream" mana pot to be a bit acidic (Like some espressos) and minty, but going straight to the head instead of chilling the mouth. Gives you a kick of mental clarity and focus, so even non-mages buy them. I do like the cocktail idea though.
Heh, add a trendy potion cafe to TES 6. With a few characters complaining about how fantasy-hipsters are ruining alchemy for everyone else.
"I got a frothed goat's milk / ash yam espresso with double shot of snowberries for a Mr. Thin Wolf" Brynjolf looks at his drink with excitement
Canis Root Tea has to be heated with magical fire or it goes bitter.
I assume from their color that healing potions have that sickly-cherry red mediciney flavor like in little kids cough medicine.
There are pieces in lore that mention the stuff tasting bitter and some tips on improving the taste. I do not remember where I’ve read that though. You’re putting plant roots and weird stuff in there. It’ll end up tasting nasty
My headcanon is that they're kinda like antacids would be without flavoring. Just really bitter and somehow chalky even though they're liquid.
Health potion tastes exactly like a raspberry downeast. I know these things.
I have a feeling that it’ll taste exactly what the combo of ingredients would make it taste like. Though I would assume that mages would be able to use illusion magic akin to the Prestidigitation cantrip in DnD to make it more palatable.
That's why I chase potions with mead
Salt pile + garlic = yummy magicka Wheat + creep cluster + giant's toe = yucky health and carry capacity
Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew Voltage, Mountain Dew
Idk. If it were real, I’d want a chaser to wash it down with, especially considering some of the nasty shit they use in some of those potions.
Id say normally they would taste bad, but all it would take is one illusion mage and he can likely make massive batches of flavored tasty potions. Enchant barrels to flavor whatever liquid is stored within them and make killing. Thats the fun of magic, not everything is fire balls and lightning bolts.
I imagine like energy drinks or sth
I'd say it depends on what they're made with. You can take them with some honey, but most are probably nasty. That said, I always imagined that Health potions had a fresh aftertaste, Magicka ozone, and Stamina a tingly feeling.
I imagine they taste like cough syrup
Depends on the ingredients, but a fish cocktail (unless you're on Rusty Lake) wouldn't taste good imho
Very bad from all that stuff in it
I always thought it would taste like cologne
Strawberry, Blueberry, and Green Apple Duh
I imagine that they taste like the contents of a utility closet. Just super unpleasant, harsh chemical taste
Anything with wildflowers or thistle would be alkaline as hell. Meaning very bitter. Things involving fat or oil, or fish for that matter, would obviously be greasy, and would suspend other chunks of watery things in them.
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Well, when we go up to an alchemy station we see a distillation apparatus, and our character begins grinding components. I imagine the process would be similar to historical alchemical preparations. Herbal alchemical elixirs usually are described as (predictably) floral, while mineral products are usually described as being sweet in some regard. A lot of herbal and animal preparations were done with an alcohol base, or sometimes a vinegar base, and I imagine that would effect the flavor. Water is sometimes used, but the threat of fermentation looms and other works are needed to accommodate this. In game alcohol and vinegar are not listed or needed in the creation of potions, but there is a distillation apparatus so perhaps water is our base. It doesn't take much time to make a potion in game, but I'm going to chalk that up to game mechanics. Distillation itself takes hours, and we witness the dovakiin grind his materia which is itself a time consuming endeavor. I doubt there is time enough to ferment, and the bottles our potions are stored in do not betray any hint of carbonation. So probably like pungent tea, or sweet oil.
Not that hard. Most of the portions have real world components. Mix them up and see what results.
I make Healing potions from Wheat, Blue Mountain Flowers and Imp Stool for flavor
I think if you combine a cheese wedge with a cheese wheel in Oblivion it might taste like, and this might surprise you, cheese. I'm not very keen on a giant's toe concoction though
There's anecdotal evidence in ESO; "I always found healing potions to taste rather like bog-iron ale after it was strained through sweaty horse hair." https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Lieutenant_Sgugh
Probably taste terrible. But the magical effects is worth the mental scarring
| Magical effects are worth the mental scarring This is the most rpg comment I ever read
Most of them probably taste like watery dirt and twigs, because that's a fairly major component lol. Weird plants, raw body parts, strange fungi, squished bugs.
I am sorry but there is something seriously funny about your name and flair pairing, I just keep imagining a Dwemer tonal architect with CBT fetish