Colorful Potions Part 2: Designing a potion list

Reviewing the ideas of the Colorful Potions it is clear that we will need some lists of characteristics that our potions may have.

• colors
• tastes
• smells
• consistency
• physical description (like bubbling, swirling, sparks)
• name of the potion (perhaps a history)
• description of the container
• possible side effects
• quality of the potion
• recipe (is there a recipe which the players could uncover)
• rarity

Some of these characteristics are unique to the recipe of the potion and some may vary. To not adding another dimension of complexity the smell and taste should be the same. Just beware that it might be hard to smell some tastes like for example a salty taste.

Let's create lists for each of these entries and discuss their impact on the game:

colors
The impact on the game is minor. Perhaps there might be some situations where you are not able to distinguish colors like in the darkness or using special types of darksight.
Colors could be: red, blue, green, yellow, gray, black, white, colorless, multicolored, light and dark versions of some of them.
There might be several more colors, but since I want to have several potions that might have the same color a smaller set will do some good here.

tastes/smells
I guess these might be unlimited, but lets make up a list of some obvious ones: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, fishy, honey, almonds, vanilla, dung, earthy, like flowers, like beef, smoky, acidic, like soap

consistency / physical description
this is just a description for the feel during drinking and how it behaves when it is poured out of the flask.
sticky, watery, cream, with particles in it, fuming, smoky, bubbling, light emitting

name of the potion / rarity / recipe
The name of a potion shouldn't just be "Healing Potion". Give it a name connected to your campaign.
Synonyms for potion:
potion, elixir, tonic, liquor, dose, balm, medicine, brew, philter, draught, analgesic, application, balsam, compound, cream, formula, oil, water, salve, agent
The name is strongly connected to the campaign you play as is the rarity of a potion. The rarity is most likely connected to the price of a potions and also to it's recipe. The ingredients might be hard to get or the recipe is a secret only shared among a guild. It might also be that for healing potions you need divine power to brew them or the priests/gods might forbade them: They may be illegal, which might be typical for poisons. Think about a priesthood in power that ban all healing potions to ensure that people have to come to their temples to receive healing.

quality and side effects

These both go well together. Let's define quality of a potion: a normal potion should have the desired effect and none to moderate side effects. A better quality potion should have either a better effect, a longer usability or a less side effects. A low quality potion should have instead a lesser effect and stronger side effects. All this should also be incorporated into their price. 

Another option might be to say that an strong effect also implies a strong side effect

side effects: none, weak, medium, strong

quality: low, normal, high

potion effect:: weak, normal, strong