Taste refers to the sense in the mouth. Abnormal taste in the mouth may reflect the disorders of the spleen and stomach as well as other viscera.

Bland taste in the mouth:
Bland taste means hypogeusesthesia due to asthenia of gastrosplenic qi or seen in cold syndrome.

Bitter taste in the mouth:
This condition is usually seen in syndromes due to exuberance of liver and gallbladder fire and upward adverse flow of gallbladder qi.
 
Sweet taste in the mouth:
Sweet and sticky sensation in the mouth is usually caused by damp heat resulting from excessive intake of rich and sweet food; or by accumulation of exogenous damp heat in the spleen and stomach, the confliction of which with the cereal qi steams the mouth. Sweet taste in the mouth with thin fur and drooling is often caused by failure of the spleen to transport due to asthenia.
 
Sour taste in the mouth:
Sour taste in the mouth, or acid regurgitation, is usually caused by stagnation of liver qi attacking the stomach which leads to disharmony between the liver and the stomach and failure of the gastric qi to descend.
 
Sour and putrid taste in the mouth:
Sour and putrid taste in the mouth is usually caused by failure of the stomach and the spleen to digest, transport and transform, or by retention of food which putrefies and leads to acid regurgitation.
 
Puckery taste in the mouth:
Puckery taste in the mouth usually appears simultaneously with dryness of the tongue, usually caused by dryness and heat consuming body fluid, or by predominant yang heat in the viscera and upward adverse flow of qi and fire.

Salty taste in the mouth:
Salty taste in the mouth is usually due to asthenia of the kidney and upward flow of cold water.

Sticky and greasy taste in the mouth:
Sticky and greasy taste in the mouth is usually accompanied by thick and greasy tongue fur, often caused by retention and stagnation of phlegm and damp turbidity. Sticky and greasy taste in the mouth with sweetness is usually due to damp heat in the spleen and stomach; sticky and greasy taste in the mouth with bitterness is often due to damp heat in the liver and gallbladder; sticky and greasy taste in the mouth accompanied by chest oppression, epigastric fullness and profuse and sticky sputum is due to internal accumulation of damp phlegm.