Taste - Geologists use as many senses as possible in describing and identifying minerals. Taste is one of the last tests to be conducted, because some minerals are poisonous. Sylvite, a mineral similar in all other properties to halite, tastes bitter. Taste is thus a diagnostic property because it distinguishes between these minerals. Reaction with Dilute Hydrochloric Acid - This is actually a chemical property rather than a physical attribute of a mineral.
Carbon dioxide is liberated from the mineral and bubbles out through the acid, creating the fizz.
This test is best performed on powdered minerals.