Tincture Ratio Calculator: How Much Alcohol for Your Herbs

By herbalist convention, dried herb is 1:5, so 1 oz takes 4.79 fl oz (142 mL) of liquid. Fresh herb is 1:2 by convention, so 1 oz takes 1.92 fl oz (57 mL).

The calculator above works this out for the herb you have. Enter its weight in ounces or grams, pick fresh or dried, and keep the conventional ratio or type your recipe’s. You get the liquid in fl oz, cups, and mL. Add your recipe’s alcohol strength, and you also get a link to the alcohol dilution calculator with the volume filled in.

How much alcohol to pour for your herbs

Multiply the herb’s weight in grams by the second number of the ratio, and you have the milliliters of liquid. You weigh the herb and measure the liquid. For a 1:5 tincture, the herbalist Henriette Kress explains, “you use 1 part (by weight, eg. 100 g) of dried herb and 5 parts (by volume, eg. 5 dl) of your 50% (= 100 proof) vodka” (Henriette’s Herbal).

• 100 g of dried herb at 1:5 takes 500 mL (16.91 fl oz, 2.11 cups).
• 100 g of fresh herb at 1:2 takes 200 mL (6.76 fl oz, 0.85 cup).
• 4 oz of dried herb at 1:5 takes 19.17 fl oz (2.4 cups, 567 mL).
• Your recipe’s own ratio. If it says 1:10, enter 10. Then 1 oz of dried herb takes 9.59 fl oz (1.2 cups, 283 mL).

1:5 and 1:2 are convention, not a rule

Herb first, liquid second: every ratio on this page reads that way. Using 1:5 for dried herb and 1:2 for fresh is herbalist convention. A how-to that North Atlantic Books adapted from Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir’s Icelandic Herbs gives both: “Tinctures can be made at different strengths, but with dried herbs, a 1:5 ratio is generally used (e.g., 100 g dried herbs to 500 ml alcohol).” And: “If tinctures are made with fresh herbs, the ratio is 1:2 (i.e., 100 g of herbs to 200 ml of alcohol).” (North Atlantic Books)

We found no rule in the European Medicines Agency (EMA) documents we checked that sets 1:5 for dried herb and 1:2 for fresh. Some pharmacopeia tinctures use other ratios. In a comment that EMA recorded (we did not read the European Pharmacopoeia text itself), the herbal medicine group ESCOP wrote: “According to the European Pharmacopoeia, tinctures are prepared using either 1 part of herbal drug and 10 parts of extraction solvent, or 1 part of herbal drug and 5 parts of extraction solvent.” (EMA) That’s why the calculator says, “1:5 is the herbalist convention for dried herb. Some pharmacopeia tinctures use other ratios, so if your recipe gives one, use that.”

The 1:2 convention for fresh herb isn’t new: the 1918 Dispensatory of the United States quotes the National Formulary’s general formula for tinctures of fresh drugs, 500 grams of fresh drug to 1,000 mL of alcohol, the official alcohol of the time, not vodka (Henriette’s Herbal transcription). That’s 1:2 by this calculator’s measure.

Why 1 oz at 1:5 is 4.79 fl oz, not 5

An ounce on the scale and a fluid ounce in a measuring cup aren’t the same size. The calculator works in grams and milliliters, so 1 oz of dried herb (just over 28 g) at 1:5 takes 142 mL, which is 4.79 fl oz.

7Song, director of the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine, allows either system in his tincture handout: “metric (e.g., grams: milliliters) or imperial (e.g., ounces: fluid ounces).” His 1:5 example works in ounces, pouring 40 ounces of menstruum (the liquid) for 8 oz of herb (7Song). By that shorthand, 1 oz at 1:5 is about 5 fl oz. Either way works if you stay with one system for the whole batch. In his words, “keep the same system of measurement on both sides of the equation.”

Fresh herb lowers the alcohol strength

Fresh herb carries its own water. Kress, who pairs fresh herb with 95% alcohol, notes that “there’s water in the fresh herb” (Henriette’s Herbal). When declaring herbal products, the EMA counts that water as part of the herb’s weight, not the solvent’s (EMA). Our explanation: the herb’s water mixes into the jar, so a fresh-herb tincture ends up at a lower alcohol strength than the alcohol you poured.

We don’t estimate how much lower. Kress asks, “How do you know exactly how much water is in the plants this year?” (Henriette’s Herbal) Start with the alcohol strength your recipe calls for. Our tinctures guide suggests higher proof (100+) for fresh herbs; that’s its suggestion, not a standard.

Mix the strength, then make the tincture

If you’re starting from high-proof grain alcohol such as Everclear, the alcohol dilution calculator tells you how much spirit and water make your volume at your recipe’s strength. The tinctures guide covers the rest of the method, from filling the jar to bottling. Growing the herbs you’ll tincture? Start with your first medicinal herb garden.

Keep it safe

• Keep it away from children. Poison Control warns, “Alcohol can be a dangerous poison for children” (Poison Control). Our advice: keep the spirit and your tinctures out of sight and reach.
• If a child swallows it. Poison Control advises: “If a child swallows alcohol, remove the container and use the webPOISONCONTROL® online tool to get help, or call your poison center at 1-800-222-1222.” (Poison Control)
• Keep it away from flame. High-proof alcohol is flammable; see the dilution calculator’s Mix it safely.
• Label every jar. Kress suggests a label that starts with the ratio and the strength you poured, such as “1:5, 50%” (Henriette’s Herbal).

The tinctures guide’s safety notes cover storing your finished tinctures.

Common questions

What does a 1:5 tincture mean?

It means 1 part herb by weight to 5 parts liquid by volume. At 1:5, 100 g of dried herb takes 500 mL of liquid.

What ratio should I use for fresh vs. dried herbs?

Herbalist convention is 1:5 for dried herb and 1:2 for fresh. If your recipe gives a ratio, use that one. A fresh-herb tincture ends up at a lower alcohol strength than the alcohol you poured (see above).

How much alcohol per ounce of herb?

By herbalist convention, 1 oz of dried herb at 1:5 takes 4.79 fl oz (142 mL), and 1 oz of fresh herb at 1:2 takes 1.92 fl oz (57 mL). The calculator weighs in grams and measures in milliliters. If you write the ratio in ounces on both sides, 1 oz at 1:5 is about 5 fl oz (why the two differ).

Is the ratio by weight or by volume?

Both: the herb by weight and the liquid by volume. 7Song’s handout says the ratio “is always a relationship of weight to volume (herb weight: liquid volume).” So weigh your herb before you enter it ( Small kitchen scale ad ).