Tincture Strength Calculator

The ratio expresses parts herb to parts solvent, so 1:3 means one part herb weight to three parts solvent volume — this calculator's solvent volume always equals your full entered batch volume, so at 1:3 the herb weight works out to one-third of that solvent volume, packing in far more herb material relative to solvent than 1:10 does, where that same one part of herb is diluted across ten parts of liquid instead of three. A smaller second number in the ratio always means less dilution and a more concentrated finished tincture.

In a standard tincture recipe, the solvent volume you enter IS the batch — the herb is measured separately and added into that fixed liquid, rather than herb and solvent volumes both changing to hit some combined total. Changing the strength ratio only changes how much herb goes into that same solvent volume, not how much solvent you use.

The override is useful when you want herb weight expressed as a direct percentage of solvent volume — a method some herbalists prefer because it's more directly comparable across different herbs with different natural densities than the traditional ratio system. Leave it at 0 to use the standard 1:X ratio calculation instead, which is the more common approach for most home tincture-making.

A lower strength ratio packs more plant material into the same solvent volume, and extracting the active compounds out of that denser herb load into the surrounding liquid simply takes longer to reach full saturation than it does with a more dilute, weaker mixture. The recommended maceration time scales accordingly, from as little as 2 weeks for weak ratios up to 6 weeks for the strongest ratios this calculator supports.