Capsules or liquid drops?

The short answer

For most people, the choice of format is a matter of practicality and preference. It is not a question with a single correct answer, and it is not a question of one format being better than the other.

Capsules suit you if you want a fixed, pre-measured amount, no taste, no measuring and no bottle to keep upright in a bag. Drops suit you if you find capsules difficult to swallow, if you would rather stir something into a drink, or if you want the option of taking less than a full serving.

Where the two formats of the same botanical differ in composition — and in the case of soursop they do — that difference matters more than the format itself. Those details are set out below.

Which of our products come in both formats

Our other botanicals are capsules only. The Cayenne Pepper blend is drops only — there is no capsule version of it.

Absorption: what we are not going to tell you

Search for this comparison and you will meet the same numbers again and again. Ninety-eight per cent absorption for liquids against fifty per cent for capsules. Twenty-five to thirty per cent faster. Figures of that kind are repeated across supplement marketing, blog posts and product pages as though they were established.

We cannot substantiate them, and we have not found a source that can. They are quoted without citation, or cited back to another page that quotes them without citation. We are not going to repeat them, and we are not going to invent a more modest-sounding number of our own to sit in their place.

What can be said factually is narrow. A liquid is already dispersed in a fluid base; a capsule shell has to break down first. That is a description of what physically happens, not a measurement of anything, and it does not establish that one format delivers more of anything to you than the other. Bioavailability varies by plant constituent, by individual, by whether you have eaten, and by the specific preparation. A blanket percentage across all botanicals in all formats is not a thing anyone can honestly quote.

The honest answer is that format is mostly a matter of practicality and preference. That is why the rest of this page is about practicality and preference.

Dosing: precision and adjustability

These are two different properties and the formats trade off against each other.

Capsules are more precise

A capsule is filled by machine to a set weight and then sealed. Every capsule in the bottle contains the same amount, and taking one gives you exactly that amount. There is nothing to read, measure, pour or judge. If you take one capsule you have taken one serving, and you can be certain of it.

Drops are more adjustable

A graduated dropper lets you take a part-serving. Our drops are dosed at 2 ml, and the dropper is marked so you can draw 1 ml if you would prefer to start lower. A capsule cannot be halved in any sensible way.

One direction only: you may take less than the amount on the label, but never more. The stated serving is a maximum, not a starting point.

Where drops are less precise

We would rather say this than not. A dropper is only as accurate as the person reading it. Vegetable glycerine is viscous, more so when cold, so liquid clings to the inside of the pipette and the meniscus is not always crisp. Squeeze pressure varies. Counting individual drops rather than reading the graduation is unreliable, because drop size changes with viscosity, temperature and the angle you hold the pipette at.

If you use drops, read the graduation mark at eye level, hold the pipette upright, and use the same technique each time. Do not dose by counting drops unless the label tells you to.

Most precise per dose

Capsules — machine-filled to a fixed weight

Most adjustable downwards

Drops — graduated dropper allows a part serving

Needs measuring each time

Drops

Needs no measuring

Capsules

What an extract ratio means in each format

An extract ratio such as 30:1 is arithmetic, not marketing shorthand. It means 30 kilograms of dried raw plant material were processed down to 1 kilogram of finished extract. So 1 mg of that extract derives from 30 mg of starting material.

In a capsule

The ratio applies to a weight of dry powder. Our Soursop Capsules contain 450 mg of 30:1 organic soursop leaf extract per capsule. Multiply through — 450 × 30 — and you get 13,500 mg, which is why the label reads "equivalent to 13,500 mg of soursop". You are swallowing 450 mg of concentrate, not 13,500 mg of anything.

In drops

The ratio applies to the extract carried in the liquid, and the figure is quoted per volume rather than per capsule. Our Soursop Liquid Drops contain 600 mg of 30:1 soursop extract per 2 ml serving, equivalent to 18,000 mg of soursop. The vegetable glycerine and water base contributes no plant material. It is the carrier.

The practical consequence is that with drops you must read the serving volume, not just the milligram figure on the front of the bottle. A milligram figure without the volume it applies to tells you nothing.

Not every product has a ratio at all

Our Wormwood, Black Walnut & Clove Capsules are not an extract. Each two-capsule serving provides a 1440 mg blend of black walnut powder, clove powder and wormwood powder — that is milled whole plant material, so there is no concentration ratio to quote. Whole powder and concentrated extract are different things and cannot be compared milligram for milligram.

Extract ratios are also not standardised between manufacturers. Two products both marked 30:1 may have used different plant parts, different starting material and different processes. A ratio describes a manufacturing step. It is not a measure of strength that can be carried across brands.

The two formats are not interchangeable doses

This is the single most important practical point on the page.

Our Soursop Capsules deliver 450 mg of 30:1 extract per capsule. Our Soursop Liquid Drops deliver 600 mg of 30:1 extract per 2 ml serving. The drops also contain vitamin C and green tea extract, which the capsules do not. These are not the same product in two shapes.

So: take one format or the other, not both, and do not treat a serving of one as equal to a serving of the other. If you switch formats, go by the label on the format you are actually taking.

Soursop Capsules — per capsule

450 mg of 30:1 organic soursop leaf extract, equivalent to 13,500 mg

Soursop Capsules — serving

One capsule daily; 60 capsules per bottle; two months at one a day

Soursop Liquid Drops — per 2 ml

600 mg of 30:1 soursop extract, equivalent to 18,000 mg

Soursop Liquid Drops — additional ingredients

Vitamin C; green tea extract; vegetable glycerine and purified water base

Soursop Liquid Drops — bottle

60 ml; 30 servings at 2 ml; one month

Wormwood blend capsules — serving

Two capsules daily; 1440 mg blend per serving; 60 capsules; one month

Wormwood blend drops — bottle

60 ml dropper bottle; see the pack label for per-serving quantities

Always read the pack. The label on the product you receive is the authoritative version, and it takes precedence over anything written here.

Glycerine base or alcohol tincture

All ProBotanics drops are alcohol-free, on a vegetable glycerine and purified water base. That is a genuine difference from a conventional tincture, and it is worth understanding what the difference actually is.

What a tincture is

In the traditional sense, a tincture is plant material steeped in ethanol, or in a mixture of ethanol and water, with the alcohol acting as the extracting solvent. The finished liquid retains that alcohol. Strengths vary widely between preparations, and the alcohol also functions as the preservative.

What a glycerite is

A glycerite uses vegetable glycerine in place of ethanol. Glycerine is a polyol — a clear, viscous, mildly sweet liquid, in this case derived from plant sources. It is not an intoxicant and it is not ethanol, notwithstanding the "-ol" ending.

The honest trade-offs

• Solvent behaviour differs. Ethanol and glycerine do not dissolve the same range of plant constituents equally well. Ethanol is generally the stronger solvent for resinous and less water-soluble material. This is a well-established point of pharmacognosy and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
• Preservation differs. Alcohol is self-preserving at sufficient concentration. Glycerine has some preservative capacity but liquid products on a glycerine base commonly include additional preservatives. Our Cayenne Pepper Drops, for example, list potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate on the label. Read the ingredient list on whichever product you are considering.
• Taste differs. Ethanol has a sharp, warming burn. Glycerine is sweet and slightly syrupy, which sits over a bitter extract more comfortably for most people.
• Suitability differs. Alcohol-free matters if you avoid alcohol for religious or personal reasons, if you are in recovery, or if you take a medicine that should not be combined with alcohol. If that describes you, the alcohol-free format removes the question entirely.

One further point of accuracy: our liquids are a finished extract carried in a glycerine and water base, rather than a maceration made by steeping raw herb in glycerine. The extract is prepared first and then dispersed into the base. That is why a defined extract ratio and a defined milligram figure per 2 ml can be stated at all.

Taste, and how to manage it

Capsules

A capsule bypasses taste almost entirely. Our capsule shells are plant-derived cellulose — neutral, odourless, and swallowed with water in a couple of seconds. If you open one you meet the contents directly, and with concentrated leaf extracts that generally means bitter and astringent. The capsule format exists precisely so that you do not have to.

Drops

Drops are taken by mouth, so taste is part of it. The glycerine base is sweet and viscous, which takes the edge off. What sits underneath varies by product:

• Soursop drops — the glycerine sweetness is the first thing you notice; green tea extract adds astringency. Taken straight, the flavour is noticeable but brief.
• Wormwood, black walnut and clove drops — wormwood is proverbially bitter, and the species name absinthium is the root of that reputation. Clove is warm and strongly aromatic. This is the most assertive-tasting of our liquids and the one people most often dilute.
• Cayenne Pepper Drops — cayenne is pungent, with turmeric, ginger and black pepper alongside it. Expect warmth rather than bitterness.

Practical ways to mask it

• Dilute into a drink with a flavour of its own. Orange, apple or blackcurrant juice carries bitterness better than plain water, which dilutes without disguising.
• Cold liquids blunt taste more than warm ones. If the flavour bothers you, use a chilled drink rather than a hot one.
• Stir properly. A viscous liquid sinks and sits at the bottom of a glass; an unstirred last mouthful is the concentrated one.
• Drink it reasonably promptly rather than sipping over half an hour.
• Have a plain chaser ready — water, or a mouthful of food.
• If you take it straight, place the dose towards the back of the tongue rather than the tip, then follow with water.
• Taking it with a meal is fine unless the label says otherwise, and food does a good deal of the masking for you.

Do not add drops to a hot drink and then leave it standing, and do not mix a dose into a large bottle you intend to finish over the day. You lose track of how much you have taken.

Speed, convenience and routine

A capsule takes about three seconds: bottle, capsule, water, done. Nothing to measure, nothing to wipe, nothing to stir, no residue on a glass. If your routine is "swallow it standing at the kitchen sink before leaving the house", capsules fit that.

Drops take longer. Uncap, draw to the mark, dispense, stir, replace the cap firmly, and rinse the glass. Call it thirty seconds to a minute. Some people find that step a nuisance; others find it easier than swallowing a capsule at all. Neither reaction is wrong.

Whichever you choose, the format that gets taken consistently is the one that works for you. Pick a fixed point in the day and keep to it. Do not double up if you miss a day.

Portability and travel

Capsules

• Nothing to spill and nothing to leak.
• Tolerant of being carried loose in a bag, though heat and humidity are still worth avoiding.
• No liquid restrictions at airport security.
• Easy to take out for a set number of days without carrying the whole bottle.

Drops

• Our dropper bottles are 60 ml, which is within the usual 100 ml hand-luggage limit for liquids — but it must still go in your clear resealable bag, and airport rules change, so check with your airline and airport before you fly.
• Glass bottles break. Wrap it, or keep it in a padded pocket.
• Cabin pressure changes can make a dropper bottle weep. Keep it upright, sealed and inside a sealed bag.
• Do not leave a bottle in a hot car or a sunny windowsill.
• Decanting into a smaller unlabelled container is a bad idea. You lose the ingredient list, the allergen advice, the serving instruction and the best-before date.

On balance, capsules are the less demanding format to travel with. Drops are entirely workable with a little care.

If you find capsules hard to swallow

Difficulty swallowing capsules is common and is a perfectly good reason to choose drops. It may be a physical swallowing difficulty, a strong gag reflex, or simple aversion. Drops remove the problem rather than working around it.

If you would still rather take capsules, some practical points:

• Sit or stand upright, never lying down.
• Take a mouthful of water first to wet the throat, then the capsule with a full glass of water.
• Capsules are lighter than water and tend to float, so some people find it easier to tip the head forward slightly rather than back.
• Take it with food if the label allows.
• Stay upright for a short while afterwards and finish the glass of water.

You can open a cellulose capsule and stir the contents into food or a drink, but understand the trade-offs: the powder is bitter, and if any is left behind in the glass or on the spoon you have not taken the full amount. If swallowing is a persistent problem, speak to your pharmacist — and choose the drops.

Shelf life and storage

Both formats carry a best-before date on the pack. Do not use either after it.

Capsules

• Dry powder in a sealed container is the more forgiving format over time.
• Moisture is the main enemy. Cellulose shells can soften or become tacky in damp conditions, or brittle in very dry ones.
• Do not store them in a bathroom or above a kettle. A cupboard in a cool room is better than anywhere near steam.
• Keep the cap screwed on and leave any desiccant sachet in the bottle. It is not packaging waste, and it is not edible.
• Do not decant into a pill organiser for weeks at a time — you lose the seal and the label.

Drops

• An opened bottle is exposed to air and to the dropper going in and out. Replace the cap firmly every time.
• Do not let the pipette touch your mouth, tongue or a glass and then return it to the bottle. That is how a liquid gets contaminated.
• Store upright, out of direct sunlight, in a cool dry place.
• Some separation or settling in a botanical liquid is normal. Check the label for whether to shake before use.
• Note any "use within" period stated on the pack after opening, if one is given, and go by that rather than the unopened best-before date.
• Do not use it if the colour, smell or consistency has changed markedly.

Keep both formats out of the sight and reach of children.

Cost per serving, not per bottle

Bottle prices are not comparable on their own, because the bottles do not contain the same number of servings. Work it out per serving instead: divide the price of the bottle by the number of servings in it.

Servings per bottle, where they are fixed: Soursop Capsules, 60 servings at one capsule daily. Soursop Liquid Drops, 30 servings at 2 ml. Wormwood, Black Walnut & Clove Capsules, 30 servings at two capsules daily. For the wormwood drops, check the serving size stated on the pack and divide 60 ml by it.

Remember that a serving of capsules and a serving of drops are not the same amount of extract in the soursop range, so the per-serving figures are a guide to cost rather than a like-for-like comparison of contents.