How do I get the Swallow potion in Witcher 3?

I am attempting to complete the "On Death's Bed" quest, and need to create the Swallow potion. However, I don't have that potion receipe listed in my Alchemy screen. I only have two formulas - Tawnty Owl and Thunderbolt.

This shows my available potions (with all the filters enabled).

My filters

How do I get the Swallow potion when I'm already several hours into the game (I've beaten the griffin in White Orchard)?

I have already seen this question, but it doesn't seem to answer my problem. It says that I should already have it.

When talking when the herbalist again, the only options I've given are the check what herbs she's selling, find out her story or leave.


Check the "already crafted" under filters to see swallow under the alchemy tab again


This is really strange. Swallow is a starting recipe, I can confirm this from my personal experience as well as from the information on other sites.

Witcher 3 wiki

Swallow is a potion in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Geralt of Rivia has the ability to brew this potion from the moment he reaches White Orchard

IGN guide

Looks like quite a severe bug to me.

The best workaround would be to cheat.

  1. Get the Console enabler
  2. Follow the instructions on how to use it.
  3. The code additem(Swallow 1) should add the basic Swallow to your inventory.

As an aside. Could you try starting a new game and check whether the recipe is missing again, once you reach White Orchard?


All of the alchemy items in your inventory replenish with meditation + 1 alcohol item. It's like recharging a battery.

If you don't have alcohol items, you can drop the empty potion vial that's in your inventory and the potion recipe will show up again under alchemy.