In order to make a potion, you must choose 2 ingredients and then you can opt to add in a third.
Selecting one of these will open the list of ingredients that you know will create the effect. When you interact with an alchemy table, there will be a list of possible Potions that you can create, based on the ingredients in your inventory. Once you have a stockpile of known uses for ingredients, head over to an Alchemy table to start mixing up your own potions. Doing so will reveal the first property of that ingredient. In order to discover an ingredient's effect, you must first consume it by selecting it from your inventory menu. With potions, Alchemy is a little different from how it worked in Oblivion.
