This is the sixth and last in this batch of reviews, for Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown.

For a description of the bottle and box, please see the review of Diamine Crimson ink and for the Cult Pens variants please the review of Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue ink. In this case there were no small labels on the box or the bottle cap. The sole supplier is Cult Pens and the ink is low priced.

The test pen in this case was a black Pilot MR with a medium nib.

Water resistance was minimal yet again. Only faint lines were left under running water and lines were obliterated by water drops. Cleaning was very easy. The drying time was around 45 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

Nothing wrong with the performance of this ink, and I can confirm now that I have long since recovered from the cold I had – there is only a very faint chemical smell. I’m just not a fan of the colour. The scan looks darker than in reality.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Feathering is severe on this paper.

Yellow Post-It

Not too bad on this paper though.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Unusually this is better than the Ryman Memo Block.

Mnemosyne Word Card

A fairly true representation of the very dark brown, leaning very slightly towards red.

Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown – Conclusion

The performance overall is okay, with some reservations on the Ryman Memo Block paper, so worth a try if you like the colour. I’m very fussy about brown inks, and this isn’t one of my favourites, but I don’t actively dislike it.

Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown - Close Up

Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown

Cult Pens (Diamine) Deep Dark Brown - Word Card

The post Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

This is the seventh in this batch of ink reviews, for Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta ink.

Terracotta is a form of earthenware and the name is Italian for “baked earth”. According to Wikipedia, Terracotta is “brownish orange” making this a good fit for the colour of the ink.

The ink cost £7.75 (including VAT), for a 40ml bottle, from a UK supplier, which along with the other inks in this series I would class as moderately priced.

I gave descriptions of the box and bottle of the 150th Anniversary series in my review of Diamine Anniversary 1864 Blue Black Ink, so I won’t repeat them here. The only difference is that the backgrounds of the box and bottle labels are a close approximation of the Terracotta ink colour.

The test pen in this case was the Pilot Metropolitan Violet Leopard (maybe the worst colour match possible) with a medium nib.

This ink showed minimal water resistance and water drops obliterated text easily. Cleaning the test pen was easy. Drying time was around 25 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

This is an attractive ink which shades to dark brown where the ink collects. A small amount of smudging is present where the ink did collect.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Some feathering, but good performance overall.

Yellow Post-It

The ink takes on an interesting sepia tone on this paper, maybe due to the slightly thinner coverage than on the others.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Not too bad but moderate feathering and bleed.

Mnemosyne Word Card

A fairly accurate representation but doesn’t show the darker shading possible, around the top extreme edge.

Conclusion

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really into brown inks, but this one sits in the sweet spot of reddish or orangish brown inks which I do like. As such, I would find it useful for informal note taking.

Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta - Word Card

Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta

Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta - Close Up

Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta - Word Card

The post Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

The seventh in this batch of reviews is for Kaweco Caramel Brown Ink.

This ink was supplied free of charge by Kaweco. I was not paid to write the review, which is my honest assessment of the ink, and is not influenced by the fact it was supplied free of charge.

All the comments that I made regarding the bottle, box and cost of the ink in my Kaweco Pearl Black Ink Review apply to this case too, so I shall not repeat them here. The only difference in this case is that the front and top labels have white text on brown, matching the colour of the ink.

The test pen was a Pilot MR in black with a medium nib.

Water resistance was almost nil – only very faint lines were left after holding a writing sample under running water, and text was obliterated by water drops. Cleaning was easy, presumably a result of the low water resistance of the ink, but was interesting for such a dark ink.

The drying time was good at around 20 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

A good writing experience but the colour isn’t for me. The shading is interesting though.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

A good performance on this paper.

Yellow Post-It

Performance was okay on this paper.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

More spread, bleed and feathering than most of the other Kaweco inks.

Mnemosyne Word Card

A rich dark brown similar to the writing samples.

An updated image of the Word Card is here:

Conclusion

I wouldn’t really call this a caramel colour, more a chestnut brown. Ultimately it all comes down to taste and this ink doesn’t really appeal to me, but again the ink stands up as a good performer which can be relied on if you like the colour and the price.

Kaweco Caramel Brown - Word Card

Kaweco Caramel Brown - Close Up

Kaweco Caramel Brown

Kaweco Caramel Brown - Word Card

The post Kaweco Caramel Brown Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” ― Marilyn Monroe

What the heck brought that on?

The second in this batch of ink reviews, for Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses, that’s what!

I will defer to Mr Tardiff again for the story behind this ink (which bears more significance than normal this year):

This 3 oz bottle came from my preferred Ebay supplier and so I would consider it moderately priced. The bottle and box are the usual fare. The test pen on this occasion was a Pilot MR White Tiger with a Medium nib – a nice match it was too.

There was partial water resistance. Cleaning was easy enough, but with the same sooty deposits as Black Swan in Australian Roses. Drying time was on the long side at 1 minute – this really does seem to be a feature of deeply saturated reds.

As this is another shading ink, I tried the snappily titled “cotton bud on a Ryman Memo Block sheet” test again, to great effect. Not only did it show up the full range of colours this ink is capable of, but also revealed a greenish gold metallic sheen in some areas. Very nice too.

I like it so much you get to look at it twice.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

On this paper it’s a rather nice, if a little understated, brownish red, with a hint of burgundy. A very nice notetaker, and the shading shows. I checked the smell again, and its still fruity but the vinegar hint has gone.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Nice shading again, a good experience.

Yellow Post-It

Good again, with a nice contrast, despite a little skipping.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Some feathering, but little bleed through and spreading. A good experience. I was expecting the colour to mute a little, but it didn’t.

I originally messed this review sample up – I mislabeled it and it appeared on the wrong review first time around. When amending the sample for rescanning I used a pen with a different nib – resulting in more feathering and more bleed through, showing how sensitive this ink is to the pen used.

Mnemosyne Word Card

Truly bizarre – this looks like a different ink – and not a very nice one either. More brown than red, like a washed out terracotta. If I had seen this before buying the ink I probably wouldn’t have bothered.

An updated image of the Word Card is here:

Conclusion

I have tried this ink with other pens (including flex), and the results can be as variable as with different papers.

I wish this ink was waterproof, and quicker drying, but I will embrace those imperfections with good grace. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if this ink had to be reformulated to change it’s colour and behaviour it would be a tragedy. I’m more than happy to live with its foibles, and it has become easily one of my favourite inks.

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Word Card

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Sheen

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Close Up

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Shading

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Word Card

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses - Close Up

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses

Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses

The post Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

The final review in this set does have some backstory. This Organics Studio ink is named after Edgar Allan Poe, the American author “well known for his contributions to science fiction, mystery, and macabre” (according to the label of the box). It’s often difficult to determine why particular inks are named after notable people, but in this case it’s easy – if you wanted to write a gothic poem or novel in long hand, then why not use an ink that is best described as looking like dried blood?

This was the first Organics Studio ink I ordered – and I must confess it was based purely on the name and colour combination – I am that shallow. I couldn’t find a supplier in the UK (although there is a supplier for the Elements series). Although the ink itself was cheap from the US, the shipping costs pushed the total cost almost into the “expensive” category.

The box is functional brown cardboard, with a label that (for a charge) is more elaborate than the label on the bottle). The bottle is plastic (unusual for inks in my experience), but reminiscent of the Noodler’s 3oz bottles (albeit smaller). The neck of the bottle is adequate (difficult to see how is could be larger, given the size of the bottle. All the packaging reflects the modest price of the ink, and I have no problem with this.

The test pen in this case was a Pilot MR White Tiger, which I decided to try with this ink as soon as it arrived. It’s a strange combination, and wasn’t originally intended to serve as full blown ink test, so the ink stayed in the pen for much longer than normal for one of my ink reviews – and I regularly found myself picking up the pen to take notes.

The ink has little water resistance (leaving a little staining on the paper) and text was easily obscured by a few drops of water. This is a paradox, because the ink proved to be one of the most difficult I have ever tried to clean out of a pen. Water alone would not remove it from the MR feed (neither would diluted ammonia). It only finally succumbed (after copious washing to clear the ammonia) to the pen flush formula by Stephen Brown. No more staining on a kitchen towel after that.

Another feature of this ink is that its after a few days in the pen, what I can only describe as a “crusty gunk” started to appear on the nib either side of the slit and around the edges of the feed. Flow was not affected at first, but it was eventually and I had to push a few drops of ink through the pen, after which flow was restored.

Drying time was around 50 seconds, which if anything seemed a little short compared to the tendency to smudge on Rhodia. However I ran the test again and got the same result.

All of the writing tests exaggerate a red wine tinge, which is present but not so pronounced in reality. If anything the rusty brown notes are less pronounced in the scans.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The ink writes well (when flow is not compromised) and I really like the colour, but the handwriting sample shows my mixed feelings about the ink. I’m not sure why I was so equivocal about it looking like dried blood – of course it does. Whether is is really brownish (rusty?) red (or reddish brown) is still up for debate, although there is a strong hint of red wine. Some smudging was apparent.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

After getting to the Field Notes paper I realised the ink was actually running out, so I refilled the pen and re-ran some of the writing tests, bit flow on this a paper was not so good.

Yellow Post-It

After refilling performance was okay, although the ink smudged easily, so I’m still surprised by the drying time.

Field Note – Pitch Black

This is the test where I realised something was off – and refilled the pen. The contrast at the bottom of the page is clear (along with the extra feathering) – you’ll have to take my word for the increased bleed.

Mnemosyne Word Card

The red wine tinge is less pronounced than in the writing samples.

Conclusion

This ink is a real mixed bag. The gunk and poor flow would be enough to put me off, and if it wasn’t for the colour I wouldn’t use it again. I will give it another try though, but only in a pen that is as easy to clean as the Pilot MR. When I do I’ll post any updates as comments.

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