Sam's unusual ink reviews

[Sammyo]

OK, so here is the preamble...

I was a long time fountain pen user, but I was a newbie to the world of real fountain pen madness...

A member of this forum took me under their wing and gave me some ink samples to help truly ingratiate me into this world (not named for obvious reasons!). They asked me what colours I was interested in trying and I said brown-y, red-y, orange-y colours. I was about to adventure outside of Quink / Cross black, blue and blue-black... I was in a new world. So as I inked up pens and used the inks I started to also give them feedback about how I felt about each ink through personal messages. As they gave me the inks, it was not an ink review about colours, dry times, shading, feathering, bleed through, etc... it was about how they made me feel and how I liked them or not. They are typically very short and casual in nature.

As part of the conversation, the person said that they enjoyed and were entertained by my ramblings. So offhand I said I thought about posting them here, but I was unsure and a bit embarrassed as they are not your typical review, just my personal feelings about the inks. The person said "Don't be shy about posting them in the Ink Reviews forum. Let other people enjoy them too!"... so, here we are... do not expect in depth details about how an ink behaves or works with different papers, but whimsical, light hearted feelings about the ink. Also be aware that they are in chronological order of how they were inked up and I have not posted the responses, so if anything seems off or odd this may be the reason. They pick up steam as I get more relaxed able to be myself.

So let us begin...

[Sammyo]

Diamine Ox Blood
Pen: Cross Century II, US <M> nib
I like the colour... I really like the colour... but it just doesn't grab me. I like writing with it; I like how it looks; I think it is very well named; it was one I really wanted to try... However it is missing that special something. It feels very flat and doesn't grab you by the throat like I thought it would.

Verdict: Nice to look at, nice to write with, happy I tried it... but I wouldn't buy a full bottle.

[Sammyo]

Mon Blanc Toffee Brown
Pen: Parker 45, European <F> nib
Squeeeeeeee! From the first letter I knew I was going to like it. When I reach for a pen to take a note, I now find myself gravitating towards the pen with this flirtatious ink inside. I love the way it hues from a rich brown to a sweet golden edge. It pulls at your pig tails and tells you it loves you. This ink has the ability to take on so many forms and so many expressions within a sentence. It plays with the pen, even through a fine nib it can blend and shade from letter to letter.

Verdict: Currently my favourite brown. Top of class Mr. Blanc, You are now on my Amazon wish list.

[Sammyo]

Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pen: Staedtler Calligraphy, italic <F> nib
Wow... so much lighter than I had imagined it in my head! maybe I need to make the nib a bit wetter? but still a very attractive colour. I think I had built this up way too much in my head. This was going to be the colour I fell in love with; this was going to be the only ink I would need to buy... well... maybe not. I think i will buy a small bottle, and I did write all the insides of our Christmas cards with it. I liked it, but I will try some in the Sheaffer calligraphy pen with its, wet broad italic nib. I think I will get more out of it that way. I'm glad I only put about 0.9ml into the Staedtler.

Verdict: Very disappointing :( maybe it's just me? maybe it's the pen?

[Sammyo]

Noodler's Antietam
Pen: Platinum Century #3776 Bourgogne, Asian <F> nib
A nice deep red to pair with this pen... at first I felt very underwhelmed and I didn't know why either. It was a nice colour; it matched the pen well; it flowed very nicely, it wrote nicely; it was wet from a very fine nib... so what was wrong... I didn't know... then I stopped wring on cheap copy paper... The ink came to life on good paper, not even Rhodia, at work I have an Ampad Gold Fibre notepad and I stopped writing... it looked so different... this super fine nib was shading wonderfully... WOW!
I was taken, I wrote more, what was this? what had changed? I really like this ink! the way it is so red, but can almost shade to an orange in areas without loosing it's "redness". It was so much more than the Diamine Ox Blood, that felt muddy and cold next to this. I like the way it felt vibrant and almost "shiny", it was welcoming and bright, but still had that depth of "bloodiness" which the name suggested. The more I wrote the more I liked, this is now my benchmark for reds, I look forward to seeing and trying more.

Verdict: Me like!, I have added this to my possible buy list... or maybe even my definite buy list... It will be bought at some point...

[Sammyo]

Diamine Golden Brown
Pen: GSP cloisonne, adjusted Asian <F>, now more like a western <F> / Asian <M>
This is a very interesting colour, I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. After the Mont Blanc Toffee Brown it was a different beast. Much lighter, much yellower, more... golden! I liked it, I wasn't sure how much until I took the pen to work and spent a day with it. I think part of it is how well it matches the pen, to me it looks like some saw the pen and mixed a colour to match. The ink lights up the page as I write, it changes to lighter and darker hues from word to word and letter to letter. At first I thought the nib hadn't dried fully, but as the days passed I realised that was not it. It just hues and shades really nicely. As the ink warmed the pages, the colour warmed my heart. I felt good when I was writing with it, the ink on the paper made me feel... happy! I have really grown to like this ink, it is a major contender to Mont Blanc Toffee Brown... but it is not, it is so different. The Mont Blanc Toffee Brown is an every day usage hue, it blends into work books but still looks special and nice. The Diamine Golden Brown is a special colour that always stands out, always looks different. I am going to do a side by side of the two and see which takes me more. For now they are equal for different reasons and different uses.

Verdict: On review I would buy the Mont Blanc over this, but I may but samples from time to time to put in the GSP pen

[Sammyo]

Pelikan Edelstein Amber
Pen: Scheaffer Target Touchdown, European <M> nib
Love, love, love this ink! It is wet and lubricating and shadeing and bright and subtle and subdued and alive all at the same time! HOW!
I feel that if I had a bottle with a mosquito in it, I would be able to extract dinosaur blood and recreate the magnificent beast. I find myself wanting to use the pen because I love the ink, but not wanting to use it because it would then run out Oh! What a dilema! l like it as much as I like Diamine Autumn Oak. They feel very similar to me, like family members that grew up in different countries. They are so different, yet they share so many qualities. I like them both for all the same reasons. I'm so glad I put this ink in a wide, wet nibbed, medium so that I could enjoy it properly.

Verdict: Favourite so far, I would definitely buy a bottle... after I decide between this and Autumn Oak... AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!

[Laura N]

Excellent work, and well done posting. I confess to having felt like the only person in all of fountain pen land who does not like Apache Sunset. I am glad to find another. :)

[Sammyo]

Diamine Sunset
Pen: Jinhao X250, Western <M> nib?
Very... bright... mmm... yes... bright!
But an hour later... darker... a day later light and bright... then darker... I think this is due to the cheap pen, the feed is very inconsistent and the nib does strange things too.
Either way I do like it! There is some very visible shading that I enjoy, and when it is wetter and darker, I think I like it even more. It is such a rich colour, I don't think I could use this in an EDC. pen but like to have it inked up and have found myself using the pen for the ink, even though I don't like the pen!
I don't know if I would buy a full bottle, but I might be tempted to get another sample in the future and put it in a better pen... you know, just to be fair to the ink.

Verdict: I like it but would not buy more... only a possible sample size for now

[Sammyo]

J Herbin Lie de The
Pen: Platinum Century #3776 Bourgogne, Asian <F> nib
Oooooooooo.... I do like this!!! Here I am trying to choose some favourite colours and every time I ink up a pen... it's another star... I do think that I save the good inks for this pen though
Even with it's Asian <F> nib it shades, it's golden light colour just pours out of the pen. I don't know if it's because I'm English and it is the colour of "tea" but I feel an affinity with this ink. I smile as I write, I enjoy seeing the ink glide onto the paper and then watching it visibly darken and create more shading as it dries. I try to uｓe all of my pens on a rotation for work, but I have found myself picking up this pen more and more for work just because of how much I like this ink.

I really like it and am seriously thinking about buying a bottle... but what about the Mont Blanc Toffee Brown!!! and the Diamine Golden Brown!!!! this is like torture!!!!! It is funny how I have used all of these brown inks in <F> nibbed pens! I will have to sit down one day and review them all together and then put some in a wider nibbed pen.

I think I have found the type of colour that I naturally enjoy writing with... brown...

Verdict: This is a wonderful ink, I love this in the fine Platinum nib... too many ins that I love! I must finish them all before I decide what should be purchased... You are cruel to torture me like this!!!

[Sammyo]

Toucan Sienna
Pen: Parker 45, European <F> nib
Why do you torture me!!!!!
Another beautiful ink! it is like a redder version of Edelstein Amber, like Edelstein Amber and Anteitam had a baby ink. More wonderful shading, more tones and hues, more joy when writing. The only thing I find with this ink is that it feels very dry, it doesn't lubricate the nib very well. Because of this I am sometimes reluctant to pick up the pen, which is a shame as it is one of my favourite EDCs. I have tried quite a few inks in this pen and this is the first time that I have seen this. I am tempted to add a drop of water to it to see if it helps... I may see if it makes any difference or if it just separates first...

Verdict: There are better inks in this colour and shade range... but I do still like it a lot :)

But no!! I have mad scientist like ideas at times... After a pen fill there is not always enough left for another full fill... I could try mixing some of the left over inks!!! Mwahahahahaaaaa! trial and error, hope they mix successfully and give me more insane ink tests!!! It's alive... ALIVE!!!!!

[Sammyo]

Akkerman's Hobjesbuin
Pen: Scheaffer Target Touchdown, European <M> nib
Another ink I have been wanting to try. I had held off until I could put it in my broadest nibbed pen. I really like this ink, I love the light, almost yellow based shading. It dries a lot lighter than it goes down, unfortunately I prefer the color before it dries... The second bad thing was that I wrote with it for the first time right next to the Pelikan Edelstein Amber (PEA)... and l prefered that ink. I like both a lot, just that after the Hopjesbruin dries next to the PEA it felt flat by comparison, it made the PEA look three dimensional. l think that if I had written with it on a different page, I would have had a much better feeling from it.

Looking at it again after a break, and hiding the PEA, I really like it, the softness of the colour, the shading. The way it shades so much makes you unsure if it is a brown with golden shading or a golden orange with brown shading... It doesn't seem to flow evenly from the nib, which I find odd! Sometimes it is like the paper is waxy or greasy. I don't know if you ever had that!?! I'll write more and hope that it was just that page. Anyway, I will will write more and I get the feeling it will grow on me more.

Verdict: If it stayed the colour that it went down before drying it would jump higher up the list... but for me the Pelikan Edelstein Amber wins out... but still the PEA / Diamine Autumn Oak battle rages on!!!

[Sammyo]

.... So that is it for now. I will update as I do more and can even add other colours that were not in the samples from that member if people want them...

Thank you, and I apologise...

[cwent2]

.... So that is it for now. I will update as I do more and can even add other colours that were not in the samples from that member if people want them...

Thank you, and I apologise...

Don't apologize, your impressions are better than I think I can do - your impressions are very descriptive and you paint a very good picture with words..... Well done and thank you - very conversational approach, makes me feel like I am sitting on the couch listening to your descriptions. J Herbin Lie de The sounds interesting I do have a color deficiency and it makes it difficult to choose inks based on the computer screen alone.

[Crazyorange]

Thanks for posting....off to get a sample of mon Blanc toffee brown. It even sounds yummy. Thanks for the fun read.

[Silverbreeze]

Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pen: Staedtler Calligraphy, italic <F> nib
Wow... so much lighter than I had imagined it in my head! maybe I need to make the nib a bit wetter? but still a very attractive colour. I think I had built this up way too much in my head. This was going to be the colour I fell in love with; this was going to be the only ink I would need to buy... well... maybe not. I think i will buy a small bottle, and I did write all the insides of our Christmas cards with it. I liked it, but I will try some in the Sheaffer calligraphy pen with its, wet broad italic nib. I think I will get more out of it that way. I'm glad I only put about 0.9ml into the Staedtler.

Verdict: Very disappointing :( maybe it's just me? maybe it's the pen?
You need a wider wet nib to really get Apache Sunset

[Sammyo]

Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pen: Staedtler Calligraphy, italic <F> nib
Wow... so much lighter than I had imagined it in my head! maybe I need to make the nib a bit wetter? but still a very attractive colour. I think I had built this up way too much in my head. This was going to be the colour I fell in love with; this was going to be the only ink I would need to buy... well... maybe not. I think i will buy a small bottle, and I did write all the insides of our Christmas cards with it. I liked it, but I will try some in the Sheaffer calligraphy pen with its, wet broad italic nib. I think I will get more out of it that way. I'm glad I only put about 0.9ml into the Staedtler.

Verdict: Very disappointing :( maybe it's just me? maybe it's the pen?
You need a wider wet nib to really get Apache Sunset

Sadly not everybody can like every ink, that is why there are so many out there to choose from. I decided during my ink journey that I either prefer brighter or earthier tones. The Apache Sunset sits in the middle of being either both or neither, but never in my happy place zone. I have looked up reviews and swatches and come to the conclusion, it is not the ink for me.

[Silverbreeze]

Oh it's too orange for me, but I wanted to be sure you gave it's gradients and shading a chance. It's an amazing formula

[Jeph]

I would like to see you try Diamine Ancient Copper. I would suggest the Parker 45 so you do not have to worry about the ink boogers.

[fncll]

I love these conversational-style, quick reviews. I look forward to more (I share a thing for brown inks, so I'm feeling like I'm starting to get dialed into your taste relative to my own)!

I also love the obsessively detailed, photo-laden reviews. There's room for all in this big tent!

[inlovewithjournals]

J. Herbin's Lie de Thé has long been a favorite of mine. Now you have convinced me I need Montblanc Toffee Brown as well..... :)

[Sammyo]

I would like to see you try Diamine Ancient Copper. I would suggest the Parker 45 so you do not have to worry about the ink boogers.

I have a sample, so as soon as the Toucan Sienna is out I will make that my next choice :)

[Sammyo]

I love these conversational-style, quick reviews. I look forward to more (I share a thing for brown inks, so I'm feeling like I'm starting to get dialed into your taste relative to my own)!

I also love the obsessively detailed, photo-laden reviews. There's room for all in this big tent!

Thank you, I was so unsure how these would go across, but the person that was reading them convinced me to do it... I am happy that you are enjoying them :)

[Sammyo]

J. Herbin's Lie de Thé has long been a favorite of mine. Now you have convinced me I need Montblanc Toffee Brown as well..... :)

Thank you, be aware that it is different beast to Lie de The... but it is definately a beautiful beast ;)

[Laura N]

Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pen: Staedtler Calligraphy, italic <F> nib
Wow... so much lighter than I had imagined it in my head! maybe I need to make the nib a bit wetter? but still a very attractive colour. I think I had built this up way too much in my head. This was going to be the colour I fell in love with; this was going to be the only ink I would need to buy... well... maybe not. I think i will buy a small bottle, and I did write all the insides of our Christmas cards with it. I liked it, but I will try some in the Sheaffer calligraphy pen with its, wet broad italic nib. I think I will get more out of it that way. I'm glad I only put about 0.9ml into the Staedtler.

Verdict: Very disappointing :( maybe it's just me? maybe it's the pen?
You need a wider wet nib to really get Apache Sunset

Sadly not everybody can like every ink, that is why there are so many out there to choose from. I decided during my ink journey that I either prefer brighter or earthier tones. The Apache Sunset sits in the middle of being either both or neither, but never in my happy place zone. I have looked up reviews and swatches and come to the conclusion, it is not the ink for me.

Me either. I've seen it quite a lot with wet, wide nibs, too. It's just not the ink for me, either. There's something I almost physically dislike about it. For me it's almost too much. Plus it's really hard to read, for me.

And I'm a person who loves inks that shade. As well as orange and yellow. Go figure. As you say, not everyone can like every ink.

[naimitsu]

Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pen: Staedtler Calligraphy, italic <F> nib
Wow... so much lighter than I had imagined it in my head! maybe I need to make the nib a bit wetter? but still a very attractive colour. I think I had built this up way too much in my head. This was going to be the colour I fell in love with; this was going to be the only ink I would need to buy... well... maybe not. I think i will buy a small bottle, and I did write all the insides of our Christmas cards with it. I liked it, but I will try some in the Sheaffer calligraphy pen with its, wet broad italic nib. I think I will get more out of it that way. I'm glad I only put about 0.9ml into the Staedtler.

Verdict: Very disappointing :( maybe it's just me? maybe it's the pen?
You need a wider wet nib to really get Apache Sunset

Sadly not everybody can like every ink, that is why there are so many out there to choose from. I decided during my ink journey that I either prefer brighter or earthier tones. The Apache Sunset sits in the middle of being either both or neither, but never in my happy place zone. I have looked up reviews and swatches and come to the conclusion, it is not the ink for me.

Me either. I've seen it quite a lot with wet, wide nibs, too. It's just not the ink for me, either. There's something I almost physically dislike about it. For me it's almost too much. Plus it's really hard to read, for me.

And I'm a person who loves inks that shade. As well as orange and yellow. Go figure. As you say, not everyone can like every ink.

I put the Apache Sunset in the 3.8mm Pilot Parrallel (just for you Sammyo!) and gave it a go.
Not a bad color, great shading with such a wet nib, but I think the faded yellow tones is what is keeping it from being a fantastic color for me. It only looks good on yellowish paper (like what is in my Moleskine notebook), but looks absolutely blah on white. I keep mentally reaching for Autumn Oak.

[Sammyo]

Here we go again :)
Noodler's Golden Brown
Pen: Parker Vector, European <M> nib
After the Diamine Golden Brown, I was very much looking forward to trying this ink. I inked up the pen and rushed to the paper to try it out... start up issues!!! in a pen that has been a workhorse with no issues... WHAT!!! I raised the converter screw and started again... Ever since it has been fine, that was very odd, but worth reporting.

So the important part, the colour... well... I am sad to report that I have changed enough nappies (diapers) to find this ink unappealing! It is definitely more golden than the Diamine, and probably deserves the name more. It has more shading, more variance in colour... but I think that doesn't help. I find it a very dry ink, it makes my smooth Vector nib feel... not scratchy, but... rough? I have had a number of inks in this pen and never had an issue. The thing I find worst is the nib creep... now before we go too far... I am not adverse to nib creep, I know it is part of owning a fountain pen. However, due to the colour of this nib creep, it looks like rust and it is from every pore of the nib. It just ruins the appeal of the a steel nibbed pen when it looks like rust, but it may be more acceptable on a gold nib.

In summary: I don't like the colour; I don't like the way it make the nib feel dry; I don't like the effect of the nib creep... BUT... if you like the colour, it shades very well, it behaves very well on the paper and it definitely deserves the name Golden Brown :)