Ink Review: KWZ Honey

[AzJon]

Howdy Geeks! This is my first ink review. I recently picked up a bottle of KWZ Honey. I've been looking for a good gold/brown ink for a while and this one more than fit the bill.

This ink has some great shading and, unlike other inks of its ilk, is readable and could be used for taking notes and informal correspondence. It has good flow and can even be a little on the wetter side. That being said, on Rhodia, I didn't notice any feathering or bleed through, which is to be expected. I haven't tried it out on printer paper yet, but I will give an update when I do.

KWZ Honey isn't waterproof, but even letting water pool on the page for a few minutes, the lines are still surprisingly visible.

I do apologize for not having a broad nib to use during the review, though I imagine the result will be very similar to the flex writing.

Enjoy

[AzJon]

Wow. Those images came out more yellow than I thought they would. I will do a scan of them tomorrow at work and upload them!

[Lady Onogaro]

Thank you for your images. They are very pretty!

[AzJon]

Ok, here is a scan of the images that isn't quite as yellow. Hooray!

[AzJon]

Ah, figured it out...I hope.

[bluesea]

Interesting that the scan took Toffee Brown from its yellow-red tint to violet.

[AzJon]

Interesting that the scan took Toffee Brown from its yellow-red tint to violet.

It is quite interesting. It looks more like the scan on my paper than the picture above, but it is quite the drastic change. I've really only liked Toffee Brown on cream colored paper, to be honest.

[penwash]

A very nice golden-brown ink.
Aptly named.
It's sweet!

[TSherbs]

I love Noodler's Golden Brown. This is very nice, too. Thanks for the review.

[EHV]

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

[AzJon]

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

Hey there,

not sure if you ever got a response for this elsewhere, but I, too, have a bottle of pre-refomulation and I've cleaned this out of my pens a plenty of times with no discernible sent left over.

Hope that helps.

[dfo]

Wow, this post made me realize that I want a bottle of Diamine Golden Brown.

Do the KWZ non-iron gall inks leave the sticky residue in pens like their iron gall brethren? I have a bottle of KWZ Turquoise and Mandarin that sit unused, but I am interested in Konrad's standard ink line.

[KKay]

I don't know about the Honey (although I do have a sample), but the Grapefruit smell is coming out of my converter. You can smell it when you take the barrel off the pen. It is kinda stout, but I don't mind it. The barrel is on most of the time anyway. I'd rather have it a little powerful, than moldy.

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

[AzJon]

Wow, this post made me realize that I want a bottle of Diamine Golden Brown.

Do the KWZ non-iron gall inks leave the sticky residue in pens like their iron gall brethren? I have a bottle of KWZ Turquoise and Mandarin that sit unused, but I am interested in Konrad's standard ink line.

Well, I haven't used any of Konrad's IG inks (yet), but I wouldn't say any of the inks leave a residue. IIRC, the standard turquoise was pretty highly saturated and took a number of flushes to clean, but no residues left that I can remember.

[EHV]

Thanks very much! I've actually held off using it because I was fearful that the smell would remain in a converter or worse, the barrel of a piston filler.

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

Hey there,






not sure if you ever got a response for this elsewhere, but I, too, have a bottle of pre-refomulation and I've cleaned this out of my pens a plenty of times with no discernible sent left over.

Hope that helps.

[EHV]

Grapefruit, (or honey) wouldn't be so bad but the biocide, chemical scent if off-putting. I also tend to shy away from the scented inks even though they may smell good......or at least, better than biocide.

I don't know about the Honey (although I do have a sample), but the Grapefruit smell is coming out of my converter. You can smell it when you take the barrel off the pen. It is kinda stout, but I don't mind it. The barrel is on most of the time anyway. I'd rather have it a little powerful, than moldy.

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

[Empty_of_Clouds]

KWZI is a little costly to get from here, but the comparison has raised another ink as an option - Diamine Sepia. Going to have to look into that one.

[AzJon]

KWZI is a little costly to get from here, but the comparison has raised another ink as an option - Diamine Sepia. Going to have to look into that one.

As a comparison (stolen from the Inkcyclopedia) you can see that the Sepia has a bit of an orange undertone vs the yellow in Honey. Sepia would probably be best, or at least more interesting, in a broader/wetter nib.

Edit: it is worth noting that the Inkcyclopedia is done on copier paper, IIRC, so the shading isn't as pronounced.

[KKay]

No, the Grapefruit smell isn't Grapefruit. The smell is sort of strange, I cannot describe it correctly. It definitely isn't a fruit like smell. It is more of a chemical type, but not bad to me.
After I saw this post, I went to go get the Honey sample I have. (it came from a friend) It had a very similar smell to the Grapefruit ink, but not as strong. Maybe somebody else can describe the smell a little better. Like I said, I don't mind the smell at all.

Grapefruit, (or honey) wouldn't be so bad but the biocide, chemical scent if off-putting. I also tend to shy away from the scented inks even though they may smell good......or at least, better than biocide.

I don't know about the Honey (although I do have a sample), but the Grapefruit smell is coming out of my converter. You can smell it when you take the barrel off the pen. It is kinda stout, but I don't mind it. The barrel is on most of the time anyway. I'd rather have it a little powerful, than moldy.

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

[AzJon]

No, the Grapefruit smell isn't Grapefruit. The smell is sort of strange, I cannot describe it correctly. It definitely isn't a fruit like smell. It is more of a chemical type, but not bad to me.
After I saw this post, I went to go get the Honey sample I have. (it came from a friend) It had a very similar smell to the Grapefruit ink, but not as strong. Maybe somebody else can describe the smell a little better. Like I said, I don't mind the smell at all.

Grapefruit, (or honey) wouldn't be so bad but the biocide, chemical scent if off-putting. I also tend to shy away from the scented inks even though they may smell good......or at least, better than biocide.

I don't know about the Honey (although I do have a sample), but the Grapefruit smell is coming out of my converter. You can smell it when you take the barrel off the pen. It is kinda stout, but I don't mind it. The barrel is on most of the time anyway. I'd rather have it a little powerful, than moldy.

I wanted to revisit this review to ask a question if I may. I have a bottle of KWZ Honey from just prior to the reformulation and the smell is absolutely overwhelming. As I understand it, this is from the biocide(s) used in the formula.
The reformulated version is not supposed to have this strong smell.

My question is; has anyone had an issue with the smell remaining in their pen or converter after finishing the fill or changing ink colors?
I'm actually hesitant to use the ink for fear of never getting rid of the biocide smell.

Thank you!

Eric

Honestly, I smell vinegar. Or something similar to it. I assumed it was an acid in the ink.