Brown ink suggestions?

[Torus34]

I'm a newbie to today's world of fountain pens and inks. I'm working on my cursive writing using both medium and fine nibs. I've two pens in the $20 quality range. Both can be filled from bottled ink, though I'm now using cartridges.

Would anyone care to recommend a brown ink, preferably not too light and hopefully not too expensive, for general letter writing?

Thank you.

[stevekolt]

Diamine Chocolate Brown works well for me...

[bunnspecial]

MB Toffee Brown is my favorite brown ink, period, but it's on the pricier side of "normal"(non-LE) inks.

Waterman Absolute is a nice general use brown that's not as pricey. I don't like Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown as much, but it's out there and also not terrible in price.

Noodler's Standard Brown and Walnut are both decently behaved IME and not too pricey either.

[FredRydr]

MB Toffee is my favorite, too. But like Waterman's other basic formulations, Havana Brown is a classic. (Is it still called that? I still have plenty of the old label bottles.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Monteverde Brown Sugar. Under $10, nice bottle, well-behaved, dark enough. Also their Moonstone, which is actually a deep green-brown, similar properties. I have a Wing Sung 601 (this is a Parker 51 lookalike) always filled with Moonstone.

[Torus34]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

I can now Amazon up a bottle of ink with some confidence.

May your pen never leak when you forgot to use your pocket protector.

Regards.

Esprit de l'escalier. Should cheap fountain pen sets include pocket protectors?

[Yazeh]

There are many browns you can choose from. It also depends if you prefer an ink which is waterproof or no. And then the type of paper:
Check this link for sepia inks:
https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/20...out-sepia-ink/

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for the reminder, Yazeh….I'd also suggest Mountain of Ink:

https://mountainofink.com

Niiice handwriting on that ink blog.

[Prettypenguin]

J. Herbin has a few brown inks I like, in tiny bottles and 6 cartridge packs. Lie de Thé is the browniest of them. If your pen is a wet writer, or paper tends to feather, I would use Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown. The Waterman Havana Brown (as a Cuban, it will always be Havana brown to me) is pretty and economical. Both Pelikan and Waterman are on Amazon.

[Torus34]

Thanks again, all.

I'm given to a degree of frugality [My Lady uses another word; c___p,] so my first go will be with the Pelican Brilliant Brown. There's a long winter ahead, so there's l;ots of time to explore further if it proves not to be what I'm after.

Again, thank you all for helping a newbie recently returned to fountain pens, ink, and cursive script.

Best wishes to you and yours.

[Chrissy]

I would agree with Fred and go for Waterman Brown. Pelikan inks can feel a little dry sometimes.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Chrissy makes an excellent point. A dry ink in a dry pen could result in a miserable writing experience. If I could recount all the pen/ink mistakes I've made it would take pages...though some of the experiments were fun.

Then there's paper! Ink will behave differently on different papers, even if it's the same ink, same pen.

Welcome to Wonderland.

[FredRydr]

Waterman now calls it "Absolute Brown," and it may have a brown label or a slick blue label. At least the glass bottle appears to remain the same.

[JohnUphill]

I suggest you visit some online sites such as Vanness or Anderson where you can purchase samples to get a better idea of what would work for you. My basic brown is Diamine Macassar, but I use several.

[FredRydr]

Yesterday I filled a ca. 1946 Sheaffer Crest Vac-Fill with a brown ink I hadn’t used for years: Herbin Cafe de Isles. Alas, I had forgotten that I didn’t like its light creamy brown color, reminiscent of a used nappy. Today I flushed it (pun intended) and refilled from an equally neglected bottle of Havana Brown (a/k/a Absolute Brown). Much better!

[DrPenfection]

I agree with JohnUphill. Samples are always a way to try out inks. You may also wish to look at the ink samples at Goulet Pens - https://www.gouletpens.com/collections/ink-samples.

There are many people who don't purchase bottles of ink - they buy samples because they like variety.

[Cyril]

I am a fan of Brown ink and I'll add all the great Brown inks ( By the way... it is my personal preference and it could be totally different to others choice.)
@Fred . I have That waterman' s brown as the new label as absolutely brown. It is a fantastic ink for any pen. ( So waterman's inks are the "doctor ink" for all bad pens. )

[Chrissy]

I agree with JohnUphill. Samples are always a way to try out inks. You may also wish to look at the ink samples at Goulet Pens - https://www.gouletpens.com/collections/ink-samples.

There are many people who don't purchase bottles of ink - they buy samples because they like variety.

Totally agree. When trying out a new ink, samples are definitely the way to go before investing in an expensive bottle of an ink you might not like. Guess how I know this.

[Chrissy]

I am a fan of Brown ink and I'll add all the great Brown inks ( By the way... it is my personal preference and it could be totally different to others choice.)

I'm also quite a fan of brown inks and have more than I will ever need. I always thought it was because I don't like using black inks, and some grey inks are also too dark, so brown is a good alternative

[dmccullo]

Noodlers has 5 or 6 Brown inks my friend love golden brown...19011-scaled.jpg