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INK REVIEW: FOUR FABULOUS BLUE INKS (Part 2)

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Last week, I took a really close look at four fabulous blue inks.

Some of these inks are not easy to find. Let’s take a look and see if we can figure this thing out…
Sailor Bung Box Sapphire


After a little searching, I’ve found some sources for Bung Box inks . . . 
Rumor has it Cool-Japan had them over on eBay at one time. As of this writing, there are no Bung Box inks listed, I’ve bought ink from Cool Japan in the past and had a great experience.

The bottles and packaging look amazing and I’ve definitely enjoyed using the sample Gerald sent me. 

Here’s the trouble: money.  The Bung Box inks are not cheap – add in some shipping (from Japan!) charges, and you’re at right around $45-50 per bottle. Yikes.
Parker Penman Sapphire would also be a good substitute for Bung Box Sapphire. Because the Penman ink is no longer available, I’ve listed some good replacements in that section.  Zoom down to see.
Bottom Line:  If $ isn’t a concern, go for it. It’s a great-looking and well-performing ink – you wouldn’t be disappointed. If $ is a concern, DC Supershow Blue is a fine alternative.

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium


Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium is only available from Goulet Pens. The good news is that Goulet Pens has a fantastic reputation in the fountain pen community for excellent customer service. They will also ship overseas.

I shop at Goulet Pens regularly and mention them frequently. I’m not related to the Goulet’s, I receive no discounts, free product, special treatment, or anything else from them. Unfortunately, in our relationship – the money only flows in the one direction 😉

PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue




I got mine direct from the Netherlands. Shipping was fast, seemed reasonable (though I was buying multiple bottles), and everything arrived in good condition.

Vanness Pen Shop also carries Akkerman inks. You’ll have to call or email them for specifics.

It’s expensive. The Akkerman bottles are super-fancy and they’ve come a long distance. If you don’t want to put out the money, my strong recommendation is Diamine Majestic Blue (see image below).

Parker Penman Sapphire


No longer available, there are some inky recipes out there for replacing Penman Sapphire. A quick search turned up these two links for you . . . 

Another Parker Penman Sapphire Replacement

The difficulty here is that while I think it is possible to get the color right (or at least close enough), I’m feeling pretty certain that it’s quite impossible to get the feel of Parker Penman right on target. That is to say this: the color is only part of what makes an ink so special. The feel of the sample I had is wonderfully different from all of the other blues here and I seriously doubt that mixing 6.5 drops of ink #1 with 3.75 drops of ink #2 is going to result in that same feel* – and without that, well, there are plenty of off the shelf colors that come close enough.  Have a look . . .

   
   

Some of the above ink swabs are showing the sheen – and maybe you’re thinking Penman Sapphire doesn’t have much sheen here or in my review from last week, but look at this review over on FPN – crazy sheen.

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire also looks like a good sub for Parker Penman Sapphire, but there are difficulties in obtaining that ink, too. (See the above section for those details.)

Bottom Line – DC Supershow Blue is the color I would choose if I was trying to match the color of Parker Penman Sapphire.

Of course, you could search eBay for it, but there are rumors that it was discontinued because it may contain metallic bits (hello, sheen) in it and it causes pens to clog. I’ve not had trouble with it in my Pilot Metorpolitan, however.

* Did you know that mixing inks can be an invitation for Major Trouble? Some inks don’t play well with others and you could end up with a blobby globby mess – in your pen. Some mixtures will take some time to form the blobby globby mess and by the time it does, you may have already loaded it into your pen. Be careful.

Annnnnd…that’s that!  Four Fabulous Blue Inks. This has been a fun fun project and I really have to thank Gerald again for sending me samples of some of these inks. If you’re not following me and Gerald on Instagram, you simply must.

You tell me . . . Are you going shopping for one of these? Or maybe you have another favorite blue ink?

IN-DEPTH REVIEW: Four Fabulous Blues

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I’m so excited to bring you this super-charged review of four fabulous blue inks:

  • Sailor Bung Box Sapphire
  • Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium
  • Akkerman Shocking Blue
  • Parker Penman Sapphire

First, a huge and happy shout-out to my Instagram buddy, @mycoffeepot. Gerald provided me with generous samples of Sailor Bung Box Sapphire and Penman Sapphire. He’s a fountain pen nerd (in the best way possible) and if you’re not following him on Instagram, you should be.

Second, let me tell you how I worked this thing:  I loaded up four Pilot Metropolitan (medium nib) fountain pens and got to writing on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper. Lots of writing. So much writing. Then, I set everything aside and didn’t think about these inks for a couple of days. Finally, I wrote just a little more with each of the inks to see if my initial thoughts changed with a little time and separation.

Third, let me spoil things just a little here. You could, seriously, choose any of these four inks and be pretty happy.  They each write wonderfully, flow is great in the Metropolitan, and the color and saturation are right up there with some of the best inks I’ve tried.  These are truly four fabulous blue inks.

Let’s dive in!

Number 1 above will always be Number 1 (Sailor Bung Box Sapphire) below – same for Number 2, 3, and 4.  I think I could have organized things a little better for you, but you’ll figure it out – I’m confident 😉

Smear Testing . . . 

I wrote a little and then smeared across the writing. Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium (number 2) and Penman Sapphire look like the winners here. Then, I scribbled back and forth over the same area three times and smeared that – same winners.

Water Smear Testing . . . 

I wrote, let it dry, and then went over my writing with a dampened cotton swab. The clear winner is Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium. I’d say that the other three inks are about even in their resistance to water.

So, which would you choose?

Still too hard to decide?  Let’s take a closer look.  (Warning: this is where things get really long.)

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire Review . . . 

A solid medium blue, maybe not as saturated as the others. Not especially bright, no muddiness to the color. Just straight up blue.

Some nice shading. Would love to give this a go with a super broad nib because I’m seeing some pretty nice red/purple sheen in there, too.

Decent dry times.

 Definitely not water resistant.

And it’s pretty smeary when tested with a highlighter.

My thoughts on Sailor Bung Box Sapphire:

  • i love the color and it’s suitable for any writing occasion
  • nice shading and some serious potential for sheen
  • this ink can be hard to find
  • once you find it, shipping costs may make the whole thing too expensive

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium Review . . .

Pure bright blueness.  

Not a lot of shading and definitely no sheen.

It’s interesting, I wrote in my initial review that this ink is supposed to be water-resistant. I’m positive this writing and the one above had been sitting for at least ten minutes when I dropped the water onto it. Maybe it needs to sit even longer? It’s also supposed to be semi-bullet-proof. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but there you go.

My thoughts on Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium . . . 
  • this is an ink i own and love
  • the bright color may mean it’s not suitable for some professional settings
  • it’s only available through Goulet Pens – if you’re outside of the US or don’t want to order online, you may be out of luck
  • i’m not finding it particularly water-resistant even though it’s advertised as such

PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue Review . . . 


A rich, dark, blue with a reputation for some fantastic red sheen.

Good shading . . .

Nice sheen . . .

It does just ok on the smearing tests . . .

Yikes. I wrote the word “DRAG” and then dragged a wet cotton swab over the writing after the ink had dried. Crazy, right?

And given the above, the below highlight test probably isn’t too much of a surprise.

My thoughts on PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue . . .

  • crazy sheening potential from this super-saturated ink
  • fun bottles
  • this ink can be hard to find and international shipping can be expensive. Vanness Pen Shop (in the US) carries the Akkerman line
  • zero water resistance


Parker Penman Sapphire Review . . . 

True blue, dark blue, saturated blue.

Lots of shading and color variation . . .

Great dry time . . .

Not so great water-resistance . . .

Just ok on the highlight testing . . . 
My thoughts on Penman Sapphire . . .
  • i love everything about it – the writing experience is different from all of the others – maybe a little bit more lubrication than the others?
  • impossible to get (i didn’t know this until i started writing the review, but it was the smallest of the samples that Gerald sent and I knew there must be a reason)



That’s it (enough already!) for today.
Just one quick question for you:  which would you choose?
I’ll be back next week with more on these inks. Specifically, I’ll be looking at suitable substitutes for each.  You know, in case you don’t have a time machine so you can pick up a bottle or two of Penman Sapphire 😉
In the meantime, here are links to some full-size images for you (they’re big!) . . . 
Sailor Bung Box Sapphire Writing Sample and Review
Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium Writing Sample and Review
PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue Writing Sample and Review
Penman Sapphire Writing Sample and Review
Four Inks Compared
Ink Swabs (note, these are a bit out of order)

INK REVIEW and COMPARISON: Yama-budo -vs- Black Swan in Australian Roses

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-vs-

Back in January, I did a quickie review of Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses (BSIAR) – I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it.  A week or so ago, I received a larger sample of it along with a sample of Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo.

I’d heard so many wonderful things about about Yama-budo that I didn’t wait too long to ink my Pelikan M320 and take it for a spin.

And because I was inking pens, I inked a Lamy Al-Star with BSIAR and decided to compare and contrast it with Yama-budo.

In each of my pairs of writing, Yama-budo will be on top.

The color of each reminds me of grapes. I’d originally said that BSIAR was bordeaux in color and my first thought about Yama-budo was that it reminded me of melty grape sorbet. In looking at the colors right next to each other, I’m confident with each of those descriptions. Yama-budo looks fresh and BSIAR has a more aged look to it. Yama-budo is a bit brighter while BSIAR has a little muddiness to its darker color.

Shading? They both shade, but there seems to be more variation with Yama-budo. Yama-budo goes from an almost bright pink to a deeper purple color while BSIAR seems to remain various shades of the same color.

Saturation is about equal (and very good) with both inks.

I experienced no trouble writing with either ink. Flow was good, neither was excessively wet nor dry. Each is a good quality ink.

There’s no feathering, or bleed through with either. Yama-budo did have some ghosting on Clairefontaine paper, but just when dotting the letter i in a couple of places – so minor that I almost didn’t mention it.

Yama-budo was more likely to smear right out of the gate, but by the time 30 seconds had passed, things were just about even.

Again, Yama-budo on top and BSIAR under . . .

I regularly write in all caps…

Here’s the entire review sheet . . .

Click Here to see it full size (it’s huge).

So, what’s my bottom line?  I’ve ordered a full-sized bottle of Yama-budo. While the color difference isn’t huge, the brightness and amount of shading made all of the difference for me.

There are so many ink choices out there that it is the subtle things that make all of the difference between “just ok,” and “love it!”

Having said that, if you like the color of each of these inks and the brightness doesn’t matter that much to you (or maybe you even prefer the darker color?), save yourself the bucks and go with Black Swan in Australian Roses. Goulet Pens (no association except I spend so much of my paycheck there) sells BSIAR for less than half of what Yama-budo goes for.  ($12.50 -vs- $28, respectively)

What do you think?  Black Swan in Australian Roses or Yama-budo?  Neither? Both?

Throwback Thursday: Fountain Pen Edition

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Noodler’s Habanero Ink Swab on Tomoe River Paper

It’s another edition of Throwback Thursday!

Just about a year ago, I was going on and on about Noodler’s Habanero. I’d heard so much about it and its wonderful shading abilities. I was definitely not disappointed. It was one of the inks I swabbed on to Tomoe River Paper.  Gorgeous! And I wrote about it again in August.

I’ve not used it for a few months, but seeing it again definitely makes me crave.

What was everyone else talking about last year?

FPN had a review of Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku.

Notebook, Esq. wasn’t talking about a fountain pen.

Foutain Pen Geeks were looking at form and function.

Rocket? Pencil Sharpener?  Take a look.

Inkdependence was sharing some ink love with us.

And, finally, Gourmet Pens had a sweet Wordless Wednesday.

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Black Swan in Australia Roses

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Noodler’s Black Swan in Australia Roses Ink Swab

Such a popular color. People really seem to love Black Swan in Australia Roses. I like it well enough, but I wouldn’t call it love.  It’s not that it doesn’t write well (it does), it’s just that the color isn’t perfectly me.

Black Sawn in AUS Roses – writing sample

Pretty sure it’s the shading that makes everyone love it so much.

Australian Roses Smear Test
Pass!

The smear test is pretty impressive, yes? Can barely, barely see any smearing (look at the “e” above).

Bottom line: I can see why everyone loves it so much, but it’s still not for me.  Is it for you?

Oh, and surprise, I thought it would be fun to pull out one of my old review forms for this test.

Click to See Full Size Image

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Baystate Concord Grape

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Noodler’s Baystate Concord Grape Ink Swab

Disclaimer: While I usually scan the sheets of paper for my ink reviews, these images are coming right out of my iPhone. That explains the inconsistencies in color and quality.

Second Disclaimer: I realize that this post flies in the face of what I said last week about putting up with some other things as long as the color and saturation are there. What can I say? I’m fickle.

If you’ve been in the fountain pen community for any length of time, you  have probably heard of Noodler’s Baystate Blue. Famous for it’s amazing color and it’s amazing ability to stain (or even ruin?) your most loved pens.

But Blue isn’t the only Baystate color from Noodler’s. There is Concord Grape and also Cranberry.

Today, we discuss Concord Grape.

No likeie.

The color is what I expected – very saturated, very purple. No complaints there.

But here’s the problem….

Baystate Concord Grape – Apica Paper Test
Noodler’s Baystate Concord Grape – Levenger Paper Test
Noodler’s Baystate Concord Grape – HP 32lb Paper Test

It’s the feathering. Click on the images to see the full-size or have a look at these screenshots from the original images.

If it was just one paper (especially the Levenger, which has been questionable with a number of inks), I could let it go. The color is so great that a problem here or there is ok with me, but this ink was a problem on almost every paper I used.

I was using a Pilot Metropolitan (medium nib). It’s a pen I’m very familiar with and have had no problems with in the past. After the ink sat in this pen for a day or so, the flow was terrible – I eventually had to open the pen and give the squeezie converter thing a little squeeze to get things flowing again.

With most of my ink reviews, I use the ink regularly for an entire week before posting. I was only a few days into the week before I realized that I wasn’t reaching for this ink at all. It was making a mess out of my work notebook (a Rhodia) with all of its ugly feathering.

Now, of course, your mileage may vary and I’m no expert in pens and inks (just love me some pretty colors and shiny things). If you’ve tried Baystate Concord Grape, I would love to hear about your experiences.

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium

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Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium Ink Swab

I’m just going to put it out there right from the start.  I LOVE Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium. Love, Love, Love.

Blue inks, in general, are just ok in my book. I mean – they’re blue. Blue is a fine color. In fact, I have found two others that I love:  Diamine Majestic Blue (deep color, great sheen) and Pilot Iroshizuku Kon peki (that color and saturation!!), but if I had to choose a “forever ink,” it probably wouldn’t be a blue. I’d go for something a little less conventional.

So why do I love Liberty’s Elysium? It is the color. It is BLUE. A pure, vibrant, gorgeous, non-fussy blue. There are no undertones to the color – just – blue.

I’ve known about this ink for some time. It’s a collaboration between Goulet Pens and Noodler’s Ink….

….It sounds like Brian Goulet wanted a bold blue ink that was also “bulletproof.”  Bulletproof fountain pen inks magically bond with paper fibers in such a way that they are then impossible to remove with water or even bleach – making them more resistant to fraud. As far as I’m concerned, this added feature is just that – a bonus. I’m all about how inks look and how they write.

One of my first impressions was that Liberty’s Elysium is a wet ink. However, after using the ink even just a short time, I didn’t come away with that impression at all. It definitely passed the smear test below.

So, there you have it. I love this ink. I bought a full-sized bottle of it within a day of using it for the first time.

Liberty’s Elysium is available exclusively through Goulet Pens. I’m not affiliated with the Goulets at all. Brush Dance is my gig. I like shopping at Goulet because they offer wonderful service, have great products, and they are a small business doing big things.

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Gruene Cactus Eel

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Noodler’s Gruene Cactus Eel
The color of this fountain pen ink reminds me of (now-discontinued) Amazon from Caran D’Ache. That is to say, I love this green.  No red, no blue, no yellow – just green.
As an aside, I checked a couple of weeks ago – you can still find the old Caran D’Ache inks in some places if you look around for them. I ended up not buying Amazon – at the time, I wasn’t able to commit to a green 100%, and since that time, I’ve fallen for several other greens and won’t miss Amazon.
Anyway…back to Gruene Cactus Eel.

All of the inks in Noodler’s “eel” line are lubricated. As in, “slippery as an….”  Have you seen the PDF that Noodler’s and Goulet Pens published?  It shows Noodler’s inks and their special properties. Looks like it was last updated more than a year ago, but here you go.

So, what are lubricated fountain pen inks? They are specially formulated inks that could apparently help your pistons (pens and converters) gliding smoothly. These inks may also flow better from the pen due to the lubrication.  I tried to find out exactly what component makes an ink lubricated, but came up (ahem) dry.

Flow was good from this ink in the Lamy Safari with an Extra Fine Nib. Was it better than some other inks? I really don’t think so.

The one big issue that became more annoying the more I used the ink as that it took forever to dry. Even with the extra fine nib. Forever.

So..even though it has amazing color and it writes beautifully, I can’t imagine using this ink on a regular basis because of the dry time.   Check it out below….

I’m not out completely on this or other lubricated inks. If I had a pen with flow issues, I’d probably try a lubricated ink before giving up on the pen.

But what about you? Have you tried lubed up inks? Love/Hate? Or maybe you have a favorite green ink you’d like to tell me all about?

CHECK IT OUT MONDAY: Instagram

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six red pens
I’ve been busy over on the Instagram again.  
Pocket Dept. Notebook and Lamy Safari Fountain Pens

I’m seeing a definite trend.  Ink reviews on the blog. Pen porn over on Instagram. It wasn’t even on purpose – it’s just so easy. And it doesn’t feel like it has to be perfect.

Recent delivery from Goulet Pens

What does the fox say?
I love that this looks like a selfie. haha

If you’ve not tried this, you simply must.
Simply. Must.
Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl

Tippy top of the Golden Gate Bridge on a Saturday evening
Nib creep is kinda sexy
Always Journey Dreamer Journal from Brush Dance

I also wanted to remind you today that I’m giving away one of the amazing Journals / Notebooks pictured above.

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Heart of Darkness

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ink swab – Noodler’s Heart of Darkness

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This is one crazy black ink!

Noodler’s Heart of Darkness Writing Sample

Tested on Rhodia Dot Pad.
I thought this reminded me of Invincible Black – but it’s blacker (more black?) than that and there’s nothing about this ink that felt..scary.  Just perfect, perfectly saturated black. BLACK.

 Revised Bottom Line:   It’s love! Woooo!!

Oh..and apparently, I had more to say about Heart of Darkness than I thought I would – so much for Wordless Wednesday!   Guess I’m just pentulant that way 😉