Rohrer and Klingner Cassia

[tzmcneill]

I just recieved a bottle of Rohrer & Klingner Cassia ink from Inkednibs. The bottle is a smallish, round affair containing 50 ml. The cap is white plastic and the mouth of the bottle is on the small side, but certainly big enough for a large nibbed pen to get inside. I loaded up my Dani Trio Mikado with a fine softer nib and ebonite feed with this ink and gave it try.

 

Flow -- Very good, controlable, haven't use PR Tanzanite so I don't really have a good comparison, a little slower than PR American Blue.

 

Viscosity -- Less viscous than Noodler's and PR American Blue and Avacado, but it has some body to it.

 

Color -- Out the the Dani, a very nice purple without any blue undertones.

 

Nib lubrication -- Good but not quite as lubricating as Noodler's, I felt an ever so slight bit of texture being transmitted through the nib. An interesting experience I hadn't felt with PR and Noodler's. With PR and Noodler's the pen write as if its on wet ice.

 

Stickyness on the nib -- Another interesting point, if Noodler's Black and Legal Lapis are difficult to clean off a nib after dipping, and PR American Blue is very easy to clean off of a nib, the R & K Cassia is somewhere in between. It takes a few wipes with a tissue to remove the ink from the nib after dipping.

 

Nib creep -- none.

 

Shading -- hard to tell from a fine nibbed pen, but there is some evidence of it (subtle).

 

Feathering -- On Moleskine, none, on cheap typing paper, none.

 

Overall, I am very happy with the R&K Cassia, I've also gotten a bottle of Verdigrese and will test that as well. I'd strongly suggest giving it a try.

 

 

tom.

[Goodwhiskers]

Don't sell your work short, Tom. That is no "mini" review; it's excellent !

Pictures are not required for ink reviews here (not all of us have digital imaging equipment ).

[Ann Finley]

Hi Tom,

 

Thanks for the report on Cassia. I was eyeing that one, too. Sounds like you like it.

 

On the Rohrer & Klingner inks I got, I'd have to say about the same things, though I did get just a tiny bit of feathering on lousy paper.

 

I'll try to get a review of the Solferino up tomorrow.

 

If you can manage to get pics/handwriting samples of the Cassia, I'd love to see them. Bet others would, too.

 

Best, Ann

[tzmcneill]

Here are scans of Cassia and Verdigris and a few other inks sitting on my desk.

 

tom.

[tzmcneill]

Oops, sorry about the size, but large like this it really lets you see how the inks behave on regular old typing paper. I particularly like the color of the Cassia, it will look very nice on Easter cards. The Le Couleur Royale is a better daily writer. The Verdigris is very nice, it has some of the same properties as the Cassia in terms of behaviour in my pen. On the other hand, there is a bit of a bonus, when you clean out a pen that's had Verdigris in it you are treated to a color that isn't seen in on the paper. It is the strangest phenomena, instead of it being a grey green, in water, when being flushed, it turns a very pretty slate blue. It would be fun to confirm this with a bit of chromotography. The Noodler's inks all behave very well, I really like the Ottoman Azure, its a bit easier on the eyes than American Blue. The real surprise was Tianenmen, that ink behaves beautifully in my fine nibbed Dani Mikado, its like it was made for that pen, simply amazing.

 

tom.

[chupie]

Verdigris is much different than I thought. Darn, it might be too close to Tahitian Pearl for me to want to keep. Rats!

[memphislawyer]

Tom< I am the opposite, I think the American Blue to be nicer than the Ottoman Blue. I have some DC SUper Show coming

 

sam

[tzmcneill]

It looks like a bit of the green didn't make it into the scan on the Verdigris, its a very difficult color to describe.

 

tom.

[chupie]

I'll have mine soon, so I'll be able to tell then. Besides, it's *always* fun to try a new bottle of ink.

[Viseguy]

It looks like a bit of the green didn't make it  into the scan on the Verdigris, its a very difficult color to describe.

 

tom.

Speaking of Verdigris, here, FWIW, is a post of mine to the Rambling Snail board from last year, which describes why R&K may have put a foot wrong when they named this ink:

 

I especially like the "Verdigrease" (German name is "Verdigris")...

Verdigris is a perfectly good English word. It refers to the green patina that forms on copper, brass and bronze after long exposure to the atmosphere -- the Statue of Liberty being an iconic example. At first glance, you might think it comes from the French or Italian for gray-green (verdi [green] + gris [gray]) -- and apparently R&K thought so, at least judging from the scan, which ... certainly looks gray-green here (and is described as such in some sales material, e.g., http://www.penboard.de/shop/shoplist.php?ma=rohrer&la=en) -- but you'd be wrong. The dictionary says the derivation is from "vert-de-Grice", French for "green of Greece", i.e., a much lighter, Mediterranean green.

 

Nice color, though, whatever you call it (but, please, not "Verdigrease"!).

[Bill D]

I have some R&K Verdigris and love it. It's a very complex color, at least for my non-complex mind... on different papers and in different lights, it can look totally different. Sometimes almost black, sometimes a rich dark blue, and sometimes the green really shows through. Nice flow and lubrication as well- it's becoming a favorite ink for me.

 

FWIW,

Bill

[tzmcneill]

I've now tried the verdigrese in a Stipula Etruria with a 0.9 mm italic nib, it behaves much differently than in the Dani. The broader nib really shows off the depth and complexity of the color. You actually get to see the hits of blue beneath the grey-green, it is a beautiful color. Sorry about not having a scan to show, but I'm on a house hunting trip to Raleigh, NC. If there are any members of the RTP pen club out there please drop me a line.

 

tom.

[Goodwhiskers]

Would someone like to do a review of R&K Verdigris ?

[JimCouch]

Would someone like to do a review of R&K Verdigris ?

I'm working on one even as we speak. So far I am really liking the ink.

 

Jim

[BobR]

I got a bottle of Verdigris last week and am delighted with it as well. I'm seeing more dark blue than green in the pens I'm using, but the subtle shade of green is there.