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J Herbin Terre de Feu A reddish brown, which is named after the Tierra del Fuego (land of fire) archipelago at the southern tip of South America. According to J Herbin: “This brown ink has a red tone a reminder of the burnt lands and vast deserts where nothing ever grows.”. I was really looking forward to this ink as a drop of it on a bill was winking at me from my desk However, the writing experience was opposite of the many positive reviews I saw on internet. It refused to flow in most of my pens. Reviewing this ink was the equivalent of being in a Star Trek mirror universe. Everything was the contrary for me. Ink is wet, with lower-than-average lubrication. It doesn’t like copy paper, and it has very long dry times. However, all the reviews I checked, were raving of its qualities. So take my review or all the others with a grain of salt For those of you who dabble in art and washes, this ink can be addictive. I couldn't stop doing washes with this ink. Chroma: Writing Samples: Scan is off. There's no purple in this ink. I've added photos, so you can see the real deal Photo: It's a sunny day, photos are close to what I see Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. Art Work: I recently saw a documentary on Musketeers (the rowdy special forces of their day) and did a few sketches while watching, hence no cat and mouse. The paper is Talens Mixed Media Pocket book paper. The blue ink, is De Atramentis Document & Artist Cyan in a brush pen, diluted. The grey ink in the first drawing is Kala Nostalgia Gemstone Sillimanite Not related to any musketeer, cat and mouse were out for a brisk walk, near a pond and were thinking of · Pens used: Pilot F3A (Ef /semi-flex), Lamy Safari(EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Jinhao 450 with fude nib not shown, and Waterman W2. · What I liked: Drawing , doing washes and appreciating drops of it on different papers. · What I did not like: Writing experience, especially with a Stub. · What some might not like: Long dry times. · Shading: Yes, there’s some. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Low · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Refused to write with many pens, some even after priming. · Saturation: Medium · Shading Potential: Depends on paper. · Sheen: No. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Yes, with a wet pen. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Rather easy · Water resistance: Ok. · Availability: 10/ 30 ml bottles, and cartridges. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

J Herbin Lie de thé Lie in French is the residue, lees or dregs deposited in teapots. I'm hoping our tea drinking members can give us the correct term This ink brings me fond memories. Many years ago, I scrubbed the tea stains of my mother's teapot, thinking it would please her. She wasn't. I'd removed the secret to her great tea, she informed. Lesson learned Ink is a lovely brown shading ink with the most amazing chroma. Dry times are longer than usual but can be mitigated with finer nibs. I enjoyed using this ink for sketching. The ink looks amazing on Iroful paper, it shades from dark gold/ sepia to dark brown. Ink has decent water resistance and lower than average lubrication. Chroma: Writing Samples: d Photo: Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. I did two by mistake. I thought I post them both, note the difference Art Work: Mousey is trying to read the Cat's fortune in a cup of tea J Herbin Lie de Thé R&K Königsblau Noodler's Lexington Gray Paper is Talens mixed media sketchbook. · Pens used: Pilot F3A (EF/semiflex), Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), · What I liked: Colour. Sketching. And wiping the nib in a tissue. · What I did not like: Nothing much. · What some might not like: Long dry times. · Shading: Yes. · Ghosting: Depends on nib/ pen/ nib size. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Average. · Lubrication: Slightly below average. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Ok · Saturation: Medium. · Shading Potential: Very good. · Sheen: No. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A bit with wet pens on cheap copy paper. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: Quite good. · Availability: 10/30/ 100 ml bottles, cartridges. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

J Herbin Café des îles According to the Herbin website: "Café des îles (Island coffee): a light brown color reminder of the great coffee smell enjoyed at the terrace of a café in a far away island." You be the judge 😛 This is a dryish, Ovaltine colored, reddish brown, which shines on Japanese paper, mostly with Iroful and 68 gr Tomoe River Paper. It doesn’t remind me of coffee. One can say, it's a lighter version of Private Reserve Vampire Red, but easier to clean. Surprisingly long dry time on Rhodia, so not suitable for lefty overwriters It's not a good candidate for copy paper. It ghosted and bled through Hammermill 20lb copy paper. I didn't bother to scan the horror show Chroma: Writing Samples: I've added Iroful paper to the lineup. For a lot of inks, it can bring out extreme shading and enhance colours. Note this paper is very sensitive to hand oils as you can see in the Stub and flex lines. The coating has been removed and the ink doesn't adhere to the paper. Close up scan of Tomoe River and Iroful. Note how shading is accentuated in Iroful. Photo: Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. Paper is Mnemosyne Art Work: Café and Ovaltine - What happens if you order a Café des îles coffee in a Parisian café. They'll serve you Ovaltine Paper is a Talens Mixed media pocket book. I used different dilutions of Café des îles. At the bottom it is most concentrated. I used a glass nib tipped in bleach to create the "foamy" part on the top. Noodler's Lexington Gray / Polar Green Rohrer and Klingner Königsblau & Helianthus with bleach · Pens used: Lamy (Reverse EF/F/M/B, BB), Osmiroid Copperplate nib. · What I liked: Name. · What I did not like: Color doesn’t remind me of coffee. It's a bit reddish pale for my taste. · What some might not like: Dryish ink, It isn’t black coffee. · Shading: Very nice on Japanese Paper, especially Iroful · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: A bit dry · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Ok · Saturation: Pastel · Shading Potential: Great on Japanse Paper. · Sheen: No. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: decent. · Availability: 10 ml, 30 ml bottles and I believe cartridges. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier