J. Herbin Café Des Îles

[Margana]

(Full review and photos at inkophile.com.)

 

It would be very hard to use J. Herbin Café Des Îles without thinking of coffee. On Rhodia it dried with just enough shading to make the tops of the letters look the color of foam on the surface of a mug of coffee with the richer coffee color settling towards the bottom. While I was testing Café Des Îles today, I drank two cups of the brew in rapid succession and then forgetfully grabbed the empty mug looking for more…twice. Good thing this ink isn't coffee scented or it would be irresistible.

 

Smooth flow, though not lubricating, and good coverage make this lovely brown useful for any application. However, the drying time with an Esterbrook SJ and a 9314-M nib (1.0mm) might be frustrating for a lefty at least wherever the ink pools. Time for those densely saturated blobs to dry exceeded ten seconds. However, with a very fine or dry nib, the issue should be less troublesome since the upper half of a 1.0mm line dried quickly on Rhodia.

 

Part of the fun of using this ink is that it changes color as it dries. Initially it looks red-brown and deepens to a coffee brown in a couple of minutes. While Café Des Îles has lots of color, it is neither heavily saturated nor thick. The color of the paper has a decided effect on the final shade for an overall harmonious look. It might look interesting on aqua or pink paper and goes beautifully with any yellow-based white. It could also be good for expressive drawing. The slow drying time for the end of a line where the ink pools could be used to smear it creating shadows and other interesting effects.

 

The color of Café Des Îles and the beautiful shading make it charming for wide nibs. For extra fine nibs it could become a staple. For coffee lovers, it could be the perfect touch to writing at your local cafe while enjoying your favorite cuppa. Yum on all counts.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3442793075_95651f1a74.jpg

Edited April 15, 2009 by Margana

[CarolinaWriter]

Great review! This is one of my favorite inks!

[Breck]

So far, this is my favorite brown. I'm still looking for the perfect one, though.

 

Nice review. I do love to watch this ink change color as it dries. No matter how many times I see it, I still never believe that it's going to get to its final color form its wet color.

 

This is the ink that convinced me to get a stub-nibbed pen, and I have never regretted it.

[Silvermink]

Ooh, I really like that. Might have to hunt down a bottle. Sadly, the only local supplier I knew of for J. Herbin inks no longer carries them.

[bwnewton]

So far, this is my favorite brown. I'm still looking for the perfect one, though.

 

Nice review. I do love to watch this ink change color as it dries. No matter how many times I see it, I still never believe that it's going to get to its final color form its wet color.

 

This is the ink that convinced me to get a stub-nibbed pen, and I have never regretted it.

 

Great review and interesting color. I like browns as well. Private Reserve Copper Burst is delightful in a stub-italic.

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Thank you for the review -- I use Lie de The and Cacao du Bresil, so a coffee related ink from Herbin should be good as well!

[gyv]

Yummy review, Margana. The Café des Îles is my favorite brown ink too, so much so that I now live dangerously. Not only I like to sip my brew when I write, but also I am in the habit, on those occasions, of using one of my "capuccino" pens (Watley, Edison Herald, Signum Orion, some brown ripple ebonite). Since I am accident-prone as is, I am bound some day to poke my face with a yummy-looking pen. That would be a real shame, as it coud ruin a whole converter of fine Café des Îles .

[kv3x]

I've been looking to try something different, and based on your review, I'm going to order some cartridges and give it a go. Thanks for the descriptive comments!

[amble63]

LOVELY handwriting.

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks.

[Juicyjones]

This is my review of your handwriting: beautiful.

 

Thanks for the review of the ink, I've been thinking about something coffee-colored or rusty-brown.

[dannyboy]

It's been a while since I've used this ink--so thanks for reminding me of just how gorgeous it is! Great review with pertinent details.

[pmsalty]

WoW. I think that I might pick up some of this one. thanks for the review.

PMS

[ghislain]

Thank you for the great review!

I just got back from a trip to the local pen shop and guess what I brought back home (amongst others)?

 

J. Herbin Cafe des Iles (to be used in my red Visconti Wall Street LE)

Edited March 20, 2010 by ghislain

[GouletPens]

Nice! I have this one inked up in a Shaeffer lever-fill. I like writing on G. Lalo Vergé de France ivory or champagne to get a very cool 'old-world vintage' look. For this effect I've also tried Lie de Thé (popular among a lot of my customers for this reason), Cacao du Brésil, and Terre de Feu. The Café des Îles has a nice soft tone to it, nice and easy on the eyes when there's a lot of ink on the page.

[Ondina]

Very nice color of brown. It looks like a softer version of Diamine Saddle Brown. Excellent choice of ivory paper, matches this hue beautifully. Many thanks for the review.

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 5/7/2009 at 4:50 AM, Peter from Sherwood Park said:

Lie de The

I use more than Cafe des Ills. There is MB Toofee that priced it's self well out of my $20 max....Pelikan Smoky Quartz is another nice shading brown I use.

 

I randomly picked this review in all the reviews are ancient. ....well, so is my Cafe Des Ills ink bottle. 12 or so years old.

 

I found I had an MB 146...late 70-early 90's that I'd not used since I got it a couple years ago.

Imagine it laying on this normal black glass bottomed inkwell...as it was.

I had more interest in the ink well, than the pen, but was willing to pay a cheap E 150 what I paid for a lonely near mint 146 some years before in a summer empty live auction...pre telephone or computer bid.

It surprised me I got the pen and inkwell for the 150 that had been my only bid. I had a 146. What did I need with two? .... I had a lot of OB's mostly in semi-flex....so the nib was not a need.

 

Yesterday I inked it with Cafe des Ills, and it shaded well on 90g paper.

In it's an MB there is no nib size I eyeball it as OB/OM....either way a nice nib for this ink.

 

When I bought this ink in the days of yore, there were 3-400 inks in the world, not the 1-1,500 of today. We do live in The Golden Age of Ink.

It is still a very good ink for @ E-10.