Diamine Syrah

[Sandy1]

One of my favorites. My first fill of Syrah surprised me with how well it shaded in a bagasse notebook. I was encouraged to try it in wider nibs, and I usually stick to fine nibs. Kudos to Diamine!

 

Hi,

 

I'm glad to read that Syrah is one of your favourites!

 

And we have another who prefers their Syrah from narrow nibs.

 

Thanks also for telling us that bagasse paper brings out the shading. Yet I've not found sheets that are without pre-printed lines - perhaps I am mistaking 'bagasse' for a trade name, rather than a generic name for paper with a high sugar cane fibre content.

Wiki 'bagasse' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagasse

 

Bye,

S1

[HDRoot]

I, too, find Syrah rather useless, but that doesn't stop me from using it from time to time. I like the color, just grayish/bluish enough not to completely jar the senses.

[Sandy1]

What a thorough review! Thank you! I'm putting this ink on my to-buy list — it looks fabulous.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Let us know of your experience with Syrah when it does make it to the top of your 'to-buy' list - I hope you find Syrah to be fabulous when writing with the pen in your hand.

 

Bye,

S1

[PaperDarts]

What a rich, sweet colour - I'm especially intrigued that your favourite combo was the Pelikan 400 EF nib and the G. Lalo paper. I'm always looking for an ink that will do justice to G. Lalo even using a finer nib. Thank you! I'll be adding this ink to my next order of samples.

[amberleadavis]

I was given this ink and I'm glad I have it. Thank you for the review.

[Sandy1]

Hi Sandy,

 

Your reviews are looked forward to every time in my world. Having done only two reviews myself I appreciate the time and effort that goes into your comprehensive effort.

 

I used Syrah as an everyday all day ink for about 6 months and then found myself burnt out on the color. It was like falling in and out of love in a Hemingway novel. We just became tired of each other. I used Syrah daily in a Lamy 1.1 stub at work on all kinds of cheap paper. It worked well enough and being an artist was acceptable to write business correspondence with. The russet hue left me feeling melancholy when at first it was so exciting.

 

For this warm color profile I am now using Iroshizuku Yama-budo. It is not the same russet hue of Syrah, but is related - being more of a purplish eggplant color. Once I have more experience with Yama budo I will pen a brief review.

 

Thank you again for reviewing an ink that got a lot of use here. It is a worthy blend and color.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

I'm glad to read that my efforts are appreciated.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Syrah. I knew there had to be someone who used it as a 'daily writer' ink. But for six months! Yikes!! I'd be wearing my sunnies at the office.

 

I really would hate to need to take a break from an ink due to over use. I've been using the same ink as a daily writer in the office for years, and I haven't tired of it yet - mostly because it is quite discrete.

 

I've tried yama-budo once, but wasn't convinced to expand my array in that colour range: I'll work with what I have for a while longer so when/if I do choose to expand that range, I'll have a better idea of direction. (I'm also on a Purple ink hiatus.)

 

Bye,

S1

[Nick T]

 

I really would hate to need to take a break from an ink due to over use. I've been using the same ink as a daily writer in the office for years, and I haven't tired of it yet - mostly because it is quite discrete.

 

Hi S1,

 

I was overzealous in my adoption of just one ink for such a long time. Kind of like eating rich food every day - my eyes became gorged. I paid the price and burnt out on it. I bought more colors and now rotate choices every couple of weeks. Syrah waits patiently on the shelf for the spark that will cause me to fill a pen with her.

 

I adopted Pilot Blue Black, the bottle version, as a utility ink of choice. I might change this too when I am down to the last dregs.

 

Thank you again for such comprehensive reviews!

[OakIris]

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Thanks for letting us know your choice of pen+nib to use with Syrah.

 

What paper/s are you using to generate shading from such a narrow nib?

(The firm-rigid XF Posting nib on the Estie shows no shading, yet the g-p steel EF on the M400 does show shading - even on the HPJ1124.)

 

I'm glad you also find Syrah to run smoothly from a narrow nib.

 

Bye,

S1

 

I have been able to get shading with my EF nib on various papers, from Rhodia to composition book and cheap ink jet paper. (Remember this is a Lamy nib; the 2000 I have was made around 2008 so it MAY have one of the older Lamy nibs on it that might be a bit wider than a "normal" western EF nib - I don't know when it was that Lamy decided to match the sizes of those of other western nib manufacturers.)

 

My Lamy is not currently in rotation and I don't have Syrah in any of my other pens right now, but I do like the ink!

 

Holly

[RuiFromUK]

Note to self: check this thread at home. For some reason or other I can't see these photos here in the office.

[Sandy1]

I, too, find Syrah rather useless, but that doesn't stop me from using it from time to time. I like the color, just grayish/bluish enough not to completely jar the senses.

 

Hi,

 

I too use Red-centric inks only from time to time, so my array in that hue is small, but I tend to be fussy about which ones are invited to join - unlike my array of Blue & Blue-Black inks which is much more of an open door.

 

Bye,

S1

[Sandy1]

What a rich, sweet colour - I'm especially intrigued that your favourite combo was the Pelikan 400 EF nib and the G. Lalo paper. I'm always looking for an ink that will do justice to G. Lalo even using a finer nib. Thank you! I'll be adding this ink to my next order of samples.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Ah! matching G Lalo Verge de France to a narrow nibbed pen is a bit tricky. It seems to me that one needs to look for inks that are easily absorbed by the paper, but quite often those inks are stripped from the nib by the paper, which reduces lubricity, so gives a less than luxurious writing experience.

 

Let us know what you think once you've given the Syrah a whirl on G Lalo . . .

 

Bye,

S1

[Sandy1]

I was given this ink and I'm glad I have it. Thank you for the review.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Bye,

S1

[gmax]

I've found Syrah a bit sticky at times on Rhodia, and prone to some smearing as a result. R&K Alt-Bordeaux seems better behaved.

[Bill Wood]

Unbelievable review. Thanks so much Sandy. For some reason Syrah wrote dry for me. I diluted just a bit with your recipe of photoflo and distiller water. Marvellous now!

[Nick T]

The time has come to pull this one off the shelf again. Perhaps it is the mid-winter blues that need to be chased away. When I looked at some of my old correspondance using this ink it struck me as just the shade of brown/burgundy that I need to write with at the moment. I am curious to see how it does in my Pelikan 200 with Binder 1mm stub.

Thank you again Sandy for bringing us all such thorough reviews. Where do you find the time?

[Sandy1]

The time has come to pull this one off the shelf again. Perhaps it is the mid-winter blues that need to be chased away. When I looked at some of my old correspondance using this ink it struck me as just the shade of brown/burgundy that I need to write with at the moment. I am curious to see how it does in my Pelikan 200 with Binder 1mm stub.

Thank you again Sandy for bringing us all such thorough reviews. Where do you find the time?

 

Hi,

 

I'm glad that you've returned to Syrah after a respite.

 

The richardspens M200 1.0 Stub is a marvelous nib, yet I still prefer Syrah from the narrower nibs. As you have much more experience with Syrah, I'm very interested to learn from your experience with the combo of that nib with Syrah, especially your choice of paper/s, and if you use a larger than usual hand.

 

Bye,

S1

[Nick T]

Hello S1,

 

After just a couple days I am ready to return to Tsuki Yo with my tail between my legs. The Syrah performs perfectly on Tamoe River paper with the Pelikan/Binder stub but is too fussy on Rhodia, Clairefontaine and the cheap notebooks and pads I use at work. For some reason the window angle that makes the Pelikan/Binder pen run with this ink is very small. I have much more experience with my Lamy and TWISBI pens running 1.1mm stubs with this ink. In these pens the ink runs really well. Those pens are wetter and the nib is more akin to a shotgun than a rifle. I don't use those pens very much since I purchased the Pelikan/Binder last summer. The Binder nib is a precise instrument with a lot of line variation.

 

On the positives - I love the color and the lack of bleed through on most papers. And then there is the shading which is quite good with the Pelikan/Binder. I don't see as much shading with the wetter stubs.

 

I will load up the Lamy and keep looking for a warm brown / burgundy to use in my Pelikan.

[JPR75]

Thank you for this great review.

The color seems to be close to the Yama-Budo.

[Nick T]

Thank you for this great review.

The color seems to be close to the Yama-Budo.

Yama Budo is quite different in color. While Syrah has a strong red component, YB is much more pinkish-purple. Depending on the nib used Syrah can look dark brown with just a hint of red. YB always looks to me like a grape-purple.

 

Try a sample of each in your favorite pens before committing to a bottle.

[Nick T]

S1 - you asked if I use a larger hand than normal with Syrah and the answer is yes. This formula seems to spread quicker which forces me to use a slightly larger hand when compared to the Iro inks I usually load up with.