Papier Plume Inks

[Ana_]

Im just back from a great trip to NOLA and was in Southern Heaven visiting Papier Plume. I went in 3 times and each time came away with a new bottle! In the end I bought: Ivy Green, Moss Green, Pecan, House of the Rising Sun, Calle Real, (Calligraphy) Copper, Peacock Blue and the Chicago Pen Show exclusive Da Blue. I also got a gorgeous leaf pen holder because of the smallish size and portability. I spoke to the owner of the store who started out in the French Market which I also visited and asked him about his inks. He was very forthcoming in saying he purchases his ink powders from France and a few other European locations and then mixes them with his own recipes in his shop so as far as Im concerned thats made in NOLA. He said sometimes the colors can change because a distributer may switch their powder recipe or go with a new distributor. He said he is confident his inks are perfectly safe for vintage fountain pens. I always ask this because so many inks are not and for this reason I only use waterman black in my vintage Soenneckens. I love that the ink colors even of the same name can vary this way. The owner said they love experimenting with color and are very fluid in this so that its not necessarily their intention to keep the same 5 colors. I asked him if he had received his red beans & rice ink yet and he shook his head and said no, we are still waiting for the powder to dock. Love it! It is a beautiful shop and I appreciate how it functions.

[philm]

Wow, lucky you for having the opportunity to visit the Shop and meet with the owner! I have used and enjoyed three of their inks ( Forget Me Not, Mardi Gras Indians Purple, and Garden District Azalea - all with no problems to date. Thanks again for the review and description of their production process.

 

Phil

[lapis]

Yes, a great shop. A mile or two away from where I live but excellent service and shipping. Beautiful inks. Especially the whole NO collection..

[Ana_]

@Philm, I was really lucky, usually, Im in DC the week before the pen show & the same with other pen show cities!! Lol But because this is a stationary store and not a limited time frame pen show I was able to be there. I really wanted to get my hands on da blue too because it looked like an amazing blue black & it reminds me of the SNL, Da Bears skits. I love the sound of the inks you got! Ill get to a swab test soon I hope. Id love to see yours swabbed too.

 

@Lapis, a mile, 2 tops you say aye? When shall Philm and I arrive for a 3 day visit? Lol you had to know that was coming...

Edited May 21, 2018 by Ana_

[Intensity]

Nice collection! I have Pecan and Moss Green from your lot--both really nice. Moss Green is like more legible and water resistant Rohrer & Klingner Alt Goldgrun for me. Pecan is very nicely muted and vintage (also fairly good water resistance).

[Ana_]

@Intensity ahh yes, a fellow Moss Green and Pecan connoisseur. I feel like Papier Plume really has a nice feel for rich colors. I LOVE taupe and the pecan color reminded me of taupe so I bought 2 big bottles and one of the smaller carry around ones. Do you every use your inks for drawing or strictly fountain pens?

[Intensity]

Other than sketching, only for writing with. Never been good at watercolor. I imagine these are good for drawing. A couple of days I used Pecan with a very flexible nib—loved the results.

[almoore]

I have six bottles on order and can't wait to try out House Of The Sun, it looks amazing.

 

Al

[Ana_]

@Al I think you'll be really happy with the quality of ink. It's hard to peg it, there are so many inks out there, but for me, it just feels richer in color and quality. Six bottles!! Exciting!! Which 6?

[almoore]

@Ana

 

Hi

 

I've ordered five colours, six bottles:

- Violet

- Midnight Blue

- Cherry Red

- Forget-Me-Not Blue

- House of the Rising Sun x2

 

The colours just looked amazing, it was hard to whittle them down to such a small order, in the end customs and shipping charges helped me decide

 

 

Al

[amberleadavis]

Totally impressive. I want to visit NOLA. As a Las Vegan, I'm sure I'll fit in.

[Dont_Flexme]

I've been enjoying Street Car Green and Bayou Nightfall. Loving both and they are well behaved. I will be getting more bottles soon.

[crahptacular]

I have a handful of inks from Papier Plume, and I've been pretty happy with them across the board. I had a small bottle of local Taiwanese ink from the last time I traveled there, and I wanted to find a more readily available equivalent. Streetcar Green wasn't a perfect match, but close enough to assuage my fear of running out of the less obtainable color. Their shop also has a better variety of dip nibs than most other online FP stores, which allows me to lose my money on nibs and inks at the same time.

[almoore]

Paid customs & the Post Office and finally have my inks

 

Now all I have to do is take them out for a test run, House of the Rising Sun first!

[Ana_]

@Al, NICE selection!! I know what you mean about trying to narrow down those choices ... lol I was in NOLA for 1 week and every time I stopped in I bought... lol so I had to force myself to avoid Royal & Dumaine Streets, a literal exorcism in true NOLA fashion lol

 

Hi

 

I've ordered five colours, six bottles:

- Violet

- Midnight Blue

- Cherry Red

- Forget-Me-Not Blue

- House of the Rising Sun x2

 

The colours just looked amazing, it was hard to whittle them down to such a small order, in the end customs and shipping charges helped me decide

 

 

Al

[Ana_]

@ Crahptacular (lol cute name) isn’t that generous of them to allow you to lose money to both at once?? I have to say I know what you mean. Despite my alleged restraint I still came away with the leaf pen holder that’s adorable & functional because I love nature/leaves... I saw SO many great buyable items. One oddity though, all the nice looking journals they had were the typical Barnes & Nobles back wall types with rrrreeeaaalllyyyy bad thick fibery paper made for shoveling fibers into nibs of all flavors

 

@Al, yay!!! Enjoy those gorgeous inks!!

[almoore]

@ Ana

 

Thanks, I'm spoilt for choice. As they all came in unmarked boxes I'm just going to reach in and grab one to try, it seems easier than trying to choose

 

Congrats on the exorcism that had to be tough!

 

I have the same problem, which is how I ended up with a full set of Mabie Todd inks (they were 25% off as well), so I'm just glad I don't live near Papier Plume and the lovely people in Customs stop me overspending

 

Al