Inklings - Taccia Daidai (Orange)

[DrDebG]

TACCIA DAIDAI (ORANGE)

 

Review of a sample of Taccia Daidai received from Vanness Pens. Taccia inks are "born in California", but manufactured in Japan.

 

This is a very nice orange color - well balanced and strong - not yellowy-orange or reddish-orange but a strong orange-orange. The ink flows very nicely from the nib, and is lubricated in much the same way as Sailor inks. This ink has no sheen and moderate shading even on Tomoe River paper. It dries fairly quickly and has some water resistance. It does not bleed through or show through except on very cheap paper.

Pros:

Nice flow

Moderately lubricating

Minimal bleedthrough, showthrough, feathering

Fast Drying

Moderately saturated.

Some water resistance

A nice orange for even fine nibs

Cons:

Little shading or sheen

Just orange (but that might be enough)

Took just a bit longer to clean from my pens

Price: In the US: $12 for 40 ml at Vanness Pens, Anderson Pens, PenChalet

Overall:

Of the four Taccia inks I have tried, this is my least favorite only because it does not have all the "bells and whistles" of the others (i.e. sheen, strong shading, etc.) I prefer my orange inks to shade, but this does not shade as much as Yu-Yake or Sapphron (a much lighter yellow-orange). But this is the most lubricating orange I have used. In terms of other orange inks I have tried, I do like this one more for the ink quality than for the brilliant color. If you are in the market for a nice quality orange ink, this is a good value.

[BaronWulfraed]

My experience is that this is an ink that also builds up nib-crud...

 

Yes, many reddish inks do that... I'd hoped this one was not "red" enough to do that but... At least it is intense enough to be visible (Diamine HoneyBurst is a bit too pale for fine nib work -- okay for doing Sudoku puzzles, but I wouldn't try any significant writing with it -- maybe in a broader/italic/stub nib)

[DrDebG]

My experience is that this is an ink that also builds up nib-crud...

 

Yes, many reddish inks do that... I'd hoped this one was not "red" enough to do that but... At least it is intense enough to be visible (Diamine HoneyBurst is a bit too pale for fine nib work -- okay for doing Sudoku puzzles, but I wouldn't try any significant writing with it -- maybe in a broader/italic/stub nib)

 

Thank you for your comment.

 

I didn't really notice any nib crud, but I didn't have the ink in the pen for more than just a few days. I have had problems with nib crud on many yellow to yellow-ish orange inks. Calamo Sapphron is about the only one I haven't noticed that with. But I will load up a pen with Daidai and leave it for a couple of weeks and see if I notice any nib crud.

 

Daidai is definitely visible. I used it for marking up documents and it is quite visible - better than some reds.

[lgsoltek]

This looks very nice!

[inkstainedruth]

Not a color for me. It reminds me of Robert Oster Orange Zest (which I had had high hopes for -- but alas, it was really just -- well -- orange...).

Thanks for the review, though. Seeing reviews of inks I *don't* want are better for my wallet.... Especially since the school tax bill just came in the mail yesterday....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[BaronWulfraed]

I didn't really notice any nib crud, but I didn't have the ink in the pen for more than just a few days. I have had problems with nib crud on many yellow to yellow-ish orange inks. Calamo Sapphron is about the only one I haven't noticed that with. But I will load up a pen with Daidai and leave it for a couple of weeks and see if I notice any nib crud.

 

My experience has been that the crud builds up only while the cap is off. I've been doing (failing) too many Sudoku puzzles, and leaving the nib exposed while thinking about possible moves -- so not much ink flow through the nib relative to air time. "Real" writing likely moves enough ink to reduce oxidation (or whatever reaction produces crud).

 

At least it isn't Diamine Ancient Copper (or Parker Quink Red -- I think my 1970s Parker 45 STILL has remnants of red crud hidden in it).

[DrDebG]

This looks very nice!

 

Thank you for your comment. It is a bright "in your face" orange. I was surprised since more of the oranges I have tried tend to either red side or the yellow side. This seems far more balanced.

[DrDebG]

Not a color for me. It reminds me of Robert Oster Orange Zest (which I had had high hopes for -- but alas, it was really just -- well -- orange...).

Thanks for the review, though. Seeing reviews of inks I *don't* want are better for my wallet.... Especially since the school tax bill just came in the mail yesterday....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Thank you for the great comment! That is one of the reasons why I do read the ink reviews. I want to "cross that ink off my list"!

 

Regarding school bills, our governor and state congress just voted in a sizable increase for our schools, so we can expect about a 25-30% increase in our property tax bill, with 90% of the proceeds going to Las Vegas. The rest of the state has to just "make do".

[senzen]

Thanks for a great review, this ink looks like a mixture between two oranges I have: Edelstein Mandarin and Orange Indien.

[jandrese]

Thanks for the quality review. Taccia seems to have unusually high percentage of winners in their little lineup.

[DrDebG]

Thanks for a great review, this ink looks like a mixture between two oranges I have: Edelstein Mandarin and Orange Indien.

 

Thank you for your comment. I have not sampled Edelstein Mandarin, but this is much darker that Orange Indien. I am traveling and do not have access to my inks in order to do a comparison. Also Daidai is more lubricating than Orange Indien.

[DrDebG]

Thanks for the quality review. Taccia seems to have unusually high percentage of winners in their little lineup.

 

So far, I am impressed with the Taccia inks and I do like the variety of colors.