Noodler's Kiowa Pecan

[Ruminator]

I am on a bit of a brown kick for the time being. Recent reviews include Noodler's #41 Brown, Noodler's (standard) Brown, and Noodler's Walnut. I had a sample of Noodler's Kiowa Pecan in my stash, so this morning I decided to ink up one of my trusty Esterbrook J fountain pens with the sample and do some writing. The nib in this pen is a new (old stock) 9556 firm fine. It's a known quantity, even if this particular nib is unused. My everyday writer is an Esterbrook J with a 9556 nib (filled with Noodler's Black) and that's an excellent combination (and a topic for another time).

 

My handwritten review is attached. I have a few additional thoughts to share. First is that this ink/nib combination is a bit on the dry side. It's not nearly as wet as either my medium or fine Esterbrook nibs with other inks (of course). It could be this particular nib but I don't have enough sample to test in alternate. If you like relatively dry writers, then this might be an ink to try.

 

The dry time was longer than expected. Even after a minute, the little blob of ink that sometimes occurs at the end of a stroke remained wet enough to smear. That's on the HP Premium Laser Paper (32#), which is notoriously slow to dry. I haven't noticed a problem in my Rhodia journal or Moleskine reporter's notebook (the latter is my carry-everywhere notebook).

 

I see shading! I originally thought this was not a shading ink, but when viewed with a magnifier I can see definite shading even with a fine nib. This could be fun with a broader stroke and I might have to either order another sample or even a bottle of this ink to play with.

 

The color is a wonderful, deep golden brown. The yellow-red is evident in the wet-finger rub. It's a great brown that fits in between the standard brown and the Walnut in shade and warmth.

 

The ink is not waterproof and might wash off the page, at least with the HP paper. If that's important to you, then you might want to look for another ink.

 

Enjoy...

[Ad_Astra]

Any chance you have a sample of MB Toffee lying around? The smudge in the water test seems to be the same color as the Toffee, but I can't tell from the scan whether or not the regular color is very similar.

[mrt77]

Kiowa Pecan is probably my favorite brown. Walnut was a bit too dark for my tastes, but this one is perfect.

 

Thanks for another great review!

[Ruminator]

Any chance you have a sample of MB Toffee lying around? The smudge in the water test seems to be the same color as the Toffee, but I can't tell from the scan whether or not the regular color is very similar.

 

Nope, no Toffee around the house. But if it's like Kiowa Pecan, I'd be interesting in playing with a sample.

 

 

Kiowa Pecan is probably my favorite brown. Walnut was a bit too dark for my tastes, but this one is perfect.Thanks for another great review!

 

There are things I like about the Walnut, but this color is one I really like, particularly on a warm paper.

 

Thanks!

 

-=d

[Ad_Astra]

Looking at your scan, I'd say Toffee is a bit more orange/brown (as opposed to Beaver, which seems more red/brown than Kiowa Pecan). I personally love those shades, so I use it a good bit.

[Ted A]

I like this ink a lot. It does shade a lot in my Ahabs. But the long drying time is a problem so I just started to see if a bit of Distilled water might help.

[P.A.R.]

I currently have a sample of this in a pen, and I'm not quite sure if I like it enough to get a bottle just yet. I really like Walnut and Kiowa Pecan seems like it fits between Walnut and Golden Brown as far as color - and I didn't like Golden Brown much. I'm going to try the Pecan in a stub nib in my journal, and see if that makes a difference for me.

[Ruminator]

Looking at your scan, I'd say Toffee is a bit more orange/brown (as opposed to Beaver, which seems more red/brown than Kiowa Pecan). I personally love those shades, so I use it a good bit.

 

Given I have neither of those inks, I can't really comment on the comparison. I did archive my review on the original paper, so if I get a sample along the way I will do a comparison.

 

I like this ink a lot. It does shade a lot in my Ahabs. But the long drying time is a problem so I just started to see if a bit of Distilled water might help.

 

I agree it's a bit on the slow side to dry. I noticed I smeared a bit in my journal while trying to hold the adjacent page flat. I'm not all that concerned about a few smears in my personal writing, but I imagine if I was using a wetter-writing pen I might be a bit disappointed. I do like the color, though.

 

I currently have a sample of this in a pen, and I'm not quite sure if I like it enough to get a bottle just yet. I really like Walnut and Kiowa Pecan seems like it fits between Walnut and Golden Brown as far as color - and I didn't like Golden Brown much. I'm going to try the Pecan in a stub nib in my journal, and see if that makes a difference for me.

 

I'm going to order a sample of Polar Brown and a bottle of standard Brown. I like the warm color of the standard Brown quite a lot and it's in between #41-12 and Walnut. I find Walnut to be a bit bleedy, even on good paper. It's partly attributable to a wet medium nib in the P51 I currently have loaded with this ink.

 

I think Kiowa Pecan fits between Walnut and standard Brown, too. It's not quite as warm as standard Brown but a bit lighter in shade and warmer than Walnut.

 

-=d

[ChuckClark]

I have both the Noodlers Pecan and the MB Toffee.

Toffee has a slightly more amount of red n it.

I am a brown-a-holic.

[Ruminator]

I have both the Noodlers Pecan and the MB Toffee.

Toffee has a slightly more amount of red n it.

I am a brown-a-holic.

 

I am becoming a brown-aholic as well... Perhaps even an ink-aholic. :/ I really am enjoying the browns, though.

 

-=d

[Apotheosis]

I love it for it's shading abilities in a flex FP (or even a B nib in some pens) !!

[Earthdawn]

I got a bottle of this when I ordered my twsbi vac last week and love it.

 

Great color and yes the shading abilities are great.

[melissa59]

Thanks for the review. I'm planning to try a few Goulet samples and this was one of them. Maybe I'll skip it (for now) since I'd like to stick with a few waterproof colors to begin with.

 

The "property list" for Noodler's ink listed Kiowa Pecan as partially bulletproof. I guess that means water will cause it to smear but won't completely dissolve off the paper. Shame ... it's such a lovely golden brown.

[P.A.R.]

Update: I now really like the color in a medium or medium-broad stub nib

[Ruminator]

I love it for it's shading abilities in a flex FP (or even a B nib in some pens) !!

 

Yes, yes, yes! I currently have it in a less-than-broad nib and it's just OK. But I think the answer is as you say.

 

I got a bottle of this when I ordered my twsbi vac last week and love it.

 

Great color and yes the shading abilities are great.

 

I think I'm going to get sucked into the brown morass!

 

Thanks for the review. I'm planning to try a few Goulet samples and this was one of them. Maybe I'll skip it (for now) since I'd like to stick with a few waterproof colors to begin with.

 

The "property list" for Noodler's ink listed Kiowa Pecan as partially bulletproof. I guess that means water will cause it to smear but won't completely dissolve off the paper. Shame ... it's such a lovely golden brown.

 

That's my experience... it will smear, but a clearly legible line will remain. It's an interesting color in between some of the other brown inks in my collection.

 

I'm writing a letter to my daughter using Walnut. It's a dark, saturated brown. However, I think I'd like to write some of my letters (mostly to my kids) using a shading ink, like Kiowa Pecan. I'm tempted... resisting... resisting...

 

 

Update: I now really like the color in a medium or medium-broad stub nib

 

I have another stub nib for my Esterbrooks... I wonder...

 

Thanks all...

 

-=d

[mrcharlie]

Using this from this month's Ink Drop, I've found that it is a much different color than the review picture above on the first few papers I used but does look like that dark brown on some; it shows way different shades of brown depending on what paper I'm using.

[Ruminator]

Using this from this month's Ink Drop, I've found that it is a much different color than the review picture above on the first few papers I used but does look like that dark brown on some; it shows way different shades of brown depending on what paper I'm using.

 

I think that's a good assessment. I think this is a shading ink and so it will pick up the color of the underlying paper, at least a bit. Also, that HP Premium I use for testing is slick and inks don't penetrate the paper very well. That could affect the outcome as well. In addition, there's the difference in ink delivery of different pens.

 

This is why I use the same paper and the same pen for my reviews. That trusty old Esterbrook J Transitional with the 9668 nib is a good combination.

 

-=d

[fixedintime]

Great ink. I have it in my TWSBI 1.1 currently and the shading is very good. This ink won out over N. Walnut when I tested it. My notes were that Walnut looked like a dirty brown to me.

[mrcharlie]

After working through the full Ink Drop sample, I will not consider buying this ink even though I liked the color in all its (paper/shading dependent) varieties.

 

The problem with it is drying time/absorption. If you limit yourself to using "fountain pen friendly" absorbent papers, my concern is not a problem; however, I do not do that. When using some old three ring filler paper, I wrote a three page letter, and when I was finished with the bottom of the third page I could still smear eye-dots and punctuation from the top of the second page, which had been written at least ten minutes previously. It could be used on note cards only if you gave it a few minutes to dry/soak in and blotted it well. Cheap mini-legal pad style notepads had the smearing of dots/punctuation for a very long time problem. Etc.

 

I have too many inks that I like that don't need special care on the same papers Kiowa Pecan didn't work with. I have other browns that I like. It was a nice sample to use, but I don't want 3 or more oz of it.