This Red Black is a cool ink! I've had a bottle for a while but never got into it really. Some posts here regarding it popped up a bit ago and I decided to give it another try. Second times a charm. Love the color when it dries but it's certainly not black, more of a deep, dark brown with minimal traces of red. Yeah, you all knew that already. The only complaint anyone has is the nib creep and I'm living with it. Major creep, minor disturbance.

Another favorite is the Tianamen. Like that a lot and use it exclusivly in my Dani Mikado Tamenuri. When that's dry, the color is very close to the color of the pen. An different shade of a battle tested color, to say the least.

Moving on, my favorite blue is Diamine WES Imperial Blue. Sometimes hard to get in the US so when I ordered at Pear Tree last time James got some in, I snagged 3 bottles. A very classy blue and one that reacts differently depending on the nib and I mean shading here. An interesting blue, some purple tones seen in it, depending on the nib decides how much you get.

Just sharing info is all, these little capsules are not ment to be a review. Hoping some folks who haven't tried these inks might do so in the future. Anyone got an ink you gave a second chance to and found a new favorite from it?

Totally agree with the love for Red Black and WES Imperial Blue. They are in 2 of my daily rotation now. I put the Red Black in a Preppy pen, actually, and I am definitely getting red with black shading rather than a brown. Curiously, there is no nib creep in the Preppy. I'm also trying out Noodler's Samsui Red in my Cross Verve and that creeps like mad.

I'll have to try out Tianamen too.

Noodler's Red Black has been an exquisite companion for my Nakaya Kuro-Tame Piccolo since I received it... other inks go into that pen from time to time, but nothing looks quite as sexy as the Red Black. (I actually have no issues with nib creep - none at all.)

Tiananmen was one of the first Noodler's inks that I bought (it's quite identical to PR Fiesta Red in many ways), I recently inked up a shiny red Esterbrook J and Tiananmen is perfect with it.

Noodler's Saguaro Wine is a shockingly bright magenta ink which I love, but coming out of all my XXF nibs it became boring and dark. A few days ago I put it in my slightly-dry LAMY Lady with a 0.4mm Cursive Italic, and now I'm seeing and loving the true colour again.

Red-Black is my second favorite Noodler's color. It was my favorite, until I got my first bottle of Galileo Manuscript Brown. They are actually neck and neck, and I keep multiple bottles on hand. Walnut is vying for the number 3 spot.

I think my favorite blue is Luxury Blue. Or maybe Polar Blue. One of the two. Both silky and bulletproof. And Baystate wins by an overwhelming margin for the most fun blue.

Nikita red is my favorite red. And I really like Heart of Darkness for my black. I keep a lot of those two around, too.

I'd really like a rich, medium to dark, bulletproof or near bulletproof purple. Iraqi Indigo isn't purply enough. (Is purply a word ) I like the plain ol' Purple, but it is not waterproof. I need at least waterproof. /nod

I could go on. I'll spare everyone, though.

edit: My spelling is terrible.

kiavonne,
mix plain purple with Iraqi Indigo 1:1. I bet it's exactly what you're looking for.

I still haven't tried this Red-Black. Everyone raves about it, but honestly, I've made some my own with Tiananmen and Black, and I think I prefer Tiananmen by itself in a wet nib (for color; but like this it dries so slow). Actually, lately I've been enthralled by a 1:1 Tiananmen:Djinn of the Eternal Flame mix. Tiananmen:Empire looks good, but those two words together sound awful and scary!

How does the Diamine WES Imperial Blue compare to Waterman Florida Blue in terms of color and saturation?

Waterman Florida Blue appears more saturated and a bit darker. Diamine WES Imperial Blue also has more of a purple tinge, especially when wet. Diamine Sapphire Blue is closer to Waterman Florida Blue, but again, Waterman comes out a bit darker.

Interesting some of you don't see nib creep with the red black, but good too, for you. I had it in a Conway Stewart and it soaked the nib. It's in an Omas Paragon now, the new style, and it's bad but not like the CS. This is one thing that never bothered me but I can live with it.

Haven't tried the Red Black but love the Tienanmen! The Noodlers Burgundy is a sweet color along the same lines. I have and love Diamine Mediterranean Blue and Presidential Blue, I desperately want to try the WES and Sapphire Blues. Does anyone have all 4 of these Diamine Blues that could show us a comparison?

I have Noodler's Burgundy and I love it. Would it be worth it to also have Red-Black, or is that color very close to Burgundy?

Lisa