A Dark Brown/chocolate That Will Flow Well In Modern Flex Nibs

[jonathan7007]

All:

I need help choosing a chocolate or dark brown ink that will flow well. Wet, in other words.

 

I write pretty quickly with Noodler's and Fountain Pen Revolution(FPR) flex nibs. I also like stubs and italics. I have only one old 1935-1939 "Ink-Vue" Waterman pen with a true old-style moderate flex. Love this sweet old writer. But my question is about the inks that have a consistently good flow down the spreading steel nibs we use to give handwriting character if we're budget-constrained.

 

I jam together odd combinations of body and nib for fun. I take notes of plans and projects, write letters, keep track of things with pen and paper.

 

In a Neponset with the Neponset feed and an FPR "super-flex" #6 I found good results from a now old (over ten years, I think) less-than-half-bottle of Private Reserve Chocolate (not the fast dry variant.) Okay, I thought, since it's lubricated in some way (described as "ITF") Monteverde should also work. I switched to my new bottle of Monteverde Canyon Rust. Railroaded all the time.

 

I haven't tried Mr. Tardiff's "eel" formulations partly because there aren't as many colors. I do like X-Feather with these nibs. A wonderful black but takes extraordinary care over drying time in some papers, which limits its use, especially out in the wild.

 

I'll post separately my question about when we'll see the *brown* X-Feather color.

 

I am considering ordering a new bottle of Private Reserve Chocolate but I had heard there are a lot of changes in the formulations due to the death of the PR founder. (Too bad, I liked some of the colors and bought a lot of PR inks in the early 2000's.)

 

So, since it appears I need a *very wet* ink, and perhaps a lubricated ink, who knows of a almost-black dark brown that will flow through challenging nib gyrations I enjoy? Remember, I am using these pens to write notes at a fast cursive, not slowly forming attractive labeling, invitations...

 

Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Thanks, in advance.

Edited December 4, 2019 by jonathan7007

[A Smug Dill]

Sailor Shikiori doyou.

[loganrah]

It may not be dark enough for you but I find Noodler's Kiowa Pecan keeps up very well with the modern flex nibs I use, and its got great waterproofness as well.

[jonathan7007]

Loganrah- thanks, good to know, but for this case I am pursuing much darker tones. But I think I have a Goulet sample of that, I believe and will try it to see its effect in the nibs I use.

 

Smug Dill, I will look up the Sailor ink you suggest.

Edited December 4, 2019 by jonathan7007

[Eclipse157]

Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman's Sepia (yes, all that mouthful) might fit your bill at least for color. I love how complex it is and how different it appears on thin or thicker application. However I've heard wildly contrasting opinions about its flow. Mine is ok I guess, but as with most Noodler's bulletproof inks it really loves to feather and bleed. For a better behaved option try Iroshizuku Yama-Guri: not chocolate brown, but dark for sure... I love its cool tone. For some cheaper options: Diamine Macassar and/or Chocolate Brown, Organics Studio Boron Brown, Standardgraph Feigenbraun.

[Karmachanic]

You may find something here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/279274-inky-t-o-d-color-swatches-brown-please-post-your-pictures-and-tell-us-your-thoughts/

https://www.mountainofink.com/blog/brown-ink3

 

If you see a colour you like check it out in Ink Reviews.

[JefferyS]

Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman's Sepia (yes, all that mouthful) might fit your bill at least for color. I love how complex it is and how different it appears on thin or thicker application. However I've heard wildly contrasting opinions about its flow. Mine is ok I guess, but as with most Noodler's bulletproof inks it really loves to feather and bleed. For a better behaved option try Iroshizuku Yama-Guri: not chocolate brown, but dark for sure... I love its cool tone. For some cheaper options: Diamine Macassar and/or Chocolate Brown, Organics Studio Boron Brown, Standardgraph Feigenbraun.

 

I found the Whaleman's Sepia to be very dry, but I never experimented with diluting it or adding a bit of Triton X-100 to a mixture. What I really didn't care for was the color itself. Sort of a dark greenish brown that reminded me of the color of used motor oil.

[bobje]

Dill is right on Sailor doyou. Pricey smooth dark chocolate. Maybe the Waterman brown?

[DrDebG]

Graf von Faber Castel Hazelnut Brown is quite nice.

[jonathan7007]

Wetness, flow, through steel flex nibs is a critical component of my need. Perhaps I will move on the evidence I have (my own experience) and see what a NEW Private Reserve Chocolate is like.

 

Nobody here has told me *not* to buy the PR product.

 

Compared to Sailor's Do-You the PR is redder, and I like that color direction. Seems to go on more thickly. I see that I am not looking for shading for this use case.

[Runnin_Ute]

KWZI Brown #4 may be a viable option as well. Unfortunately I don't have it in a pen at the moment.

 

If you have interest, let me know and I can send a sample.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Runnin_Ute

[jonathan7007]

(EDIT)

Runnin_Ute, apologies, I'm updating this for the COLOR:
It was KWZ "IG Mandarin" that arrived spoiled. It was a sad unsaturated brown, not that coppery orange brown seen in Mandarin IG samples.

(End EDIT)

 

I bought a bottle of that ink a couple of years ago from Vanness when I read about the Polish ink company. I got interested in the history and differences of Iron Gall inks. The bottle that arrived was in some way spoiled: the ink was inconsistent, gloppy, smelly (maybe true of any iron gall formulation) I didn't like the color it made, which *seemed* different than web-seen samples. Like, say, the Noodlers Whalebone sepia it's a very organic shaded dirt color but not the elegant dark dark brown with punch that I'm looking for.

Vanness not at fault! Terrific customer service: they allowed me to get a different product right away, agreeing that something had allowed that bottle to spoil. I think I still have it here.

Edited December 5, 2019 by jonathan7007

[aurore]

Sailor Doyou. Diamine Chocolate

[pennonia]

I think the new limited edition R&K ink would also work. It gushes out of my Pelikan. Also +1 for Doyou but that's really dark compared to the R&K ink.

[sombrueil]

Diamine Chocolate works well in my vintage flex nibs.

[jonathan7007]

Diamine Chocolate became my choice after all the input and some further color comparisons I made.

...aaaaannnnndddd it's out of stock! I'll expand the mail order operations I check - if my usual sources don't receive a shipment soon.

Thanks, everybody, for your comments and suggestions.

[Intensity]

GvFC Hazelnut Brown, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi. Both are red-browns and can be very dark and chocolatey.

So far dark chocolate level of dark brown (very dark, toward black-brown) has been mostly met with my Maruzen Athena Sepia ink. I understand it's not easy to get in the US, but it's the only one I've found so far to look truly rich and dark brown (still on a slightly red side).

 

P.S.: I only see Diamine Chocolate out of stock at gouletpens. It's in stock at PenChalet and JetPens, for example.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Intensity

[Mech-for-i]

Krishna Dark Chocolate , had it, do well eve in my dip pen but also work decent on my varios fountain pen, old and new, vintage and modern

[Noihvo]

[sidthecat]

I run many flex nibs, and a few years ago I became fascinated with the look of old manuscripts with their faded inks.

My favorite brown is Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz, which is a lovely true brown which shades beautifully if slightly diluted. It was The Ink Of The Year a couple of years ago so you can still find it.