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I'm a fan of 'dry' (less lubricated) inks and over the last two years used exclusively the Diamine Registrar's/ESSRI, Salix and Pelikan 4001 blue black. Are there other similarly dry inks available? I would like to try something new, new colours and I'm not particularly concerned about permanency or its lack anymore.

Essri (Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink) Ink Review # 191 --- 🧾 Description One of the classics of iron gall inks. Its lineage goes back to Stephens in 1834. In 1976, when the former ceased production, one of the former associates launched ESSRI (Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink), carrying on that iron gall ink tradition ESSRI comes in 110 ml plastic bottles, which should ideally be decanted into smaller glass bottles, as plastic is porous and allows air exchange over time. Like all iron gall inks, it has an expiry date. A Dutch scientific website dedicated to the history and preservation of iron gall inks [https://www.irongallink.org/how-to-make-ink-trouble-shooting-chart.html] suggests that gently blowing into the bottle before sealing it may prolong the ink’s life: the expelled carbon dioxide, being heavier than oxygen, can create a protective barrier over the surface. When I mentioned this trick in some of my earliest IG reviews, a few readers mocked the idea. But a few years later, I revisited my inks and found that a quarter-full 20 ml bottle had precipitated, while a full bottle from the same batch remained perfectly stable. Ink oxidizes immediately from medium/ dark blue to blue black. If one uses wet flex nibs, it oxidizes to black almost immediately. This is still one of the best Iron gall inks I’ve ever used. Bottom line: If you’re condemned to use cheap paper, no ink beats Essri in comfort, behavior, and ease of use. Note, as with all Iron gall inks, one should ideally use a diluted ascorbic acid solution, patience, and lots of flushing to clean the pen. Never use conventional cleaning solutions for iron gall inks. --- 🧪 Chroma --- ✍️ Writing Samples (scan) Rhodia / Iroful Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm Hammermill 20lb --- 📸 Photo Rhodia/ Iroful Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm / Hammermill 20lb Oxidation 🔍 Comparison I redid the Essri swatches to compare with the original swatch done three years ago. Comparison with other grey inks: --- 💧 Water Test --- 🎨 Artwork Mountain Dew Essri - Talens Mixed media Oxidation Invoking Tishtar Cat and mouse enact a traditional Tirgan custom: the symbolic throwing of water to encourage rainfall. Rooted in ancient Persian mythology, this midsummer practice was associated with Tishtar—the celestial figure linked to Sirius and water—who battles drought to bring rain. The festival occurs shortly after the summer solstice and reflects seasonal concerns with heat, fertility, and renewal. Fountain pen inks used: ESSRI, Diamine Sepia, J. Herbin Bleu Calanque Solstice Inktober challenge While researching the solstice in different cultures, I came upon an ancient pre-Islamic Persian tradition. It honored the midsummer battle of Tishtar—the deity of water—against the demon of drought, to summon rain. While this festivity happens a week or so after the summer solstice, it seems fitting to celebrate one of the four elements. Inks used: Essri Iron gall ink J Herbin Bouton d'or/ Bleu calanque Noodler's Apache Sunset --- - Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1) , Ahab with a FPR ultraflex nib. - What I Liked: Ease of use, behavior on cheap paper. - What I Did Not Like: Expirey date. - What Some Might Not Like: Iron gall ink. - Writing Experience: Exceptional. - Pros: Waterproof, excellent for cheap paper. - Cons: It comes only in 110 ml plastic bottles and needs to be decanted into glass bottles. Expiry date. Cleaning. 🧷 Ink Characteristics - Shading: Lovely - Ghosting: Minor ghosting with a wet flex nib. - Bleed Through: None. - Flow Rate: Wet - Lubrication: Surprisingly good. - Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. - Start-up: Excellent. - Saturation: Dark charocoal - Sheen: A bit on Iroful - Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. - Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. - Staining (Pen): - Clogging: No. - Cleaning: Like most iron gall inks, one needs pure ascorbic acid for cleaning, Q-tip and patience. - Water Resistance: Excellent. --- 🛒 Availability - [ ] Available only in 110 ml bottles, from Essri website. Shipping is included in the price. Link: http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/registrars_ink.html --- 💬 Closing Among all the iron gall inks I’ve reviewed, Essri is still among the best, especially for those condemned to use cheap paper. Its downsides, as noted above, are a huge volume plastic bottle and expiry date. Nothing is eternal. No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.

Hi, some of my favorite inks are iron gall. So I took some of these to see what happens when I mix them. :-) The inks: ESSRI, blue-black IG Gutenberg G10 Urkundentinte "Schwarz" black IG Platinum Classic Forest Black, green IG Platinum Classic Sepia Black, brown IG 1. I wanted to make Forest Black darker and less yellowish: My favorite: 75% Forest / 25% ESSRI (darker but not a cold green) 2.: Forest Black mixed with G10: Favorite: 67% Forest / 33% G10 (a "Moddergrün" = murky green, like Diamine Safari but darker) 3.: Forest Black with G10 and ESSRI: Favorite: 40% Forest / 40% G10 / 20% ESSRI (subtle gray-green) 4.: G10 mixed with ESSRI to remove the aubergine tint: Favorite: 75% G10 / 25% ESSRI 5.: Sepia Black and ESSRI: Favorite: 50% Sepia Black / 50% ESSRI (nice dark gray-black) Nib used: Swan B-stub; paper: Clairefontaine 90g/m3 Photos were taken 10 days after writing. No mixture developed a sediment in these ten days. Best Jens

Essri doesn't offer huge variety of products. Basically you can get two inks: blue-black and black that contain iron-gall and are fully waterproof. There's long conversation about this ink under Sandy1's excellent and in-depth review of this ink and you should definitely read it. To my big surprise it seems that ESSRI has a huge following, mainly because of the unpredictability of the resultant color when it dries. Depending on the pen - paper - nib combination you use writing can have nice shade of blue or look nearly black. It's fully wateroproof and shouldn't fade with time even if you post it in the window. Personally I can't understand all the hype about this ink. I've received 8 ml of Essri and tried it in few pens. The ink is dry and writing with it is unpleasant. It doesn't offere reasonable lubrication. The color is dull. My biggest criticism isn't the dryness though (although for me it's deal breaker) but the fact Essri tends to clog pens. I've tried it in four pens and with time it's clogged every one of them (between 2 - 7 days of not using the pen). I say no to Essri. I believe at the moment you can easily buy well behaved inks with similar properties. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Tomoe River, FPR Dilhi, M Leuchtturm 1917, Waterman Phileas, M Kokuyo Campus, Kaweco Skyline, M

Hello all, Everyone's experiences and apprehensions with iron gall inks seem to be all over the place. The take home message is usually something along the lines of "if you exercise proper pen hygiene and use modern iron gall inks formulated for fountain pens, you shouldn't have an issue". I've followed this and nope, haven't had an issue yet. What I do get apprehensive about is the reasoning behind the iron gall cleaning routine. It seems you don't want the ink sitting in the pen for very long but the issue arises if you want to dedicate IG ink to a pen. For example what if one were to use IG inks in a steel nibbed pen with proper hygiene (rinsing, thorough cleaning bi-weekly at best, etc) but kept refilling the pen with IG ink? Wouldn't the contact time with the steel eventually corrode the nib? That's my question -- about the hardiness of steel when exposed to IG ink with proper pen maintenance. Anyone have positive/negative stories to share? This includes IG ink experiences of all kind with any nib/pen material but i'd especially love to hear from folks that have been using an IG ink in a particular pen for a long time (e.g., >=1 year). How does your pen fare under these conditions? Best, sleepy P.S: Currently using ESSRI in a lamy 2k and am loving it. A left-handed overwriters dream!

Diamine Registrar's is my go-to ink for work, because it doesn't feather/bleeds through even the cheapest papier. It's quite expensive though, and I've bought some Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars, which is three times less expensive (factoring in shipping costs). After a workday of using both inks, the differences I've noticed : 1. The colour is virtually undistinguishable. 2. ESSRI is less dry than Diamine, so it's the ink of choice for drier pens. 3. ESSRI does feather slightly and does bleed through slightly, whereas Diamine almost never does. See the comparison here : Recto : http://i.imgur.com/gZ5LGby.jpg, Verso : http://i.imgur.com/3PWCJwE.jpg The first two lines are written with ESSRI, and the rest with Diamine.

In my quest to replace the dearly departed iron gall Montblanc Midnight Blue, I bought a bottle of Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars’ Ink. As a usual matter, I ran Midnight Blue from my daily writer, a ‘60s (resin) 149, and never had problems with clogging or staining. I’ve tested ESSRI with dip pens, I like what it can do, and I want it to be my new Midnight Blue. However, I’m a bit concerned about clogging and staining, taking into account the normal extra maintenance recommended when dealing with iron gall ink. I must confess, ESSRI’s low price and frowzy packaging do not inspire confidence. How about it -- does anybody have successes, failures, clogs, or stains to report as a result of using ESSRI in a Montblanc piston-filler?