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I really ought to stop browsing Taobao altogether, or ‘better’ yet, delete my account and cut up my credit card! Not even 48 hours ago, I updated my spreadsheet of bottled inks, and mused (on Reddit) that, come end of May when my ink orders totalling ninety-odd bottles placed in April on Taobao arrive by slow boat, I'll effectively have just over 1,000 bottles of ink here. The spreadsheet said 997 bottles, but I figured a bottle of Montblanc Corn Poppy Red was unduly absent in it; and that's before taking into account ten ‘blind box’ (i.e. ‘lucky dip’ and/or ‘mystery’) bottles KittyInkpot sent me, of which the contents are unidentified and unidentifiable. Also, last time I ordered a dozen bottles of chromatographic multi-shading inks at once (but not as a pre-packaged set) from Ostrich Ink's official store on Taobao, it also sent me three small bottles in a labelled set as a freebie; so, with 93 bottles of Ostrich inks incoming, I figure there's a good chance that I'll find some extra bottles in the packages (and assuming no bottles are broken or go missing in transit). Well, well. I just placed an order with yet another Chinese ink brand (鳳凰翎, literally ‘Phoenix Plume’) previously unknown to me, for thirty 18ml bottles of different waterproof pigment inks and eleven 30ml bottles of shimmer ink. At an average of AUD $2.41† a bottle, how wrong could one go? It's a sickness. 🤧 † Inclusive of 10% tax on the item, and apportioned non-trivial international shipping charges and Alipay's credit card processing fees applied on the entire order. (In case you're curious, the fees and charges come to 30% roughly.)

Kakimori, describes their ink as such : "Soyo is like a breath of fresh air. A colour that evokes the feeling of a pleasant breeze." Photo courtesy of Kakimori website. Lets start with the chroma: This is my least favorite ink by Kakimori, mostly because of it's paleness and lack of lubrication. You would need a cushiony nib, to enjoy the writing experience. Otherwise it's scratchy with finer nibs and dry times are quite long, especially with Japanese paper. Writing samples: Rhodia For some reason, the scanner picks green (with Midori). This is a pale blue. Tomoe River 68gr It behaves well on Hammermill copy paper 20 lb Front: Back Photo: I would say, its utility is for fountain pen ink art, journaling with wide or cushiony nibs preferably on thick absorbent papers. Water test: Left side was held under running water Comparaison: and finally a small sketch on Strathmore Drawing Paper: This was one my doodles, for the yearly Inktober challenge, the prompt was Doctor. I was wondering if Dr. Felix would be able to manage his speech without being distracted by the tassel · Pens used: Pilot Elite (Ef/Stub) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Kanwrite Ultraflex, Jinhao fude nib · What I liked: writing with a wide fude nib, and ironically smudging and easy of cleaning. · What I did not like: Writing experience with all pens (very scratchy) but the very wet, Kanwrite, and Jinhao fude nib. Illegibility with most nibs. Long dry times. · What some might not like: Same as above. · Shading: None. · Ghosting: Faint · Bleed through: None · Flow Rate: Too wet · Lubrication: None existent · Nib Dry-out: None. · Start-up: None · Saturation: Light · Shading Potential: Only with fude nib. · Sheen: None. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Nope. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: No. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 30 ml bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

I see blue, blue-black and black pigment inks mentioned here, but other colours not so much. So I went hunting and here's what I found: Birmingham Pens, which, unfortunately, do not ship internationally kakimori ink Kala Ink Mitasanshodo Sumi inks Made by KURETAKI for fountain pen use Rohrer & Klinger sketchINK Sailor Storia If you know of others, please add.

@JulieParadise mentioned these in a post, so I went looking. Here's what I found. Available in 10 and 50ml bottles

I frequently read warnings about the potential for clogging pens with pigment inks. Is this based on any actual evidence or is it mainly hypothetical? Can anyone provide experience either good or bad with pigment inks in fountain pens?