Jump to content

Diamine Syrah


Sandy1

Recommended Posts

One of my favorites. My first fill of Syrah surprised me with how well it shaded in a bagasse notebook. I was encouraged to try it in wider nibs, and I usually stick to fine nibs. Kudos to Diamine! :)

 

Hi,

 

I'm glad to read that Syrah is one of your favourites!

 

And we have another who prefers their Syrah from narrow nibs.

 

Thanks also for telling us that bagasse paper brings out the shading. Yet I've not found sheets that are without pre-printed lines - perhaps I am mistaking 'bagasse' for a trade name, rather than a generic name for paper with a high sugar cane fibre content.

Wiki 'bagasse' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagasse

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 54
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Sandy1

    16

  • Nick T

    8

  • The Good Captain

    3

  • amberleadavis

    2

I, too, find Syrah rather useless, but that doesn't stop me from using it from time to time. I like the color, just grayish/bluish enough not to completely jar the senses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a thorough review! Thank you! I'm putting this ink on my to-buy list — it looks fabulous.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Let us know of your experience with Syrah when it does make it to the top of your 'to-buy' list - I hope you find Syrah to be fabulous when writing with the pen in your hand. :D

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a rich, sweet colour - I'm especially intrigued that your favourite combo was the Pelikan 400 EF nib and the G. Lalo paper. I'm always looking for an ink that will do justice to G. Lalo even using a finer nib. Thank you! I'll be adding this ink to my next order of samples.

"Life would split asunder without letters." Virginia Woolf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was given this ink and I'm glad I have it. Thank you for the review.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sandy,

 

Your reviews are looked forward to every time in my world. Having done only two reviews myself I appreciate the time and effort that goes into your comprehensive effort.

 

I used Syrah as an everyday all day ink for about 6 months and then found myself burnt out on the color. It was like falling in and out of love in a Hemingway novel. We just became tired of each other. I used Syrah daily in a Lamy 1.1 stub at work on all kinds of cheap paper. It worked well enough and being an artist was acceptable to write business correspondence with. The russet hue left me feeling melancholy when at first it was so exciting.

 

For this warm color profile I am now using Iroshizuku Yama-budo. It is not the same russet hue of Syrah, but is related - being more of a purplish eggplant color. Once I have more experience with Yama budo I will pen a brief review.

 

Thank you again for reviewing an ink that got a lot of use here. It is a worthy blend and color.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

I'm glad to read that my efforts are appreciated. :)

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Syrah. I knew there had to be someone who used it as a 'daily writer' ink. But for six months! Yikes!! I'd be wearing my sunnies at the office.

 

I really would hate to need to take a break from an ink due to over use. I've been using the same ink as a daily writer in the office for years, and I haven't tired of it yet - mostly because it is quite discrete.

 

I've tried yama-budo once, but wasn't convinced to expand my array in that colour range: I'll work with what I have for a while longer so when/if I do choose to expand that range, I'll have a better idea of direction. (I'm also on a Purple ink hiatus.)

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I really would hate to need to take a break from an ink due to over use. I've been using the same ink as a daily writer in the office for years, and I haven't tired of it yet - mostly because it is quite discrete.

 

Hi S1,

 

I was overzealous in my adoption of just one ink for such a long time. Kind of like eating rich food every day - my eyes became gorged. I paid the price and burnt out on it. I bought more colors and now rotate choices every couple of weeks. Syrah waits patiently on the shelf for the spark that will cause me to fill a pen with her.

 

I adopted Pilot Blue Black, the bottle version, as a utility ink of choice. I might change this too when I am down to the last dregs.

 

Thank you again for such comprehensive reviews!

Cheers - Nicholas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Thanks for letting us know your choice of pen+nib to use with Syrah. :thumbup:

 

What paper/s are you using to generate shading from such a narrow nib?

(The firm-rigid XF Posting nib on the Estie shows no shading, yet the g-p steel EF on the M400 does show shading - even on the HPJ1124.)

 

I'm glad you also find Syrah to run smoothly from a narrow nib.

 

Bye,

S1

 

I have been able to get shading with my EF nib on various papers, from Rhodia to composition book and cheap ink jet paper. (Remember this is a Lamy nib; the 2000 I have was made around 2008 so it MAY have one of the older Lamy nibs on it that might be a bit wider than a "normal" western EF nib - I don't know when it was that Lamy decided to match the sizes of those of other western nib manufacturers.)

 

My Lamy is not currently in rotation and I don't have Syrah in any of my other pens right now, but I do like the ink!

 

Holly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Note to self: check this thread at home. For some reason or other I can't see these photos here in the office.

Kind regards,

 

Rui

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I, too, find Syrah rather useless, but that doesn't stop me from using it from time to time. I like the color, just grayish/bluish enough not to completely jar the senses.

 

Hi,

 

I too use Red-centric inks only from time to time, so my array in that hue is small, but I tend to be fussy about which ones are invited to join - unlike my array of Blue & Blue-Black inks which is much more of an open door.

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a rich, sweet colour - I'm especially intrigued that your favourite combo was the Pelikan 400 EF nib and the G. Lalo paper. I'm always looking for an ink that will do justice to G. Lalo even using a finer nib. Thank you! I'll be adding this ink to my next order of samples.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Ah! matching G Lalo Verge de France to a narrow nibbed pen is a bit tricky. It seems to me that one needs to look for inks that are easily absorbed by the paper, but quite often those inks are stripped from the nib by the paper, which reduces lubricity, so gives a less than luxurious writing experience.

 

Let us know what you think once you've given the Syrah a whirl on G Lalo . . .

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was given this ink and I'm glad I have it. Thank you for the review.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've found Syrah a bit sticky at times on Rhodia, and prone to some smearing as a result. R&K Alt-Bordeaux seems better behaved.

✒️ :happyberet:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unbelievable review. Thanks so much Sandy. For some reason Syrah wrote dry for me. I diluted just a bit with your recipe of photoflo and distiller water. Marvellous now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

The time has come to pull this one off the shelf again. Perhaps it is the mid-winter blues that need to be chased away. When I looked at some of my old correspondance using this ink it struck me as just the shade of brown/burgundy that I need to write with at the moment. I am curious to see how it does in my Pelikan 200 with Binder 1mm stub.

Thank you again Sandy for bringing us all such thorough reviews. Where do you find the time?

Cheers - Nicholas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The time has come to pull this one off the shelf again. Perhaps it is the mid-winter blues that need to be chased away. When I looked at some of my old correspondance using this ink it struck me as just the shade of brown/burgundy that I need to write with at the moment. I am curious to see how it does in my Pelikan 200 with Binder 1mm stub.

Thank you again Sandy for bringing us all such thorough reviews. Where do you find the time?

 

Hi,

 

I'm glad that you've returned to Syrah after a respite.

 

The richardspens M200 1.0 Stub is a marvelous nib, yet I still prefer Syrah from the narrower nibs. As you have much more experience with Syrah, I'm very interested to learn from your experience with the combo of that nib with Syrah, especially your choice of paper/s, and if you use a larger than usual hand.

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello S1,

 

After just a couple days I am ready to return to Tsuki Yo with my tail between my legs. The Syrah performs perfectly on Tamoe River paper with the Pelikan/Binder stub but is too fussy on Rhodia, Clairefontaine and the cheap notebooks and pads I use at work. For some reason the window angle that makes the Pelikan/Binder pen run with this ink is very small. I have much more experience with my Lamy and TWISBI pens running 1.1mm stubs with this ink. In these pens the ink runs really well. Those pens are wetter and the nib is more akin to a shotgun than a rifle. I don't use those pens very much since I purchased the Pelikan/Binder last summer. The Binder nib is a precise instrument with a lot of line variation.

 

On the positives - I love the color and the lack of bleed through on most papers. And then there is the shading which is quite good with the Pelikan/Binder. I don't see as much shading with the wetter stubs.

 

I will load up the Lamy and keep looking for a warm brown / burgundy to use in my Pelikan.

Cheers - Nicholas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for this great review.

The color seems to be close to the Yama-Budo.

Yama Budo is quite different in color. While Syrah has a strong red component, YB is much more pinkish-purple. Depending on the nib used Syrah can look dark brown with just a hint of red. YB always looks to me like a grape-purple.

 

Try a sample of each in your favorite pens before committing to a bottle.

Cheers - Nicholas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

S1 - you asked if I use a larger hand than normal with Syrah and the answer is yes. This formula seems to spread quicker which forces me to use a slightly larger hand when compared to the Iro inks I usually load up with.

Cheers - Nicholas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26626
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...