Birmingham – Emerald View Park Oxidized Brass

[crahptacular]

The Birmingham Pen Co.’s line of inks (30 colors when I bought the sample pack, but I think they’re at 40+ and counting) feature various colors based on or inspired by notable locations or people associated with its home city of Pittsburgh, PA. I bought their sampler pack, and plan on slowly going through the whole line of inks, though I expect it will take me quite a while. For those interested, I posted some color swatches in a different topic (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/328952-birmingham-pen-co-ink-swatches/) where you can get a quick idea of what the whole line looks like together.

 

Oxidized Brass is a dark grey/almost black ink with some blue undertones. I found it quite similar to another of Birmingham’s inks, Blues for Sale (of which I had a tiny bit left over, so you can see it in the comparisons). Oxidized Brass is slightly darker and less blue, but they’re definitely similar. The ink really rides the fence between what I’d consider a grey and a black; depending on the lighting, I keep changing my mind. It reminds me more of wrought iron than oxidized brass, though both of those things have a variety of appearances. In wet-writing nibs like my Falcon’s SF, the ink might as well be a black. In drier nibs like the broad italic, you can tell it’s not a true black. I should point out that in the main review scan, the really light portions were because I ran out of ink partway through and had to refill. The line written in capitals is definitely not an accurate representation of the ink (besides the word “PARKS” which I did after refilling). One aspect of the ink I wanted more from was the slight coppery sheen it had when pooled, which reminded me of Kyo no Oto Nurebairo, only much less pronounced. On TR, I could see it on the Falcon’s writing; unfortunately, I couldn’t see it on any other writing sample. Not everyone likes sheen, but I liked the added element and wished it showed up normally. Other than that, the ink has better water resistance than average and performed without issue. For me, this isn’t the type of color that’d get a lot of use. For some reason, my eyes aren’t discerning enough to appreciate the differences between various dark greys and light blacks for inks, even though I really enjoy different shades of grey for other non-ink things like clothes, paints, etc. Something might be wrong with my eyes.

 

 

Flow/Lubrication: Moderate

Shading: Low

Sheen: Slight, but usually not visible

Water Resistance: High

 

 

The following sample was done with a Pilot Falcon (SF) and a FC 27 (Broad Italic) on Tomoe River (68gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 0 liner. Flex writing was done with a Zebra G nib.

 

Inaccurate Image(s) Disclaimer: This one is pretty accurate across the board, including comparison inks. The only thing that doesn’t come out is the slight sheen, but it’s largely irrelevant, as it doesn’t show up in writing anyway.

 

Scan:

 

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Birmingham Riddle Green, Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun, Birmingham Blues for Sale, Noodler’s Black, Sailor Kiwa-Guro

 

Writing Samples (scans; some color correction), from Haruki Murakami’s “An Independent Organ”

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

Midori MD:

 

Franklin-Christoph:

[KellyMcJ]

I have this ink. I really like it. It appears like already-oxidized iron gall.

 

My experience with Birmingham inks is that they are WET, and feather/bleed where others (even Iroshizuku, which is my benchmark for wet) don't. So I have to use them in dry pens, then they're perfectly behaved.

[arellano81366]

Thanks for this post. They have launched a subscription service and I am researching to see if I really want try that brand.

[crahptacular]

I have this ink. I really like it. It appears like already-oxidized iron gall.

 

My experience with Birmingham inks is that they are WET, and feather/bleed where others (even Iroshizuku, which is my benchmark for wet) don't. So I have to use them in dry pens, then they're perfectly behaved.

Maybe I have a skewed feel for "average" wetness, as most of the inks I use are relatively wet (e.g. Sailors). But for whatever reason, I haven't had any feathering or bleeding problems with Birmingham inks. Obviously pens, nibs, and papers all matter, but I think of all the inks I've sampled so far, only 3 or 4 of them had any showthrough on FC paper, which is the most absorbent FP-friendly paper I use. None have feathered or bled onto the next page. It's good to hear others' experiences, as mine might not be typical.

 

Thanks for this post. They have launched a subscription service and I am researching to see if I really want try that brand.

You're very welcome! I got their sampler back when there were 30 inks in the line, and I'm almost through reviewing them, so you can look through my topics to see their other colors. However, as I recall, the Birmingham ink parcel service is a set of 5 new ink colors each month, so it shouldn't include any of the existing colors that I have.

 

For what it's worth, I think Birmingham's inks are very well-priced, provided you enjoy their colors. The 6-month subscription is $50 for 30 samples (150mL), or $1.67 per 5mL sample vial. Of course you don't get to choose the colors, but that might be part of the fun.

[Honeybadgers]

I have this ink. I really like it. It appears like already-oxidized iron gall.

 

My experience with Birmingham inks is that they are WET, and feather/bleed where others (even Iroshizuku, which is my benchmark for wet) don't. So I have to use them in dry pens, then they're perfectly behaved.

 

I have five different colors from them and all are very well behaved.

[ENewton]

I got the 30-color sample pack, and although the inks are wet, the only one I have found to feather so far is Andy Warhol Pop Art Purple.

 

Then again, none of my pens have broad nibs.

[KellyMcJ]

Maybe I have a skewed feel for "average" wetness, as most of the inks I use are relatively wet (e.g. Sailors). But for whatever reason, I haven't had any feathering or bleeding problems with Birmingham inks. Obviously pens, nibs, and papers all matter, but I think of all the inks I've sampled so far, only 3 or 4 of them had any showthrough on FC paper, which is the most absorbent FP-friendly paper I use. None have feathered or bled onto the next page. It's good to hear others' experiences, as mine might not be typical.

 

 

Oddly enough, I find Sailor inks to be rather dry! Except for Sei Boku, but then I've mostly used it in pens wet enough to disguise any dryness.

 

It may be the paper I use which is Apica, but then Apica paper stands up to a drenching (line so wet it stands above the paper) with other inks just fine.

[Tas]

Another gem of a review.