Berlin Notebook No.1 Blue, Black Label (vs White Label)

[Matthew TWP]

I was looking for a vibrant blue ink that would work well with the recycled paper in a new Cognitive Surplus notebook that I got and ran across the "Berlin Notebook" inks, and since I'm a sucker for blue inks, I bought the No.1 Blue and the No.1 Blue "Black Label", and the green because I couldn't help myself. It took them about three weeks to get to Seattle from Germany, but who knows how long it would normally take without pandemics and such.

 

Anyway, Berlin Notebook Blue No.1 is a vibrant medium blue that sheens red, and they released a second ink of nearly the same color for people who don't like sheening inks... it's not supposed to sheen much at all. These German made inks cost about 12 Euros for a 30ml bottle, plus shipping. I like the simplicity of the labels and the black on black. The bottles ship in plain little brown boxes with a sticker on it that matches the one on the bottle.

 

 

 

The ink colors are pretty similar, but the Black Label is not quite as vibrant and it's a little darker. The White Label produces quite a bit of red sheen on Tomoe River and my Col-O-Ring standard paper, but very little on Rhodia/Clairfontaine, though I usually get pretty good sheen on them both with other inks, and I got less sheen from the Black Label, and that sheen is more of a bronze color and not as easy to see.

 

 

These are the Clairfontaine swabs (below).

 

And these are the Tomoe River.

 

I did writing samples with the Black Label ink on a Rhodia notebook (ruled) and a notebook filled with 68gsm Tomoe River. Please note that the TR paper is warm toned and will affect the appearance of the ink color slightly.

 

There are a couple of interesting things to notice here. First, there's a decent amount of shading, and where the ink is least dense, it pops as a very vibrant blue, while the rest of the letter can be a pretty dark blue. On top of that, there's a surprising amount of sheen on both of these papers, but as you can see, it's a dull bronze sheen, so it creates an interesting brown-to-blue effect in some areas.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh... I forgot to photograph it, but the ink does behave nicely on cheap recycled paper in my Cognitive Surplus notebook, but it's not a bright blue at all. It ends up looking a lot like a blue-black.

 

Here's how the color compares to some of my similar blues. It's nearly identical to Birmingham's "Ice Rink", and not too different from a lot of others that I couldn't fit into the picture.

 

 

Hope that some of you find this useful.

 

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Great review!  Thanks for all those excellent pictures.   Not my shade of blue, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about a brand I know nothing else about.

[yazeh]

Truly enjoyed the review. By the way what's your favorite colour?  😛

 

[DvdRiet]

I recently bought the No. 3 Green after trying a sample simply because it looked like malachite in the swatch and I absolutely love it! I love the color green in general but have a hard time finding an ink that really looks good for writing in green. 

[Matthew TWP]

8 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

I recently bought the No. 3 Green after trying a sample simply because it looked like malachite in the swatch and I absolutely love it! I love the color green in general but have a hard time finding an ink that really looks good for writing in green. 

I'm a fan of their green, too! I also bought a bottle of KWZ Discovery Green (Dromgoole's Exclusive) which is nearly identical, if you ever need to find something similar. They're both warmer than Monteverde California Teal, which is in the ballpark too, I think. (Oh, but both of those may not be as easy to get in the Netherlands). 

[DvdRiet]

46 minutes ago, Matthew TWP said:

I'm a fan of their green, too! I also bought a bottle of KWZ Discovery Green (Dromgoole's Exclusive) which is nearly identical, if you ever need to find something similar. They're both warmer than Monteverde California Teal, which is in the ballpark too, I think. (Oh, but both of those may not be as easy to get in the Netherlands). 

 

Also very nice shades! I will have to see if there is anywhere local I can source them. Thanks for the tip! And the fantastic review of the No. 1 Blue of course. That was one I had also been wondering about, so it's nice to see it in such detail!

[amberleadavis]

This is a great comparison.  Thank you so much!

[Matthew TWP]

1 minute ago, amberleadavis said:

This is a great comparison.  Thank you so much!

The pleasure was all mine 🙂

[inkstainedruth]

Those blues look nice (both of them).  I'm not familiar with the brand at all though, is this a new company?  Or a new line from another company?
Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Matthew TWP]

Just now, inkstainedruth said:

Those blues look nice (both of them).  I'm not familiar with the brand at all though, is this a new company?  Or a new line from another company?
Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

As you might guess from the name, it's a German company that primarily makes notebooks (from recycled paper)... or at least, did originally... and they sell various "lifestyle" stuff now, especially in collaboration with local artists (which is where the "Victor Walter" on the ink label comes from). Also tea and teaware.  Their website says that they started in 2017, so they're pretty new.