Tintenlabor Tannenwald iron gall Ink

[yazeh]

 

Tintenlabor Tannenwald

 

Ink Review # 227

 

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🧾 Description

Tintenlabor is a Swiss ink company specializing in iron gall inks. What differentiates these inks from other brands is that the iron content is clearly stated. The highest iron content in the range is 6 g/L, and the lowest is 1 g/L.

 

The samples were sent to me by the Ink-Meister, David. 

 

Tannenwald is a 4 g/L ink. It is a wet, lubricated ink, grass/apple green (when wet) and oxidizes to dark green or black depending on wetness and the amount applied. 

 

 

 

It has excellent water resistance: the more the ink cures, the more waterproof it becomes. 

 

It dried up in the Ahab, which has the worst seal in the history of pens. The moral of the story use a pen with a good seal or use one regularly. 

Cleaning was surprisingly easy after a month in a Kaweco. As a safety measure I add a pure pinch of ascorbic acid to the pen jacuzzi. It was much easier to clean than some staining inks. 

 

Never use ammonia-based pen cleaning solutions with iron gall inks in the initial cleaning. 

 

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🧪 Chroma

 

 

 

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✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Quotes: 

Quotations are given in English translation; wording may vary between editions and translators.

1.     “What has once been thought can never be unthought.”

—    Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer

2.     “Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

—    Gottfried Keller

3.     “Every landscape is a state of the soul.”

—    Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher

4.     “Nature does not belong to us; we belong to it.”

—    attribution uncertain

5.     “The earth does not belong to us; it is we who belong to the earth, and we pass.”

—    Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer 

 

Rhodia / Iroful

 

 

 

Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm

Note 1: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm, not the thinner 52 gsm version commonly referenced in reviews. 

Note 2: The scan was taken immediately after writing. The oxidization is slower on these papers, but it’ll happen in 24 hours. 

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

 

Wet ink (photos) 

 

 

 

 📸 Photo

Rhodia/ Iroful

Photos were taken a month later. 

 

 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20 lb copy paper

 

 

 

 

Closeup

Photos were taken a month later. 

 

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

Col-O-ring. Scans are approximative. 

I have no colour similar to this one. 

 

 

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

Eternal Sunset of the Spotless Mind

Inktober52: Sunshine. 

 

I made a draft of the last Inktober52 prompt with my Cat & Mouse theme. As it is with iron gall inks, they oxidize from their base colour to different degrees of darkness, depending on the ink application. Hence, it forced me to go beyond conventional art and dig deeper into the psyche and explore. The process was liberating. 

 

Tintenlabor Rothorn (red base), Tannenwald (green base) and a mystery ink in development, Uniball Signo White Gel pen, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

 

Brumes de souvenir (Mists of Memory)

Miniature 

 

Tintenlabor Tannenwald iron gall ink, Hosia Ink Studio An Nang, Talens Square Sketchbook.

 

 

 

Someone to care for

My cat was sitting on my lap; I did a quick sketch and voilà.

 

Tintenlabor Tannenwald (dark green), Rothorn(red-burgundy) iron gall inks, Signo Uniball White gel pen, Talens Mixed Media.

 

 

 

I Love you with your fir!

Inspired by the name Tintenlabor Tannenwald (fir forest), I incorporated conifers into the tabby’s pattern.

 

Tintenlabor Tannenwald, Jacques Herbin Diamant Bleu, Noodler’s Eel Rattler’s Red, Uni-ball Signo, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

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- Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Kaweco(EF/F/M/B/BB/stub 1.1, 1.9), Noodler’s Ahab with FPR Ultra-flex. 

- What I Liked: Water resistance. Drawing, dark green colour. 

- What I Did Not Like: Nothing much.

- Writing Experience: This is rock solid iron gall ink. 

- Pros: Dark classy colour. Waterproof.

- Cons: Tariffs might apply as it’s only available from Tintenlabor website in Switzerland. Shipping is fast. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Excellent. 

- Ghosting: A bit on copy paper. 

- Bleed Through: Only with BB and wet flex nib on copy paper. 

- Flow Rate: Average. 

- Lubrication: Good. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: I used it in Kaweco for a month with no problem. 

- Saturation: Deliciously dark. 

- Sheen: No.

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice.

- Nib Creep / Crud: It’s possible.  

- Staining (Pen): The green dye stained the Pilot Kakuno’s section. 

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Surprisingly easy. 

- Water Resistance: Excellent. 

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- Available in 30/50 ml bottles directly from the Tintenlabor website. 

https://tintenlabor.mycommerce.shop/products/tannenwald

 

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 💬 Closing

A very solid ink from Tintenlabor. It evokes the melancholy of coniferous forest in fall and winter. If you love green-blacks, want something waterproof and have a well-sealed pen this ink is great candidate.  

 

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.  

 

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Thanks, @yazeh!  You've been a busy boy! Seems like you're churning out reviews.

 

Fire-apple chroma!  Ooo, no, a Kryptonite meteor!  

 

I like the black-forest color on Rhodia and Iroful.   The neon apple scan I definitely don't like.   (Photos of the wet ink suggest that the scan neonifies this ink - which isn't unusual for scanners.)

 

Look! A green squirrel! 

 

Great drawings.  Love the tabby fir!   Thank you for the Sunday morning eye-candy.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Thanks, @yazeh!  You've been a busy boy! Seems like you're churning out reviews.

This one was done at the last day of 2025.  

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Fire-apple chroma!  Ooo, no, a Kryptonite meteor!  

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

I like the black-forest color on Rhodia and Iroful.   The neon apple scan I definitely don't like.   (Photos of the wet ink suggest that the scan neonifies this ink - which isn't unusual for scanners.)

 

The scan neon-ifies most bright greens or any ink with a hint of green in chroma, like some tan inks. The thing is the oxidation is slow enough of Midori & Tomoe River 68 gsm (about 24 hours give or take) so that one can capture the base colour. But with the other papers, especially Iroful it's nearly instantaneous.   

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Look! A green squirrel! 

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Great drawings.  Love the tabby fir!   Thank you for the Sunday morning eye-candy.

Most welcome. The Ackermann fountain pen/ dip pen is quite fun to use. It took me about two hours to do that drawing. It's also a "great" tool to see how iron gall ink eats through the dip pen. This morning the nib was black. I gave it a little ascorbic acid treatment and it writing again. Ink nerds.

 

[inkstainedruth]

@yazeh Trying to decide what I think of this one.  It really does seem to be VERY paper and pen dependent.  More so than some other Tintenlabor colors you've investigated.

But thanks as usual for the comprehensive review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

54 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

@yazeh Trying to decide what I think of this one.  It really does seem to be VERY paper and pen dependent.  More so than some other Tintenlabor colors you've investigated.

Yes. Some inks oxidize readily, like the green. The pinks, red, and purple oxides slower. 

54 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

But thanks as usual for the comprehensive review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Welcome. 🙏

[Sailor Kenshin]

I tried guessing from its name what color this latest ink would lay down.  It wasn't difficult!  😉 🎄

 

Nice chroma, too.  But the artwork!  It's glorious.  Kitteh really shines here.   👏🏻
 

You know me, no fan of iron gall ink.  But I am a fan of your reviews.  Thanks, @yazeh. This was fun.

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

The Ackermann fountain pen/ dip pen is quite fun to use. It took me about two hours to do that drawing. It's also a "great" tool to see how iron gall ink eats through the dip pen. This morning the nib was black. I gave it a little ascorbic acid treatment and it writing again. Ink nerds.

 Glad the cleaning saved your nib!  Also glad you've got a nib / pen you enjoy drawing with!

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I tried guessing from its name what color this latest ink would lay down.  It wasn't difficult!  😉 🎄

Bravo. 👍

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Nice chroma, too.  But the artwork!  It's glorious.  Kitteh really shines here.   👏🏻

Thank you so much. 🙏

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

You know me, no fan of iron gall ink.

😊

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 But I am a fan of your reviews.  Thanks, @yazeh. This was fun.

Glad it was enjoyable. 🙏

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 Glad the cleaning saved your nib! 

This is an "artist" pen. So it uses dip pen nibs, hence the nibs don't live for more than few weeks. Iron gall inks historically eats these nibs in their infancy in early 19th century as you know.

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Also glad you've got a nib / pen you enjoy drawing with!

Yes it's fun to use a dip pen again.

 

[Baggins]

Loved the artwork. 
About eating nibs, you could always use glass nibs?

 

 

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Baggins said:

Loved the artwork. 

Thanks!

 

2 hours ago, Baggins said:

About eating nibs, you could always use glass nibs?

I have had this dip nib for quite a while. It's alright. It's time to get a new one. Any ink will after a few weeks will destroy these nibs. With iron gall it's faster.