Gourmet Pens x Ink Institute Saskatoon Berry Pie Ink Review

Pen shows offer the opportunity for highlight after highlight, and one of my favorite highlights is what I call “The Handoff.”

Most times, The Handoff takes place randomly at the show. A friend has brought some ink samples and a notebook for me checkout. A vendor has a new pen they want to get into my hands. Cookies, candy, and coffee, too. Things of that nature.

Other times, The Handoff involves advance scouting and coordination. For example, when Azizah from Gourmet Pens texts me ahead of the Philadelphia Pen Show and asks “are you checking luggage?” you know things are about to go down. Reader, things did in fact go down, in the form of around a dozen bottles of ink from the Gourmet Pens Shop that she handed off to me. Taped, sealed, and packaged for air travel, to boot.

Post-show, I opened all of the bottles and did a quick sample of each ink. I’m not going to go through them all today, and I’ve already given some away, but I do plan on reviewing a few that specifically caught my eye. Choosing which ink to use first was an easy choice, with the Gourmet Pens x Ink Institute Saskatoon Berry Pie checking all of my boxes.

Saskatoon Berry Pie is a traditional Canadian dessert made from, you guessed it - Saskatoon berries. The fruit features purple and red tones, which when formed as an ink, turn into a stunning Magenta shade. It’s downright perfect for my use.

Since The Handoff, it has been inked in my Nahvalur Plongeur, which I also picked up at the Philadelphia Pen Show. It’s more difficult to pick a match for an all-titanium pen given that any color will do, but I’m thrilled with this matchup. The Plonguer is fitted with a Broad Steel nib, and while I had a moment of thinking I’d get it modified, it’s great as-is. It has a bit of a naturally blocky shape and is not too wide for my handwriting style. It is complimentary, and paired with Saskatoon Berry Pie, it’s as sweet as it gets.

I have yet to try this ink in a fine nib, but given the shade I think it will do well. It’s a character-filled color, and while the Broad nib shows off all of the properties, the base color will fit as an everyday writer.

Gourmet Pens x Ink Institute Saskatoon Berry Pie is $28 CAD for a 30 ml bottle at the Gourmet Pens Shop, which converts to around $19.50 USD. A great ink made by a great person, what’s not to like? Well, it doesn’t ship with a slice of pie, for starters. Can you work on that please, Azizah?

(Gourmet Pens Shop provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Yoseka Ceramics Ink Series Qing Purple Giveaway

A few weeks back, I reviewed Yoseka Ceramics Ink Ming Kong Que Blue and loved it. Fast forward to this week, and I have a second ink from this series, Qing Purple to give away. Read the rules below and get to entering!

Yoseka Ceramics Ink Series Qing Purple Giveaway

Yoseka Ceramics Ink Ming Kong Que Blue Ink Review

As your resident orange, purple, and pink ink fan, I would be lying if I told you that bright blue fountain pen inks didn’t excite me more than any other color when inking them up for the first time. There is something about that bright color on the page that makes me smile, and want to show off.

Yoseka Ceramics Ink Ming Kong Que Blue is definitely one to show off.

This series of inks was produced in collaboration with Taiwanese ink maker Ink Institute and ceramic artist Li Yan Xun. The 8 inks in the Ceramics Series were designed specifically to represent the colorful glazes found throughout the history of Chinese ceramics. Ming Kong Que Blue was formulated to represent the Peacock, or Turkish Blue, glaze found beginning in 12th century ceramic works.

As a modern product, this fountain pen ink pops off the page. It is a bright sky blue, with a hint of red sheen around the edges in heavier applications. To test it out, I inked up the new Tesori Venezia pen I picked up at the Orlando Pen Show, and fitted it with a Nemosine 0.6 mm stub nib I picked up from Birmingham Pen Co. earlier this year. This is a perfect match all the way around.

Ming Kong Que Blue works well with this setup. The ink has medium wetness and flow, with great dry time. There is some shading in the lines, and less sheen in my standard writing than I would expect from seeing the product pictures online. A wider, rounder nib that allows for more ink on the page will provide more sheen around the edge of the lines.

The color is bright, and I won’t profess it to be unique. Browse enough bright blues in enough product lines, and they all begin to favor each other. I would like slightly more sheen, too. There is little to none from the nib-I only found it on the edges of some heavy ink splatters I spread around. The product pictures on the Yoseka page concur with this assessment if you look close enough.

That’s no knock on the ink itself. It’s very good. At $20 for 30 ml it is fairly priced for a limited run, and I would recommend it from a performance perspective. As an added bonus, a portion of the proceeds will go to support the Yanshan Art Museum to support the work of Li Yan Xun. That is something I am fully behind.

I’m behind the Ceramics Series as a whole, and look forward to reviewing a second bottle I picked up from Yoseka Stationery in the same order.

(I purchased this ink from Yoseka Stationery at full price for purposes of this review.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!