Sailor Tea Time Series Fika Coffee Ink Review

There are many fountain pen inks in the world, and Sailor Tea Time Series Fika Coffee Ink is one of them. It just so happens that, at the time of this writing, you can’t have it. Easily at least.

I’m sure it’s out there, somewhere, but don’t let the FOMO get to you. I was able to get mine from JetPens, where, at $18 for 20ml it lands in the “expensive per ml but I’m glad it’s a small bottle” category that I love.

Fika Coffee is a color that I have fallen in love with. I’ve raved about it on the podcast, and on stream. But don’t let that sway your thoughts of chasing it down, and I’ll tell you why right now: This is a basic ink color. Good performance, good flow, minimal shading, no sheen. Basic.

For some reason, I have found basic brown inks that meet my description of basic brown inks hard to find. What is my idea of a basic brown ink? Medium roast coffee. 72% cacao dark chocolate. No signs of caramel, toffee, orange, or red. Rich ink color, but not mixed with black ink. Simply, a pure dark brown line.

My issue, and why I’m fawning over this ink, is that I didn’t put in the work to find this shade of ink before Fika Coffee fell into my lap. This shade HAS to exist somewhere, right?

Col-o-ring paper.

The first place I went to look is the amazing resource that is Mountain of Ink. On the sidebar, scroll down to Ink by Color, click on Brown. Scrolling through the samples, you can eliminate 95% of the inks shown as it relates to my ideal brown ink. The rest, say Papier Plume Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Kaweco Caramel Brown, or Kobe 03 Kyu-kyoryuchi Sepia deserve a click through to the review and a decision on whether to explore them further.

That there are so few inks that represent my ideal brown is disheartening. Am I asking too much?

Yoseka Notebook.

Step two involves the mega-database that is Fountain Pen Companion. I pulled up the page for Sailor Tea Time Fika Coffee (all of 8 entries) to see what matches there might be in the digital color spectrum. You are unable to click through the color square to see which other inks are tagged with he same color (feature request!) but I could at least go to the Brands page and search for “Brown” and “Coffee” to see what other colors are assigned the same color space as Fika Coffee - inks like Laban Greek Mythology Demeter Brown.

With those two resources, I now have a list. I also have the wisdom of the crowd on my side as well. Readers with much more experience than myself will certainly have some great recommendations to take into account.

The Paper Mind Mitsubishi Bank Paper.

Why am I telling you all this? Fountain pen ink FOMO is the most pointless FOMO out there. I get it. I’ve been there. I FOMO’d plenty of Sailor Apricot back in the day, and later, Montblanc JFK. And it was pointless, as Sailor just reproduced it later, and Montblanc, well, Montblanc’ed themselves time and time again. Plus, plenty of other inks launched that are close enough matches by other brands.

I love Sailor Tea Time Series Fika Coffee. I’m fortunate to have a bottle. I don’t need to chase another bottle down, because I have endless options out there right now that are just as good. I just have to find them.

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

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Dominant Industry Citrus Yellow Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It's been quite a long time since I've used a yellow ink. Yellows aren't something you can use every day due to how light they appear on the page. But, when you find the right opportunity to use a nice yellow ink, it never fails to brighten your day.

I've recently been using Citrus Yellow from Dominant Industry, which is a bright yellow with little hints of green and orange if the light hits it just right. The bright color is accented by a mild sheen that makes the ink appear like it's still a bit wet. In all, it makes for a really special and fun ink to use.

While the main color in this ink is a bright yellow, you can also detect small hints of orange and green under the surface. This allows the ink to have a shading effect that gives it just enough character to differentiate it from a standard highlighting ink.

When writing with this ink, it appears extremely light — so light that it's pretty difficult to read. But as the ink dries, the color darkens a bit and exposes some of the other undertones of green and orange. Bear in mind, I don't really see any true green or orange in this ink — just yellow shades that lean toward green and orange. Either way, the dried ink is easy to read and has a happy, bright character that pops off the page. It's the opposite of gloomy.

Being my first ink from Dominant Industry, I was curious to see how it would behave in my pens. Delightfully, this ink works like a champ. There's plenty of lubrication to allow the nib to glide effortlessly across the page. The ink has no trouble starting after a break, and I can't detect any feathering or bleeding. It also washes out really easily — likely due to the light color.

One area that this ink really drags is when it comes to drying. It dries really slowly. In my testing (and in my super dry office where it's currently about 30% relative humidity), it took between 20 and 35 seconds for this ink to dry to the point where it wouldn't smudge when I ran my finger across it. That's definitely long enough to stop and consider before deciding to use this ink in certain circumstances.

Another minor downside to this ink is the bottle. While it's a beautiful and unique shape, the opening is quite small. You won't have any problem with most pens, but large nibs or large sections might have some trouble clearing the opening enough to draw up ink. If this is the case for you, Dominant Industry has included a small pipette in the box, or you can use your own syringe or bottle if needed.

Dry time aside, I've been really pleased with Citrus Yellow and look forward to trying other inks from Dominant Industry. A 25ml bottle of this boutique ink from South Korea will run $17. This is a fair price for the small shop and imported market — not to mention the high standard of quality. Can't wait to see what else they have to offer!

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

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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!

Ink Institute's Cat at Midnight Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

One of the newest inks to hit the scene (at least in my neck of the woods) is a Taiwanese company called Ink Institute. Ink Institute has an impressive selection of inks that feature bright colors and old classics alike. The first ink I've had the pleasure of trying is called Cat at Midnight. This is a dark ink that looks like a black-gray to my eyes, though the marketing says this is actually a dark purple-blue with red sheen. I can see some purple sometimes in certain light when the ink shading is light, and the red sheen shows up minimally in the right light as well. As a dark gray/purple ink, it does a great job.

Being my first ink from Ink Institute, I was most curious about how the ink behaved in my pens. It's one thing to have interesting colors, but that doesn't matter if the ink doesn't play nice with nibs and paper. Fortunately, this ink is fantastic in terms of how it acts in the pen and on the paper. There's plenty of lubrication without the ink feeling too wet, and it does great on a variety of different paper types. Dry time isn't spectacular, but it's usually dry by 20 seconds when using a medium nib. This is a long time for left-handed writers, so it won't be a good pick if you need a fast drying ink.

On the paper, the ink looks crisp and richly saturated. There's no feathering or bleeding with this dye-based ink, even when the ink pools up. It acts the same regardless of what quality the paper is, and it seems fairly resistant to water.

There's a fair amount of shading with this ink, which is what gives it most of its character. Without the plentiful shading, this ink is fairly boring and could be mistaken as a generic black ink. The shading is where the little hints of purple come through, even if they are slight.

At $16 for a 30ml bottle, this ink comes at a premium. I look forward to trying some other inks from Ink Institute because Cat at Midnight just doesn't offer enough to justify the price, and this is 100% due to the dark color. It's just hard to know what's going on in there! If it were a little lighter and the purple was more prominent, I'd probably love this ink. But with it being a black ink in my mind, there are many other inks I'd rather try before landing here.

I recognize that I don't hold any fondness for super dark or black inks, but that doesn't mean that there are plenty of other people that would line up for a color like this one that performs so well. If you're looking for an almost-black ink with a little character, this is an interesting option. For me, I need a little more color in my inks.

You can find Cat At Midnight — along with a lot more from Ink Institute — at Yoseka Stationery.

(Yoseka Stationery provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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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!