Posts filed under Pennonia

Pennonia Cheerio Waterbus Ink Review

Pennonia Cheerio Waterbus Ink Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

“See you later, Cheerio Waterbus” - what the heck, Kimberly? That doesn’t even rhyme! I know, I know! There are “goodbye phrases” that rhyme in English like “See you later, alligator” and “In a while, crocodile”, but did you know that other languages have similar rhyming sayings for “see ya”? If you check out this Twitter post by Adam Sharp, you’ll find foreign language equivalents including the Dutch’s “Aju paraplu” (“bye umbrella”) or Basque’s “Agur yogur” (“bye yogurt”), but the one that we’re talking about today is “Szervusz vízibusz” which is Hungarian for “cheerio waterbus”! Mike Matteson of Inkdependence thought that was cool and it would be a great name for his ink collaboration with Hungarian ink maker, Máté Bikfalvi of Pennonia Inks.

Released just a few weeks ago in late March, Pennonia x Inkdependence Cheerio Waterbus’ first online batch sold out on the same day and the remaining inks were gone before Saturday afternoon at the Atlanta Pen Show! I was glad I was able to pick up my ink from him at the show before they were all gone! (Don’t worry, more is coming)

Cheerio Waterbus comes in a 60ml glass bottle which is packaged in a white box with Mike’s logo on the side and a round color swatch on top (I love this so I can see what colors are in my ink drawers). The bottle also has a nice swatch on the front, Mike’s logo on the right and “Thanks for choosing Pennonia ink” in Hungarian on the left.

Pennonia Ink
Pennonia Ink

Don’t ignore this advice! You really need to shake it like a Polaroid picture!

Pennonia Ink

There’s a reason you gotta shake the bottle. There is a layer of blue pigment at the bottom.

On Col-o-ring cards, you can see that it is a nice green-leaning teal mixed with blue pigment, which makes the ink shift colors depending on how much pigment you get when you’re writing. You can see the pops of blue in the swatches and the writing sample. I used a Kakimori brass dip nib on the swatch cards. For the other writing samples, I started out with a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande in Caraibi, which is a really great match for all the variations of green and blue that you get from Cheerio Waterbus.

Pennonia Ink
Pennonia Ink

Similar inks include Robert Oster Tranquility, 3 Oysters Aqua Green, Colorverse Morning Star and Robert Oster Marine. These are all just a teensy bit more blue than Cheerio Waterbus. I color-corrected this picture so the swatches would be more accurate, but it makes the Col-O-Ring cards look more yellow.

Pigmented inks can be (but aren’t always) difficult to clean and possibly stain, so I decided to unink my Leonardo Caraibi, which has a captured converter. I only had it in the pen for a day but I didn’t have any problems cleaning it out, other than constantly twisting the converter because that’s the only way to clean these kinds of pens. I switched to a Levenger True Writer, Teal Appeal, so I could use a converter and not worry about any staining (so far so good). Both have Fine European-sized nibs, but the Leonardo writes wetter due to the larger nib/feed, so I was able to see more blue in that writing sample. As with any pen inked up with a pigmented ink like Cheerio Waterbus (or with shimmer inks), you should periodically agitate it to make sure the pigment is mixed well with the dye. Tip: You can agitate a pen with pigment or shimmer by gently rocking it back and forth a few times (nib down, then up, then down, repeat), rolling it around on the table (with the cap on in case of impending gravity!), shaking it gently, or moving the converter piston up and down a few times in combination with other methods.

Pennonia Ink

The wetter pen (top) got me more blue.

Pennonia Ink

Just look at the green, teal and blue in that swatch!

Pennonia Ink
Pennonia Ink

The color shifting wasn’t as noticeable on 24lb copy paper.

The flow is average to slightly wet but it still dried fairly quickly with the Levenger on the index card. On 68 gsm Tomoe River paper, it took a bit longer, especially with the Leonardo, probably 10 seconds more.

Pennonia Ink

Dry time was 25-30 seconds on this Exacompta index card (yay, I found some white ones!)

Now, I know this isn’t meant to be a waterproof or water-resistant ink but since the blue is pigmented, I was curious to see how it would behave if doused with water.

Pennonia Ink

Writing on 24lb copy paper and letting it dry completely before running it under water.

Pennonia Ink

Definitely not waterproof but might be readable if there was more space between the letters.

This is a great ink that flows well and is a great color with super cool blue popping in and out. Mike tells me that he will be getting the next batch in 2 more weeks, so keep an eye out on his Inkdependence IG and his store.

(I purchased this directly from Mike and picked it up at the Atlanta Pen Show.)

Posted on April 15, 2022 and filed under Pennonia, Ink Reviews.

Pennonia Zuzmó Lichen Ink Review

Pennonia Zuzmo Lichen Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

This clay-tea-green is basically my favorite color, so I am super excited to have it in fountain pen ink form with Pennonia Zuzmó Lichen, even if I must acknowledge that it's not a terribly practical ink color. It is fun and interesting, perfect for art or accents, but would be tricky to see if it was pages of text.

Pennonia Zuzmo Lichen

Lichen has a lot of character, with shades of green, putty, and even a bronzey-brown showing through in different concentrations and shading. The chromatography is downright mystifying with a split of bright primary colors. When the ink first hits the page, it is more of a pale, leafy green, but it then darkens to what is seen in the pictures here. It's difficult to capture the differences in shade, but it's a really cool transformation to watch.

Pennonia Zuzmo Lichen

This ink has a fairly normal dry time, with everything staying put after 20-25 seconds. It doesn't feel like a wet ink when writing, but it doesn't feel dry, either. It's well balanced and flows nicely. I loaded it in one of my wettest nibs on purpose, hoping that the wet nib would bring out the pale color a bit better. In a very fine nib, this color would be quite difficult to see, I think.

There is no water resistance to this ink. It washed away completely when water was sprinkled or wiped across it.

Pennonia Zuzmo Lichen

It does show shading very well, but doesn't appear to have a true sheen. Just layers of color that show at different depths, which creates a bit of a sheen-like effect. It's really gorgeous.

The bottle I received is 50ml, in brown glass with a black lid. It's a nice bottle, sturdy and easy to fill from. It costs just under $10, which is a fantastic deal. A slightly different shaped 60ml bottle sells for around $13, also a great deal.

This is the second Pennonia Ink I've tried and I've liked both of them a lot. This one is my favorite, though. I want to get a big music nib and write a whole book in it. Because practicality is clearly not my priority.

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


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Pennonia Zuzmo Lichen
Posted on January 20, 2022 and filed under Pennonia, Ink Reviews.

Pennonia Vattacukor Fountain Pen Ink Review

Pennonia Vattacukor Fountain Pen Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Romanian ink brand Pennonia is making a big splash in the pen world with its lovely colors and fun formulas. I was excited to try them for the first time with this bottle of Cotton Candy ink.

Pennonia Vattacukor Bottle

The ink comes in a generous 50ml dark glass bottle that's perfectly shaped for pen filling. It's wide enough to be stable, but deep enough to fill your pen easily. The label on the bottle is made of fountain pen friendly paper and includes a swab of the color, so you get an honest idea of what the color looks like.

Pennonia Vattacukor Swab

This color is, if you ask me, the perfect pink. It's not too red or purple, it's not too pale. It's readable, rich, definitely pink, and shows some incredible shading. The color is exactly the color of cotton candy.

It looks great in writing and in swabs, and the swab color even looks like the writing color, which is rare in samples. Chromatography shows a pure pink color, which is not surprising. It dries fairly quickly, and does have a dry feel to it when writing, but it flows well and doesn't dry out in the nib. I set this pen down for a week, then picked it back up and the ink flowed right away.

Pennonia Vattacukor Sample

There is not much water resistance. Writing may survive a quick, light splash, but where I let the water sit for a minute, the ink is totally gone. It does not show any sheen or shimmer--just the lovely shading from sugar-pink to deep pink.

Pennonia Vattacukor Comparison

I will definitely be using this ink often in my rotation. I love pink, but many true pinks are too pale to read in low light, and I'm usually writing in low light. This is a winner from Pennonia, and now I'm even more excited to try more of their colors. And since they're only $13 for 50ml, I can afford to do that! I highly recommend giving this brand a try.

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


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!

Pennonia Vattacukor Box
Posted on September 16, 2021 and filed under Pennonia, Ink Reviews.