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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Sailor x Tinterías - A Deliciously Inky Collaboration

(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!.)

The year was 2019, and Jeffrey Coleman, a Spanish professor and pen enthusiast, decided to start a pen blog. Fast forward to June 2020 (which seems like an eternity now but it was just 18 months ago) when Jeffrey thought a podcast would be a better format for his pen musings. He roped in his fraternity brother, Erick Gama, to be the co-host and together, they launched a podcast. Not just any pen podcast, but one in Spanish, called Tinterías, which is a combination of the words “tinta” (ink) and “tonterías” (foolishness or silliness).

As of this writing, there are already more than 75 episodes, which are released weekly on Mondays at 8am Central Time. They often have guests on the show like brand representatives from PIlot and LAMY, distributors, pen makers and nib workers. They also have their own slack (email hola@tinterias.com to be added) and run a Spanish version of Rock Your Handwriting called Luce Tu Escritura. You can find Jeffrey Coleman on Instagram as @drcoleman1102 and Erick Gama @erickgama and also through the podcast account @tinteriaspodcast

Homemade Tortilla (top) and Spicy Chipotle.

The idea for the Deliciosa inks came about when Jeffrey and Erick saw that Sailor North America had begun entering the Mexican market and wanted something akin to the 50 states series that wasn’t US-focused. Sailor asked them to propose something for Mexico and Latin America and the duo came up with a line of inks based on food - Homemade Tortilla and Spicy Chipotle. Of course, I have to add that despite their yummy sounding names, the inks aren’t meant for eating/drinking :-). These two inks were launched in summer/fall of 2021 and come in 50ml square glass bottles like the Manyo series and standard inks.

Homemade Tortilla is a lovely golden brown while Spicy Chipotle is a hotly-debated (see what I did there?) brownish red or a reddish brown color. I think it’s the latter.

You can see that this ink has great shading potential.

Cult Pens Louise, Kobe 21 Taisanji Yellow, Robert Oster African Gold, Diamine Golden Brown (most similar) and KWZ Honey are all similar to Homemade Tortilla.

Homemade Tortilla writing sample on Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, 52 gsm Tomoe River, 68 gsm dot-grid Tomoe River.

Spicy Chipotle has a subtle green sheen that can be seen with wetter swatches.

Blackstone Barrister Brown, Taccia Cha Brown (most similar), Robert Oster Aussie Brown, Diamine Inkvent 2019/Blue Edition Roasted Chestnut, and Monteverde Sweet Life Pumpkin Cake (also pretty close).

Spicy Chipotle on CAL 75, TR 52 and TR68. You can see some of the green sheen in the TR 68 swatch.

Both inks had average flow, neither too wet nor too dry. Homemade Tortilla is more of a shading ink while Spicy Chipotle is more saturated with just a hint of sheen with a wet, broad nib or in big swathes of ink.

The inks are still available for purchase on the Tinterías website. Due to shipping costs, they can only be purchased as a set for $60 (shipping is not included). I bought mine from Jeffrey and Erick at the Chicago Pen Show, where inks could be sold separately with no shipping costs. They already have the next pair of inks ready to go to production now and will be launched later this year. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next two inks!

Sailor Compass 1911 Fountain Pen 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!)

The Sailor Compass 1911 is an entry-level fountain pen modeled after the extremely popular 1911 line that has recently priced itself out of a lot of our budgets. They did the same thing with the Lecoule, which was the same size and shape as the Pro Gear Slim. I've used both, and while neither are as nice as their pricey doppelgängers, they're still good pens. I think it's wise of Sailor to have these more affordable models available.

The Compass is made of transparent plastic in a handful of fun colors, all with chrome trim and a steel medium-fine nib. The pens come with a converter that matches the color of the pen, which is a nice bonus, and two cartridges. The cartridges and converter are proprietary, so it's nice that those are included for folks getting this pen as their first Sailor.

This isn't the first 1911 clone I've tried. I've also used the Nagasawa Pro Color and the steel-nibbed Shikiori models. Both of those were slightly more expensive, between $70-$90. The Compass clocks in at around $40, about the same as the Lecoule. If all this sounds a bit confusing, it's because it is. I can't make sense of Sailor's pricing philosophy, but I can tell you that the Compass is a good place to dive into the brand.

While lightweight, the pen materials do not feel insubstantial or cheap. The nib, while very plain compared to the highly decorated fancy-pants Sailor nibs, writes very well. There's also the added visual interest of the clear plastic feed, which shows the color of the ink moving through. It more than makes up for the plain nib.

The 1911 has always been one of my favorite pens in terms of size and shape. I own one that my husband bought for me as a special gift because they were quite expensive even before the recent price increase. Now they're even out of gift range--so I'm grateful for the existence of models like the Compass, which checks in under $40. I'd definitely recommend this pen for both folks new to the hobby and experienced pen addicts who don't want to overspend. Personally, I like it better than TWSBIs or Pilot Metros for an intro level pen, but that's down to preference.

I hope there will be more fun colors and patterns in the future for the Compass. Some wild themes and color runs could make these just as collectible as other Sailor models, only far more irresistible at this price.

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

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