Let’s play a game: what color is Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey?
Regardless of what I want to call it, it’s a beautiful shade of ink.
I never thought this color-let’s call it honey for obvious reasons-would be a color I would want to use in a fountain pen. Sure, I never disliked shades in this realm, but never saw any reason to choose it on purpose.
I was missing out.
The main issue was my choice of nib. With my preference for the extra fine things in life, I always chose a darker or brighter ink. Any blue black? yes. Bright blue, like Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki? Yes. Even brighter, like Akkerman #28 Hofkwartier Groen? Yes. A dullish brown, grey, or the like? No.
Finding a good brown ink started me down the path of choosing wider nibs to write with, especially ones that show off ink on the page better than my standard steel extra fine nibs. Stub nibs were an easy choice for me to expand in to with my block-style handwriting. A stock medium nib? The horror! But ok, yes. I do sometimes dabble in the medium realm. And you know what? I like how I can see what is happening with the ink on the page. That’s important with many of the new types of inks on the market, such as pastels, or multi-shaders.
Nostalgic Honey is neither a pastel or a multi-shader, but it is a joy to see on the page. The color is a rich golden brown, with notes of caramel, cacao, satsuma, and Bulleit Bourbon. Ok, I’m not writing coffee tasting notes here, but the color gains complexity the more you look it. And I can’t stop looking at it.
Manufactured by Teranishi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan, you may also have seen these inks as Guitar Ink, which is the name used on the bottle cap. It appears that they manufacture Taccia inks as well, which have been well-received since their launch a few years ago.
This ink performs wonderfully in my 1.1 mm Jowo Steel nib fitted in my Carolina Pen Co. Best Seller (aka Warm Tone Primary Manipulation,) because I know you want to know. I chose it not to match the pen, but to compliment it. Maybe that choice has me seeing more orange in the ink that is has naturally, but it has been a great choice regardless.
Performance-wise, Nostalgic Honey is mid-range in any category you want to assign it to: flow, lubrication, dry time, and shading. There is no sheen. It may be a slightly better than average shader on pages other than the bank paper that I used for the handwritten review, but maybe less shading from a standard round-tip nib. Your mileage may vary.
My milage with this ink, and the six other Teranishi Taisho Roman Fountain Pen inks, will only increase. At $18.95 for each 40 ml bottle they certainly have me interested.
(St. Louis Art Supply provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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