I had only heard about Scribal Workshop inks in passing before running into several bottles for sale by Anderson Pens at the Atlanta Pen Show. My blue ink radar went off, and I came home with a bottle of Cryptid Siren Blue.
Scribal is a family run business with ink being made by "Scribe and Chemist" Lucas Tucker. Along with the Cryptid line of inks, Scribal produces Bunny Washable Inks and Historic Inks, which is their iron gall line. Cryptid is essentially the standard fountain pen ink line, so that seemed like a good starting point.
The Siren Blue is a fantastic shade of blue - one of my favorites in fact. It leans on the darkish side of the spectrum with hints of black, grey, and even a touch of green. There is a moderate amount of shading and the dry time would fall into the "fast" category. And that may be an issue.
My nib would dry out almost as fast as the ink did on the paper. If I paused for a few seconds I would have a hard start, even with the 1.5 mm TWSBI stub used in the review. I loaded it up in my EF nib Vanishing Point and had the same issue. It frustrated me enough to where I had to clean it out. I could see this being a feature for artists and sketchers who like a dry, controllable line, but I need a little more smoothness for writing.
I'm going to keep trying it in different pens until I find a good match because the color is excellent. I can even get past the oregano-ish scent from the bottle if it were just a bit more lubricated.
Brian Goulet reviews the entire line of Cryptid Inks at Ink Nouveau. Has anyone else tested out ink from Scribal Workshop?
