(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Taccia may have entered the ink game a bit late, but they already have a good sense of what they're doing. Taccia inks are made in Japan and feature a bottle design that is very reminiscent of Sailor bottles. The ink names are all Japanese and center around the primary colors that generate joy and spark imagination. The color I'm reviewing today is Daidai orange, and it is lovely.
Daidai orange is a fairly standard bright orange. There aren't many hints of red, yellow, or brown in this variant, and it just screams on the page. I can't help but smile when writing with this ink, and I find myself scribbling and filling in more areas with ink just to see more of the color.
Another thing I love about this ink is the level of shading it exhibits. While the main color is a tangerine orange color, it can also lighten up a bit in the shallow strokes. It's definitely still orange, but noticeably lighter. Either way, the level of variance is what makes this ink just a touch more special than a typical bright orange ink. The shading really adds the spark and makes it a great choice for any orange lover.
One thing that I haven't enjoyed so much about this ink is the dry times. It is a slow dryer. Even when writing fairly lightly and using as little ink as possible, it takes upwards of twenty seconds for the ink to fully dry. While this isn't unheard of and certainly well within accepted metrics, it's also a bit of a bummer. In a perfect world, inks would always dry in a couple of seconds, but that's not the physical world we live in.
Writing with this ink has been fantastic in a number of pens. It flows smoothly and makes dry nibs feel a tad wetter and smoother when writing. The lubrication quality is good but not overdone, and I haven't had any issues with this ink clogging up or drying out my nibs. According to Taccia, the ink is pH neutral, which means it should play nice with any pen you put it in. Inks and pen materials can sometimes react poorly, but that's rarely the case with a neutral ink like this one. And, almost as important as not ruining your pen, this ink also washes out of your nib, feed, and converters with ease.
I've used this ink with several different nibs, ranging from EF to a soft gold medium, and I haven't seen any issues with feathering or bleeding. The ink stays within the nib tracks very well. Being an orange, it also doesn't show through on the back side of the page very well. It's such a well-behaved ink!
Taccia Daidai orange is available in a 40ml bottle for just $12. Based on my experience with the ink, this is a steal. It's a well-behaved ink with plenty of character and depth, and 40ml is a good size for a bottle of good ink. But, if you don't want to commit to the whole bottle, you can also pick up a 4ml sample. I plan to try out several other Taccia inks, and I'm hopeful that they all share the same level of quality and craftsmanship as Daidai. If that's the case, this is a fantastic value with plenty of great color options to keep everyone happy.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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