(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
I've definitely been on an ink kick over the past few months, and my latest fascination has been Van Dieman's ink options. I've really enjoyed exploring what they have to offer and their unique perspective to ink colors that are tied to their local (Tasmania) geography and history. My most recent introduction, however, is a little closer to home: Pennsylvania.
The Birmingham Pen Company is a name I've heard over the last several months, but I haven't had an opportunity to try it out until now. New inks are one of my favorite things about pen shows, and I blame the pandemic and lack of pen shows for these Birmingham inks to hit my inbox. I’m looking forward to a time when pen shows are back on my agenda so I can discover more beautiful inks in person!
For the first ink to try, I went with Pennsylvania Slate because the name made me think of fall and cooler temperatures. But, just like they say you can't judge a book by its color, you also can't always assume an ink's color by its name. In my case, I assumed this ink would be dark and moody — closer to a blue-black than a blue ink. I was very happily surprised when I did my first swatch with this ink. It's a gorgeous dark teal that has some wonderful shading and gobs of character. I have so many blue and blue-green inks in my collection, but Pennsylvania Slate still manages to be unique in a sea of similar shades.
The darker pools of ink take on a dark and mysterious tone, but the real magic happens in the lighter areas where the blue and green tones come out to play. It's incredibly obvious in a swatch that this ink has a wide range of shades, but it also comes out great when writing. For my sample, I used a medium cursive italic nib — it's not a "big" nib by my standards, but does a good job at showing off any flare an ink has without being too wide and ostentatious for everyday writing (for me, anyway). I just love the subtle color changes that happen in each stroke. And it certainly doesn't hurt that my eyes just can't get enough of this blue and blue-green realm of ink colors.
Everything else about this ink is top notch. It flows well, it doesn't have any bleeding or feathering issues, and it actually dries pretty quickly. With normal writing with a medium cursive-italic nib, most lines are dry between 10 and 15 seconds. Not bad!
The ink does a good job of flowing after sitting for a while in a closed pen or even after a minute or so of being unused and uncapped. Likewise, it cleans out quickly and without any fuss.
Even better, this uses Birmingham's own "Crisp" ink formula that touts excellent performance on a range of different paper types and qualities.
I'm not one that normally cares a whole lot about packaging and presentation, but I will say that the Birmingham ink bottles are quite attractive. They apparently pour, seal, and label each bottle by hand. I just know it looks good sitting on my desk and ink shelf.
Pennsylvania Slate is available in 30ml, 60ml, and 120ml bottles for $13, $16, and $19 respectively. If you know you want a lot of one ink color, the large bottle is an incredible value! Regardless of size, you owe it to yourself to try out some of the inks that Birmingham Pen Company offer. I know I'll be adding several more to my list for the near future, and I look forward to seeing some more options in person at the next pen show I attend.
(Birmingham Pen Co. 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!
