Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda Fountain Pen Ink Review

It was mid-2022 when I reviewed my first Teranishi fountain pen ink, and I became quickly enamored. Nostalgic Honey is a favorite, and put the brand squarely on my radar. I’ve used several of their other inks since then, and while the brand hasn’t expanded outside the 16 shades created for the company’s 105th anniversary, they are some of my favorite inks on the market. Heck, at this point, I should just grab all of them because I’m almost halfway there as it stands.

Next in the review queue is Night Time Soda, a shade that I bought at the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show from The Gentleman Stationer. I had another Teranishi ink, Innocent Mauve, in my hands already, but the wisdom of the crowds - aka peer pressure - added this interesting Blue ink to my cart. What can I say, I’m easy!

One look at the images tells you that Night Time Soda is a Blue ink, but can it be described more specifically than that? That’s the fun I’ve been having with this ink since the first time it hit the page. It’s not your standard, ships-with-the-pen Royal Blue, which is a shade I’m fond of. Nor is it Blue Black, which is quite possibly my favorite ink shade of all-time. It’s not Navy or Midnight, and it’s certainly not any of the brighter shades. If anything, it leans towards the dusty side of the ledger, but is much more rich in tone and saturation to be called that.

So what is it? The best I can come up with is Blue+. It’s better than any stock Royal Blue in my book because it offers more on the page. It’s darker, with character. I see hints of Grey, a touch of Purple, a tinge of Red sheen in wetter areas, and decent shading in some lines. All of it is subtle, but collectively makes this ink a step up from normal Blue inks.

The performance of Night Time Soda is the same as all Teranishi inks I’ve tried. It’s right down the middle in wetness, flow, and dry time. Any of these inks could be your all day, every day writer.

For my writing sample, I used one of the most aggressive nibs I have. This Fine Steel Jowo #6 has a Micro-Architect grind done by Mark Bacas, aka The Nib Grinder, and it is sharp! I combined it with smooth Life Noble paper, and the ink behaved consistently the entire time. If you want to see a wider line in action, take a look at the writing sample in my Hooligan Pen Review, which featured Night Time Soda. I need to ink this back up ASAP.

Life Noble paper, left, Col-o-ring, right.

Teranishi Inks run $23 for a 40 ml bottle, which is reasonable in this current ink market. There are better values, and there are worse, so this one sits right in the middle. For the performance and color options they have, it’s about as good as it gets. The only question I have is what actually is “Night Time Soda?” The internet is no help, so maybe you can be.

(I purchased this ink at regular price from The Gentleman Stationer at the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show.)

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Ink Institute Taiwan’s Secret Realm Lavender Coral Ink 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

I might have said, recently, that I don't need any more ink--that all the colors on earth are well represented in my collection, and that I could write forever with the supply that I have. But when I said that, I hadn't met this ink yet, so. Past Sarah was wrong.

The Ink Institute Taiwan’s Secret Realm ink in the color Lavender Coral is in that favorite color family: a dusty purple with pink and blue undertones and heavy shading that shows all the complexity of the color. There are lots of inks in this flavor family, but they're notorious for being quite pale and sometimes even unreadable in low light. Still lovely, but more pretty than practical. Lavender Coral, though, is saturated enough that it hits those soft color tones while still being bold enough to be practical. And I am enjoying it so much.

This is my first Ink Institute ink, so I can't compare it to their other offerings. (Yet. I now have my eye on a few. Help.) I've enjoyed the experience getting to know this ink. It comes in a fancy box with a slipcase and some lovely art. The 30ml bottle is frosted glass. It looks great and is practical for keeping direct light away from the ink inside. It has a metal screw cap. The bottle opening is a bit narrow, but not unreasonably so. The bottle felt stable while I was filling the pen.

I was happy as soon as I started writing. The ink has great flow. It is described online as a dry flow with fast drying, but I did not find that to be the case on my Kokuyo paper. It hadn't dried after 30 seconds, when I stopped timing it. But I like wet inks, so that's not a negative in my book. The slow dry time helps with the incredible shading, I think. The ink starts out looking like a smoky blue-grey, and the lavender-pink tones develop as the ink dries. In the shaded areas where the ink pools, the deeper purple shows, and a great complexity of color shows around the edges. Have you ever just sat and watched in transfixed delight as ink dries? Don't lie, I know you have. This was a 10/10 watching ink dry experience.

The chromatography shows just how many colors are hiding in this ink, and how the bright colors have blended into something softer. There's also no feathering or bleeding, even with heavy use.

This ink isn't waterproof or water resistant, though some hint of purple stayed after a water spill test. The dramatic shading shows well in writing, and it builds with multiple layers, which makes it great for artwork. I'm very excited to continue writing with it. It's a contender for a new top favorite for me, as it has a similar effect as a previous favorite that isn't as easy to read.

The 30ml bottle sells for $21, which is a little pricey. A 50ml bottle of Sailor ink is $18 to $24, for comparison. A 30ml bottle of Diamine is only $8. So this ink is toward the upper end of the spectrum, price-wise. Would I buy it at that price? Yes, even though I said I'm not buying any more ink. Maybe that's saying something, but maybe it isn't. What I can say is that it's a pleasure to write with it, even if I spend as much time staring at the ink and watching it dry as I spend writing.

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Kobe Ginza Gold Sepia Fountain Pen Ink Review

I seem to have two modes of ink buying: Weird, or Blue. Shopping for those non-traditional shades is one of my favorite things to do, and my counterbalance is popping a basic Blue ink cartridge into a pen and going to town.

While I keep a good stock of basic inks at hand, the weird inks are the ones that get me going. Kobe Ginza Gold Sepia fits the bill perfectly.

One of my favorite questions to ask when shopping for weird inks is “what color is it?” You would think that would be a straightforward question to answer, but with modern inks it can be more difficult than you think. So, what color do I think Ginza Gold Sepia is? Sepia, with a hint of Gold. Sorry to disappoint you, but the name is accurate!

I keep trying to see other colors in this ink that would allow me to describe it differently, but I don’t see them. Sepia Brown is the primary shade, with Gold being more of an undertone in the lighter areas of the lines and swatches. And in all honesty, I would like to see more funkiness to it, more shading, maybe a hint of Green?

I tried this ink on a variety of papers to see if I could get something to pop. Between Graphilo, Crena, PLOTTER, and two types of Midori, Ginza Gold Sepia remained Ginza Gold Sepia. I’m acting like this is a negative, but it’s not. Not even remotely. In fact, the consistency is to be commended.

This is also why I chose an Extra Fine nib for this review. Seeing ink characteristics in a swatch is one thing, but seeing an ink in its natural writing form (my writing form, to be specific,) is valuable. I want to know if this is an all day, every day writing ink more than if it will be good for Ink Pony Club.

Ginza Gold Sepia is an all day writer, but I’m left wondering how often I will choose it over more pure Brown or Sepia shades, or over something ultra funky like Rohrer and Klingner Alt-Goldgrün? I don’t think that often, but we will see how it goes.

I bought my bottle directly from Nagasawa at the 2025 California Pen Show, and you can pick yours up for $30 from Vanness Pens, or try a 4 ml sample. Kobe Nagasawa inks are made by Sailor, and meet the high performance expectations I have from the brand. It’s perfect from any nib, and on any page. Now to see how frequently Ginza Gold Sepia will be the perfect shade for me to use.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!