EVERFLO Blue Black Ink

Among the Christmas presents from my brother was this bottle of EVERFLO Blue Black Ink from Binder-Baer's Gate City Pen & Ink Co. Blue Black is one of my favorite colors, so I was a bit surprised when I swabbed this and took a closer look--it's really a very dark blue with the barest hint of black. An unusual and very deep, rich color that's somehow different from other blues I've got on hand (I'll have to swab them all for a future review).

Per the website, EVERFLO ink is "especially formulated to be benign, washable, and well behaved in all pens." It's definitely washable as the above pic shows, there's almost a water-color quality to this ink when it meets water.

Drying time is so-so, but that may be because the pen I was using (a vintage Waterman that's scheduled for review soon) has a semi-flex wet noodle of a nib. The ink creep on this nib is amazing, almost looks like a blue alloy over the gold that's how much ink gets on it. So I'll have to give this a try in another pen, but if you like dark blues give this one a try.

Everflow Orchid Ink

Gate City Pen and Ink Company is an informal partnership between Richard Binder and Jim Baer offering vintage-style fountain pen and inks from days gone by. The Everflo Orchid ink caught my eye at Goulet Pens, an interesting color reminiscent of Waterman's purple ink.

Definitely smooth flowing, the ink color is very similar to J. Herbin's Violet Pensee--a purple that is touch on the blue side but not too much. Not the fastest drying ink and not waterproof either, it's a nice, clear color with a hint of shading to it.

The above had to be one of the hardest pictures to take and I'm still not happy with the ink color (haven't done any retouching at all). The ink itself looks more purple on the page, while this pic makes it look too blue. But then I look at it on the paper and it does seem more blue and less purple. Frustrating!