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(Video ink review done by Goulet Pens videographer, Andi)

Hello fellow ink enthusiasts! Kelsi here from the Goulet Pens Customer Care team, bringing you my first ink review ever! Diamine Earl Grey is certainly unique, even including how it was created. The fountain pen community on Reddit, /r/fountainpens, came together and voted for an ink color and name to be made by Diamine, and this was the winner! Honestly, I’m not typically one for grey inks, but I found myself surprised by this one! Read on to find out why…

Supplies Used:

Lamy Al-Star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib)

Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper

Tomoé River white paper

Moleskine notebook

Smear Test (Dry Time):

About 25 seconds– I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly this ink dried. It didn’t feel that dry coming out of my nib, or as is flowed across the paper, so I was not expecting that.

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

Low – Not much ink was left behind when it came in contact with water, so if you are looking for a water resistant ink this may not be the one for you.

Saturation:

Medium – When writing with it in my pen, the line laid down really wasn’t very saturated- it came out fairly light. However, when I did my swab test, this ink looked so saturated! I had the same experience once I switched to a broad nib. I think this is just another one of the unique properties of this ink, you can use a finer nib and have it look less saturated, or use a broader nib and/or swab and see how dark in color it can appear.

Ease of Cleaning:

Easy – This ink was very easy to flush out of my pen.

Shading:

Medium – While the shading wasn’t super dramatic, I definitely saw some on my down strokes, especially on the Tomoe River paper.

Flow:

Medium – This ink flowed really nicely out of my nib, but it wasn’t so wet that I feared it would smear if I didn’t wait long enough to let it dry.

Packaging and Aesthetics:

Comes in a 80ml glass bottle

The newer 80ml Diamine bottles are really lovely, and I think the bottle would look nice sitting on a desk

Inks Similar in Color:

Summary:

Like I said before, I was surprised by how much I liked this ink! It wasn’t the typical grey ink, and I really enjoyed how well it flowed and the shading it achieved. I think it would be good for a number of settings including school, work, and personal writing. I may actually use it to write some letters this weekend!

You can find a 30ml or 80 ml bottle of Diamine Earl Grey at GouletPens.com and a 2ml sample is also available!

Have you tried Earl Grey yet? Leave a comment and let me know!

Write on

Kelsi