Inky Wednesday: Dominant Industry Earl Grey Tea

I wrote out my thoughts about Dominant Industry Earl Grey Tea on a sheet of Iroful, 75 gsm paper. Transcription below.

Iroful 75 gsm
Jinhao X159, EF
Dominant Industry Earl Grey Tea
figure 8 squiggles, vertical and horizontal lines, "reverse writing"
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

When I first bought this ink secondhand, I really didn't like it, because it was orange instead of brown, which is what I expected of a tea-named ink. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, so it languished on my desk for a while. But I got a sample of Akkerman SBRE Brown, a reddish-brown which I ended up really liking. And after that, a Diamine Inkvent ink, an orange-brown, or red-orange-brown, called Fireside Snug also appealed to me. So I busted out Earl Grey Tea and wrote a little bit with it, using my Kakimori glass nib. Color me surprised when I saw this ink look similar to Fireside Snug! :) I decided to fill my Jinhao X159 with EF nib & have liked the combo. On Tomoe River, this EF nib writes more of a thin line, & I see more shading, since it doesn't look as dark as it does on this Iroful.

I continually surprise myself when my ink/color preferences change like this. It just shows me to keep an open mind in case an ink (or a pen) doesn't immediately click.

I didn't realize that Earl Grey Tea is more of an orange color when brewed. 🤦‍♀️

Also, here are scans of Akkerman SBRE Brown and Diamine Fireside Snug for comparison to the writing sample above:

Earl Grey Tea is definitely closer to Fireside Snug since it doesn't really have any brown tones. I may only like this ink in colder weather (autumn and winter), but we'll see. I do have seasonal ink preferences, but they can always change!

Shout out for the Jinhao X159

Also, quick note that I hadn't used my Jinhao X159 in a long while since the Jinhao 9019s have been in the rotation more, but I forgot how nice this pen feels, especially with the well-performing EF nib. It's more of a "Western" EF, so wider than an Asian EF, but I like the resulting line width on Tomoe River paper. If you haven't tried a larger pen with a thick grip section and #8 nib, the Jinhao X159 is an inexpensive way to check the form-factor out. I didn't think I'd like it, since before collecting fountain pens, I was into thin-barreled gel pens and fineliners, but I have acquired the preference for larger pens, as they feel more comfortable to write with, even though I have smaller hands.

Feel free to recommend other red-orange or reddish-brown inks, as this category is one I've opened up to!