Delicate yet practical (Twsbi Blue-Black)

TWSBI Blue Black is a matte blue-black. It has an excellent flow and a slightly lubricated feeling. It is almost completely water resistant. It also works on cheaper paper without bleeding through too easily, even in a broad nib.

As part of TWSBI’s basic ink range, it is available in 70ml bottles, at a good price per ml, although the size means it is still an investment. I bought mine for £15.

When you open the weighty, chilly glass bottle of ink, you will notice the scent of iris¹. The fresh ink is a vibrant dark blue, but it dries to its usual dusty colour. There is occasionally a slight inky smell while writing - if you have a sensitive nose, beware.

This ink is strongly water-resistant. Even if I run my writing under the tap, it only blushes with a hint of excess blue pigment. TWSBI do not label it an iron gall ink - they seem to be confident the formulation will not damage pens - but the colour darkening, and the water-resistance, are characteristic of iron gall. I wonder if the iris scent comes from some chemical added to make the iron gall component more ‘safe’.

I didn’t have trouble cleaning it out of my Pilots just by flushing, but I did find that I needed to pull out and wash the feed and section of my Lamy CP1. To be on the safe side, I’ll warn that this ink might be a little harder than normal to clean out².

There is shading when writing, especially in a broader nib. It’s hard to capture exactly how it looks in a photo. Compared to a typical ink there is slightly more hue variation - from lighter grey-blue to darker blue-purple. Just enough to create the illusion of vibrancy and complexity while remaining unobtrusive.

This is a classy ink. Distinctive if you’re obsessed with colours and inks, blue-black to everyone else. The other properties such as water-resistance and performance on cheap paper make it an good option for everyday use. It may be in TWSBI’s basic ink lineup, but basic here means practical, versatile.

In use

At the moment, Twsbi Blue-Black is my favourite ink. There is something satisfying about the matte permanence of it. And I am not usually a fan of shading, but it is my favourite thing about this ink. I like to use it in my journal, filling up pages with the delicate colour that doesn’t look boring even next to bright accents.

Going by my current track record, 70ml of ink will last me about a decade. I say bring it on.

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1. Also known as the scent of boiling carrots and lipstick. I’ve never smelled either of those and only associate it with iris perfume. ↩︎

2. You may find a thread on FPN about how it dried up and jammed a pen shut. However, later in the thread, the poster shows a writing sample of it as a dark blue sheening ink. TWSBI Blue-Black doesn’t sheen! Either the bottle went bad or they’ve changed the formula since then. ↩︎