We’ve got Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink in the limelight today. A recent arrival, this ink is a fairly unforgettable take on the classic blue-black fountain pen ink. See what you think in our weekly ink review. Let’s get to know the ink-maker, the ink, and then go through the results.

All About the Ink Maker: Krishna

Krishna Ink company is the creation of Dr. Sreekumar, a medical doctor by day and ink connoisseur by night. At some point in there, he also found enough time to become a master nib grinder. (Maybe we need to see what he thinks of time travel). Dr. Sreekumar is passionate about producing inks with a wade array of styles and traits, so you’ll find that his inks come in a variety of types from regular to sheening inks to basic inks to iron gall inks, and more. At the moment, Krishna offers over 50 ink colors. The company recently released two new ink series:

• New Classic Series
• New ACR Soft Series

All About The Ink Series: Krishna Classic Ink Series

This week’s ink review features an ink from Krishna’s new Classic ink series. Check out the complete list of ink colors in the Krishna Classic Series:

• Blue-Black
• Chocolate Brown
• Dense Black
• Emerald Green
• Plum
• Purple Blue

All About This Week’s Chosen Ink: Krishna Blue-Black Ink

Krishna Blue-Black ink is not your typical blue-black ink. It’s the first blue black ink we have reviewed that is more of a turquoise blue-black rather than a regular navy or royal blue-black ink. We found it be a very unique take on this fountain pen ink classic with a dark dusty turquoise-black color that shows up well on paper.

***Looking for the giveaway that usually accompanies our weekly ink reviews? As always, we’ll forgive you if you skip straight to the bottom of the page and enter to win, but the ink winners won’t be picked weekly anymore. Instead we will be including ALL of the inks featured in our weekly ink reviews as giveaway prizes during our NEW monthly 15 on the 15th: GIVEAWAY DAY with Pen Chalet. So if you’re eyeing this week’s ink and wanting a chance to win it, check out the 15 on the 15th fun – you’re going to love it.

It’s Time: Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink Review

This week we put Krishna Blue-Black fountain pen ink through our standard ink review tests. Get ready to hear all the details!

Ink Review Testing Factors (to keep things scientific):

As usual, we used a French-made J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen (with a tip comparable to a medium-fine fountain pen nib) on Rhodia dot pad paper. As always, we want to remind you that different papers or different nib sizes may produce different results!

What Sort of Ink Bottle Does Krishna Use?

The Classic inks come in Krishna’s standard, small 20ml glass ink bottle; the same ink bottle used for their original super rich series. The new packaging and labeling is simple and clear; we like the update. It’s not drastic, but offers more clarity for the essentials. Instead of the basic corrugated cardboard packaging they used to use, they now use a white cardboard box. It’s a cleaner look and it’s easier to read. The simple cardboard box fits the ink bottle well, and doesn’t waste any packaging, but there’s not much protection internally for the glass ink bottle.

How Much Do Krishna Classic Fountain Pen Inks Cost?

Krishna fountain pen inks are an economical purchase no matter how you look at it. Find the current price at PenChalet.com.

How Did This Week’s Ink Fair in the 1-Dip Test?

We use the 1-dip test to see how far the ink can write on paper with “1 dip.” We conducted the 1-dip test using a J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen, Rhodia dot pad paper, and this week’s featured ink, Krishna Classic Blue-Black. We dipped the pen in ink once for each writing sample shown above (“S,” “X,” and scribble lines), and you can see it easily wrote across the page on all three writing samples.

How Fast Does the Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink Dry?

Krishna Classic Blue-Black fountain pen ink had a dry time of about 7-8 seconds which is well within the reasonable dry time for everyday use.

Does This Week’s Fountain Pen Ink Bleed Through?

We saw no bleeding during normal use on Rhodia dot pad paper. Additionally, there was absolutely no bleed through during the cotton swab test (even at the points of heaviest saturation).

Was There Any Feathering While Using Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink?

We saw no feathering during normal use. However, we did see some slight additional feathering during the water test.

How Does the Ink Stand Up to Water?

During our review of Krishna Classic Blue Black ink (not a waterproof ink) we conducted our standard water test (letting the ink sample dry for about 3 minutes before running a wet cotton swab over the sample). We saw some slight line distortion and very slight feathering. The lines remained very legible with some light color smearing.

Does Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink Have Good Shading Traits?

This week’s ink had nice shading traits. We saw dark turquoise-black all the way to lighter shades of blue colors. The shading you see with your fountain pen inks depends heavily on your handwriting, and the nib being used. We were working with a J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen.

Final Conclusion on Krishna Classic Blue-Black Ink:

This week’s ink, Krishna Classic Blue-Black ink, is a nice, unique blue-black color with nice shading possibilities. An economical ink with a quick dry time, Krishna’s Blue-Black is a great choice for everyday writing. Happy writing from India!

Enter to Win This Week’s Ink, Next Week’s Ink & More

Look for the bottle of Krishna Classic Series: Blue-Black Ink used in this week’s ink review as one of the giveaway prizes in our next 15 on the 15th: Giveaway Day with Pen Chalet!

Enter to Win on our next 15 on the 15th: Giveaway Day with Pen Chalet