This week’s ink review and giveaway features Devil’s Kitchen ink from Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series. Back by popular demand, this week’s ink review features another ink from Van Dieman’s, a new brand from Australia Pen Chalet introduced in 2020. Read the full review so you can be in the know about this popular (you might even say coveted) ink, and then enter to win the bottle of fountain pen ink we used for this week’s ink review.

All About the Ink Maker: Van Dieman’s

Van Dieman’s Ink Company produces a wide variety of inks in various ink series. We now have four Van Dieman’s ink series in the Pen Chalet inventory:

• Van Dieman’s Original Colours of Tasmania (you may have read our previous review featuring Devil Black ink)
• Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons Series (we previously reviewed the Huon Midwinter Festival ink)
• Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series (with one of its most popular inks featured in today’s review)
• Van Dieman’s Midnight Series

Van Dieman’s doesn’t offer a separate ink series with shimmering inks. Instead, they include shimmering inks in their regular ink lines, so if you’re a fan of inks with special traits, expect to find them mixed in alongside traditional fountain pen inks in the Van Dieman’s ink series.
Pen Chalet has over 40 colors of Van Dieman’s ink available. A new shipment is here, and we’ve recently restocked. This week’s featured ink, Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink, is from Van Dieman’s Wilderness Ink Series.

All About the Ink Series: Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series

This week’s featured ink is from the Van Dieman’s Wilderness Ink Series. Each color in this ink series is inspired by the wilds of Australia’s Tasmania region.
To learn more about the different Van Dieman’s inks currently available at Pen Chalet or to see what Van Dieman’s ink sample sizes are now available, visit PenChalet.com.

All About This Week’s Chosen Ink: Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen

Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink is a dark teal, green-blue color. This particular down under ink is one of the most popular Van Dieman’s colors in the Pen Chalet inventory. We’ve only seen an increase in demand during the short time we’ve had them in stock.

** Don’t stop now. Keep reading for your chance to win the bottle of Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink used for this week’s Pen Chalet Ink Review. And if you don’t have the time (or the patience) to read the full review right now, but you don’t want to miss out on the giveaway, you can scroll directly to the bottom to find your chance to enter to win. We’ll allow it).

Read the full Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen ink review.

It’s Time: Van Dieman’s Devil Black Ink Review

We were excited to get to know Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink a little better during this week’s ink review. And we were successful. We didn’t hold back – we ran it through all the tests to identify the different characteristics and traits you’re looking for when you consider a new ink for your collection. Continue reading to get all the details.

Ink Review Testing Factors (to keep things scientific):

Each week we list the products we used during our ink review here. During this week’s review, we used a German-made Rohrer & Klingner glass dip pen (with a tip comparable to a medium fountain pen nib) on Rhodia dot pad paper. Remember, different papers and nib sizes may produce different results!

What Sort of Ink Bottle Does Van Dieman’s Use?

Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen ink comes in their standard 30 ml. glass bottle. The front of the unique, pear-shaped bottle design juts out so you can get to those last few drops of ink. Van Dieman’s packaging is simple but nice, with the ink color clearly labeled (visually and in print), and the ink bottle is lovely, functional, and unique.

How Much Does Van Dieman’s Ink Cost?

For an ink directly imported from Australia, Van Dieman’s ink is a reasonably priced 30 ml. fountain pen ink. Even better? You can find discounted pricing at Pen Chalet.

How Did Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen Ink Handle the 1 Dip Test?

We used the 1 Dip Test to see how far Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink could write on paper. We included three writing samples: S, X, and scribble lines (shown in the review photo) and used one dip per writing sample. Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen was able to write across the paper on all three writing samples, but the color visibly lightened as you went along and ran out almost immediately after finishing. There wasn’t much ink to spare.

How Fast Does Devil’s Kitchen Ink Dry?

Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink had a dry time of approximately 8-9 seconds with light to medium saturation, which is quick enough to be considered an everyday ink color.

Does Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen Ink Bleed Through?

During normal use of Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink, we found very slight bleed through. However, we did see some slight bleeding during the heavy saturated cotton swab test.

Was There Any Feathering While Using Devil’s Kitchen Ink?

During normal use on Rhodia paper, we saw no feathering. We saw almost no additional feathering during the water test.

How Does Devil’s Kitchen Ink Stand Up to Water?

This week’s ink is not a waterproof fountain pen ink. However, we always include a water test in the review. (For the water test, we let an ink sample dry for about 3 minutes before running a wet cotton swab over the sample). After putting Devil’s Kitchen ink to the water test, we saw heavy color smearing, which is very reasonable for a dark black ink color. The lines were still legible, but we did see some additional distortion and some very slight feathering after the water test.

Does Devil’s Kitchen Ink Have Good Shading Traits?

Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink has quite a bit of shading possibility depending on penmanship, the type of nib being used, and your style of writing.

Final Conclusion on Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen Ink:

This popular Australian ink is very reasonably priced. Devil’s Kitchen, from Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series, is a beautiful teal color appropriate for use at home or in the office. The ink shows up dark on paper, has a reasonable dry time (8-9 seconds), and comes in a smaller, 30 ml bottle. Van Dieman’s is new to Pen Chalet, but these inks from Down Under have been an extremely popular choice for our customers since we introduced them earlier this year. The prolific Australian ink manufacturer is well-known in the industry and has a respectable variety of popular ink colors. This week’s ink from their Wilderness Series, Devil’s Kitchen, has been one of the most popular here at Pen Chalet. Happy writing from Australia!

Enter to Win Van Dieman’s Devil’s Kitchen Ink from the Wilderness Ink Series:

Enter to win the actual bottle of Devil’s Kitchen fountain pen ink that Pen Chalet used in this week’s ink review:

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