Ink Review #885: Berlin Notebook Blue No. 1

Berlin Notebook Blue No. 1 was designed by painter Viktor Walter. This ink is hand made in Germany and designed to work on recycled and copy papers. This ink is available in both a standard 30ml bottle and a small 5ml travel bottle. Thanks to Berlin Notebook for sending the ink over for review.

The color:

Blue No. 1 is a bright saturated blue with some dark red sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink shows off its pretty sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 15 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Medium-high-there was feathering in every nib size on Rhodia and Leuchtturm.

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Medium-there was bleeding in every nib size on Leuchtturm and most nib sizes on Rhodia.

Other properties: medium shading, medium sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering and bleeding in every nib size.

Comparison Swabs:

Blue No. 1 is similar to Monteverde Ocean Noir. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a broad Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue on a Lochby A5 Lined Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had a wetter than average flow.

Overall, while I love the color of this ink, there’s a bit more feathering and bleeding than I prefer. It dries fast which is great, but is also rather smeary and smudgy. This paper performs the best on Tomoe River paper (as most inks do). Second best on the cheapest copy paper, but there is still a little feathering and bleeding. It feathers and bleeds on Leuchtturm and Rhodia in almost every pen and nib size I tried it in.

Disclaimer: This product was provided by Berlin Notebook for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.