Ink Review #1481: Kobe 09 Suma Purple

We are kicking off Purple Ink Week (two days late…) with Kobe 09 Suma Purple from Kobe’s standard collection. It’s available in 50 ml bottles. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Suma Purple is a deep, unsaturated aubergine purple.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks very different than it does on the Col-o-ring swab above. It’s more blue with some 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: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: low shading, low bronze sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering and bleeding in all nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Suma Purple is more red than most of these other purple inks. Click here to see the Kobe inks together, and click here to see the purple inks together.

Longer writing:

I used an Esterbrook Estie Lilac with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a wet flow.

Overall, this is a lovely dark purple ink. It has a nice wet flow but it has a little more feathering and bleeding than I prefer. It’s a good ink, but not a must-have for me.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.