Ink Review #955: Robert Oster Carolina Blue

When I attended the San Francisco Pen Show earlier this year, I got to meet Jonathon Brooks who owns Carolina Pen Company, and pick up a bottle of his exclusive Robert Oster ink, Carolina Blue.

The color:

Carolina Blue is a medium-dark blue with just a little bit of red sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper there is just a little bit of 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: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Carolina Blue is just a little bit lighter than Robert Oster Blue Sea, and a little bit darker than PenBBS #42 Yunnan Blue. Click here to see the Robert Oster inks together, and click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Transparent Blue with a medium nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink. Robert Oster does a great job on his blue inks, but this one is pretty similar to Robert Oster Blue Sea so if you can’t get your hands on this one, give Blue Sea a try.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.