Organics Studio Nitrogen Ink
A huge trend among fountain pen enthusiasts is collecting bottles of ink. When you don’t want to spend money on a new pen, the next best thing is new inks to fill your pens with. Finding the newest color or something more unique is like finding treasure. Almost a decade ago, a local (to Maryland) organic chemistry major, Tyler Thompson, changed the ink industry forever (see the Washington Post article here). Thompson has a passion for pens, and developed inks for his own personal use that he later commercialized (see our original blog review of Organics Studio inks here). He created an ink that reflected light differently than most inks. Depending on the angle you view it at, you will see slightly different colors. The first in this creation is the Organics Studio Nitrogen Ink.
The Nitrogen Royal Blue ink was such an unexpected hit that it spawned a new genre of ink colors. “Sheening” inks are called that simply because of how the light sheens uniquely off of the ink. After that, Organics Studio (Tyler’s fountain pen bottled ink company) created a whole series of sheening inks. Also known as “sheen monsters”, these are very cool to see on paper. Whether you use an extra fine nib all the way through double broad or specialty nibs, the effect created is different from all other inks.
The sheen itself is a result of dye used in the fountain pen ink crystalizing onto the paper. Organics Studio sheening inks have five color choices so far: Nitrogen Royal Blue, Henry David Thoreau Walden Pond Blue, Ralph Waldo Emerson Twilight Blue, Ernest Hemingway Santiago’s Sea Blue, and Aldous Huxley Old World Blue. Other ink brands followed suit, like Diamine’s InkVent inks, Robert Oster’s Fire & Ice, Monteverde’s California Teal, and Colorverse Quasar to name a few.
Yet the one that started it all, Organics Studio Nitrogen ink, is a brilliant royal blue. It’s easy to see why it’s loved by so many. I’m excited about which colors they think of next to add to the list of sheening inks!
What do you think? Do you have yours yet? You can check it out here.