Private Reserve Bottled Ink
For as long as I’ve been using fountain pens, there’s a brand of ink that I’ve always enjoyed filling my pens with: Private Reserve. Private Reserve Bottled Ink is special to me. The colors are unique and vibrant. Their ink names are fun. It’s the first brand that I ever used growing up, and still use to this day. With so many brands of ink around now, I love how Private Reserve withstands the test of time. Originally founded by Terry Johnson and Susan Schube, Private Reserve fountain pen ink has changed owners several times over the years. Now, it’s being distributed by Yafa Brands. Even though Private Reserve ink is available in bottles and cartridges, I prefer to use bottled ink – hence the focus of this review. Enjoy a large 60mL bottle of your preferred color.
First of all, Private Reserve Bottled Ink is made in a wide variety of colors that span the spectrum of the rainbow. Currently there are 22 colors available. In this lineup, hues of blue are most prevalent. Look for these options: Black Magic Blue, Blue Suede, Daphne Blue, Midnight Blue, Tropical Blue, Ebony Blue, Electric DC Blue, and American Blue. I love a strong shade of blue ink, and Tropical Blue has consistently been my favorite from the beginning.
Importantly, the color range with the next largest amount of options is green – my favorite. I’m happy to see these options: Avocado, Cadillac Green, Sherwood Green, and Spearmint. Sherwood Green is a longtime favorite of mine.
Next up is purple. It can be a challenge to find the right shade of purple for a fountain pen. But luckily these options are suitable for the job: Ebony Purple, Purple Mojo, and Plum are ripe for the picking. My favorite of these is Ebony Purple. It’s a deep, dark shade of purple that is great for using at work when you want an ink to remain dark enough to be professional, yet still have the color show its personality.
Speaking of personality, nothing is quite as bold as red ink. With options such as: Burgundy Mist, Dakota Red, Vampire Red, and Black Cherry, there’s something for every occasion. Whether you’re making edits using the brighter Dakota Red, or more subtle like Vampire Red for everyday writing, these are perfect shades to choose from.
I wish there would be more shades of brown to choose from since that’s sometimes an overlooked color to fill fountain pens with. So far, the choices are: Chocolat, and Copper Burst (yes, it’s a brown). On the “bright side”, both shades of brown are darker and wonderful. Last but not least, there’s one shade of black available called Velvet Black. I don’t really use black ink much, but this is still a solid black compared to some lighter shades on the market.
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