Month: October 2025

About this ink: Taccia Sora Sky Blue

Posted on by Lee S

Taccia are currently owned by Nakabayashi in Japan. They were founded in California, though. Taccia have several lines of ink, including the Ukiyo-e collection (complex colors with shading), the Roughna collection (supposedly for sketching), the Lipstick collection, and the Jeans collection. But I’m really in love with their standard inks, which are $14/40ml in the US and cheaper in Asia. I haven’t seen prices in other countries. I bought a sample from Anderson Pens (now closed) a year and a half ago.

Sora Sky Blue (or just Sora, which is Japanese for sky) is a vibrant and saturated turquoise. Similar colors I’ve tried include

  • Diamine Havasu Turquoise
  • Waterman Inspired Blue

It doesn’t shade, but also doesn’t change color or vibrancy after a long writing session. It keeps up well with my fast writing in a TWSBI Diamond 580. I have only three writing samples for now.

Taccia Sora Sky Blue - TWSBI Diamond 580 M nib on Clairefontaine Triomphe writing sample
Clairefontaine Triomphe

Lines are crisp.

Taccia Sora Sky Blue - TWSBI Diamond 580 M nib on Kokuyo Campus paper writing sample
Kokuyo Campus loose leaf

I am aware I need to photograph samples on flatter surfaces in the future (you can see the bending at the edges of the photographs distorting the letters). I took these photos on a music stand in a binder So I wouldn’t get my shadows all over them. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

Taccia Sora Sky Blue - TWSBI Diamond 580 M nib on Cosmo Air Light writing sample
Cosmo Air Light

The ink’s strength for me is its consistency. Sometimes I want an ink that remains one saturated color, and Sora is well-behaved. I’ll buy a bottle for my sky blue needs once I’ve finished this sample and my bottle of Havasu Turquoise.

About this ink: J. Herbin Vert Métropolitain

Posted on by Lee S

J. Herbin is a French company with rich history and a great set of core inks (since 1700 with all-natural dyes, they boast). I’m sure the formulation has changed a bit over time, but they’re very well-behaved. In 2024 J. Herbin debuted their Les couleurs de Paris collection, which are priced the same as the La Perle des Ecres (standard) collection and come in the same bottles. These inks are very competitively priced in the EU: 4.5 Euros for 10ml or 9.5 Euros for 30ml including VAT. In East Asia they are about $12/30ml plus tax. In the US they are more: $7/10ml or $15/30ml plus sales tax. I bought a 10ml bottle from Stilo e Stile in late 2024.

Similar inks I’ve tried include

  • Diamine Delamere Green
  • Monteverde California Teal
  • Yoseka Origin No. 1 by Ink Institute

Herbin inks can sometimes feel a little dry to me, so I used Vert Metropolitain in a Pelikan M200 Medium. It was a wet noodle, in a good way! Took a while to dry, which is unusual for a Herbin ink in my experience.

J. Herbin Vert Metropolitain with Pelikan M200M on Clairefontaine Triomphe
Clairefontaine Triomphe

I misattributed the color in several of these writing samples.

J. Herbin Vert Metropolitain with Pelikan M200M on Maruman Loose Leaf
Maruman Loose Leaf
J. Herbin Vert Metropolitain with Pelikan M200M on Kokuyo Campus Loose Leaf
Kokuyo Campus

It took more than 20s to dry on Iroful.

J. Herbin Vert Metropolitain with Pelikan M200M on Iroful
Iroful

J. Herbin Vert Metropolitain with Pelikan M200M on Cosmo Air Light
Cosmo Air Light

Vert Métropolitain is a blue-green that shades to dark green, one of my new favorite greens. The feeling of writing with it in a Pelikan was smooth and luscious. Dry time was on the slow side, but I was laying down a lot of the ink with the Pelikan nib. I’ll try this color in drier pen for more data.

I look forward to trying Vert Métropolitain in other pens: perhaps it will dry in a more timely fashion. I anticipate finishing this small bottle myself (not giving away any samples) and then ordering a 30ml one someday.