(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
If you read my review of Robert Oster's Whiskey ink a few weeks back and thought an ink with that name should be a bit more brown, then I have an excellent ink to show you. Maiora Seppia Flegrea is a lusciously brown ink that also mimics the aged spirit.
If you haven't heard of Maiora before, then just know that I was unaware before receiving the ink from Pen Chalet. Maiora is an Italian pen maker that also dabbles a bit in ink creation. Seppia Flegrea is their take on the sepia tone, and it is a lovely warm brown color that fluctuates a bit to mimic moving liquid.
Since this is a new brand to me, I really didn't know what to expect from this ink. It's not uncommon at all for pen makers to venture into the world of ink mixing, but sometimes this seems to be only for the marketing bump versus creating a unique and complementary collection of inks for their pens. For Maiora, their ink is of the latter ilk, and you should have no concerns when deciding whether to purchase an attractive color.
Brown inks aren't my typical go-to color, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when I ink one up and give it a go. In the case of Seppia Flegrea, this is a medium brown with some mild to medium shading, so that adds a lot of visual interest compared to a dark brown or brown-black. I'm not a fan of brown-blacks because they just look like washed-out black to me, but medium browns with shading characteristics are really interesting.
Aside from the lovely shading, this ink behaves like I'd expect any other ink in this price range and pedigree. The line edges are sharp and crisp, the ink flows easily from the nib, and I haven't had any issues with starting or when trying to write after a couple of days of the pen sitting unused. There's no bleeding or feathering, and the ink doesn't show through to the back of the page much despite being a somewhat dark color.
The main downside to this ink is the dry time. It took about 35 to 50 seconds for the ink to dry to a point where it was smudge-proof. That's quite a while to wait for ink to dry, so you definitely need to think ahead about how you'll use this ink. It won't be good for hasty notes in a pocket notebook or for left-handed writers. The ink color and shading is so great that it's really a shame that it takes so long to dry.
As far as I can tell, Maiora only sell eight basic colors in their ink line, and they all come in a 67ml bottle. 67 is a specific number, and I'm very curious as to how they settled on that number for their bottle capacity. Regardless, this is a large bottle of ink that will last you quite a while. At $24, it's also priced similarly to most other inks. You can also pick up a sample if you're not sure you want to commit to such a big bottle.
I've really enjoyed using Maiora's Seppia Flegrea over the past couple weeks. I'm even eyeing Viola Amalfitano and Verde Capodimonte from their collection as those look like interesting purple and green inks to try out. Now that I know one ink behaves well (aside from the long dry time), I'd have no hesitation to pick up some more if the color speaks to me.
(Pen Chalet provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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