Diabolo Menthe Ink

As part of my ongoing quest to get better at fountain pens and ink, Bureau Direct sent me a set of J. Herbin Pick’n’Mix Inks. The only colour I requested myself was the Diabolo Menthe ink, because as regular readers will know, this is my favourite colour! I was told at the time that this isn’t a colour that’s been rated too highly by others, but I thought it was worth a risk and got this one along with some choices by Bureau Direct’s resident ink expert, Mishka. I’ll have a play with these ones later.

Diabolo Menthe Ink

As usual, just to state here that I’m no expert, and I tested this with a dip-pen and Nikko G nib. I would also like to point out that I just realised I spelt the name of the ink wrong in these pictures… Ooops! DiabOlo Menthe is a french drink consisting of mint cordial and lemonade. Apparently. Anyway, I really love the colour, and the light and shade. I had expected it to be more translucent than it is so I’m pleasantly surprised. I was writing in big letters though, with a dip pen so I can imagine that if you were using a fine nib in a fountain pen, it would be pretty hard to see on the page. But I wouldn’t think it was an ink intended for everyday use…

Diabolo Menthe Ink

I like these little pots – at 10ml they’re great for trying out colours you might be unsure of. And with this sort of colour, I’d only probably use it for decoration, so I think this size would last me a while.

Diabolo Menthe Ink

In terms of writing, it is a little thin, so with a dip-pen you have to top up more than usual. Mostly it’s good, but when you do a super thick line, it bleeds a bit (see above) even on good paper (I’s using Clairfontaine Triomph).

So overall, yes, it’s probably not an everyday use ink, but I would definitely use it for decorating things and I’d definitely recommend a broad nib. You can get a J. Herbin pick’n’mix set for yourself here for £14.95, or you can get a 30ml bottle of the ink for £6.95 here.

Please note: I was given this ink free of charge by Bureau Direct, for the purpose of this post but I’ve done my very best not to let this affect my views!