Tintenlabor Alpstein — Ink Review #200

Tintenlabor - Alpstein

 

Ink Review # 200

 

Originally posted on FPN: Aug 27, 2025

 

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🧾 Description

 

Ink: Tintenlabor - Alpstein

Available: 30/50 ml bottle.

Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF,  Kaweco (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.9) , Karas Vertex FPnibs full flex ebonite extra wet feed.

 

Tintenlabor is a Swiss ink company specializing in Iron Gall inks. What differentiates this ink from other brands is that you would know the iron content. 

 

The samples were sent to me by the Ink-Meister, David. 

 

Alpstein is an ink for Iron gall weary. It has only 1 g/L of iron content, compared to the 3/4/5/6 g/L for other inks. 

 

It mimics the limestone peaks of Alpstein mountain range in northeastern Switzerland.

 

It has a dry flow, below average lubrication and it would benefit either from a wet pen or soft nib. Ink is pencil grey. It had difficulty to keep up with the wet ebonite feed from the Karas Customs with a very wet feed from FP nibs. But over time it settled down. I used two barrel fulls of inks. 

 

If there’s oxidation, it’s faint. Ink is water resistant but not waterproof. 

 

It needs a right pen, paper to shine. Cleaning was easy, a few flushes and voilà.

 

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 🧪 Chroma

 

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 ✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

 

JEF stands for Japanese EF nib.

Rhodia  / Iroful

 

Midori  /Tomoe River 68gsm

 

Hammermill 20lb

 

 📸 Photo

 

Rhodia/ Iroful

 


Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 Hammermill

 

 🔍 Comparison

 

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 💧 Water Test

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 🎨 Artwork

 

Punk 

 

Inktober challenge, interpreted in the 1940s, 50 sense. I interpreted punk in the sense of late 1940s and 50s. More specifically from the Wild One with Marlon Brando, and then added a modern twist to it with my cat & mouse theme (graffiti].  

 

Tintenlabor Alpstein, Pebeo Silver marker, and Red Sharpie.

 


Bus stop

 

Inspired by inverted ink bottle as a bench with my cat & mouse theme. 

 

There’s a nod to Montblanc 146 (bus line number) and Alpstein mountain range.

 

Tintenlabor Alpstein, Schokolade, Moodtape Grand African (Green) and FaberCastel Water colour crayon., Talens Mixed Media paper. 

 


Me and My Guy!

 

A playful ink drawing inspired by the 1930s song “For Me and My Gal.” The title came after the drawing, flipping “gal” to “guy” for a lighter twist.

 

Note the gorgeous colour variations when applied liberally. 

 

Tintenlabor Alpstein, Talens Mixed Media notebook. 

 

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- What I Liked: Doing ink washes. Chroma and sketching. 

- What I Did Not Like: dry flow and paleness.

- What Some Might Not Like: It’s a pale grey, not wet, not lubricated. 

- Writing Experience: Meh! I would say, it’s best on a Peter Pauper style paper. 

- Pros: Great ink for artist. And sketching.

- Cons: dry flow. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Yes

- Ghosting: A bit on copy paper. 

- Bleed Through: As above.

- Flow Rate: Dry

- Lubrication: Below average but not scratchy. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Ok

- Saturation:  Pale

- Sheen:  No. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line:  Did not notice.

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen): No. 

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Easy

- Water Resistance: Good. 

 

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 💬 Closing

 

I can’t say I was wowed by this colour for writing, however, the artist in me was wowed with the gorgeous grey washes. This is great ink for monochromatic drawing. It’s also a great ink, for those who want to use Iron gall inks but are weary of the cleaning process. 

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. ;)  

 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier. :)

 

 

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