Tintenlabor Echinacea — Ink Review #208
Tintenlabor – Echinacea
Ink Review # 208
Originally posted on FPN:
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🧾 Description
Ink: Tintenlabor – Echinacea
Available: 30/50 ml bottles, directly from Tintenlabor.
Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Kaweco Sport (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.9) , Ahab with FPR Super-flex.
Tintenlabor is a Swiss ink company specializing in Iron Gall inks. What differentiates this brand is that it discloses the iron content.
The samples were sent to me by the Ink-Meister, David.
The inks have been streamlined and now comprise a few new colours.
Echinacea has a 4 g/L iron content. The highest iron content is 6 g/L (Goldrausch) and lowest is 1 g/L (alpstein).
Ink writes as a hot pink and oxidizes to dark burgundy or black (ebonite feed/flex). In the latter combo it’ll bleed through copy paper. However, for those of us who doodle, the same combo is fantastic for creating black lines. :)
You can see the oxidation process here with Kaweco Sport B nib and Noodler’s Ahab. Note as the ink has been more than 2 weeks, in the pen barrel it has oxidized slightly in barrel compared to the photos.
Cleaning: This time for my peace of mind I went with a pinch of pure ascorbic acid in the pen jacuzzi. The pens and their parts were happy.
Never use ammonia-based cleaning solutions to clean iron gall inks.
After using this ink for a month, I have fallen in love with this ink. The colour shift is dramatic and the oxidized colour lovely.
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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
Photos were taken one month later under LED light to show the oxidation.
Rhodia/ Iroful
Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm
Oxidation and closeup:
💧 Water Test
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🎨 Artwork
Inktober 2025 - Day 13 - Drink
A toast between cat and mouse — what could possibly go wrong?
Note how black lines was achieved with Ahab. ;)
Kaweco Sport , Noodler's Ahab Talens Mixed Media notbebook for all drawings.
Inktober 2025 - Day 15 - Ragged
Inspired by the silent movie, The Kid (1921), this is my take on ragged with my cat & mouse theme.
Kaweco Sport, Noodler's Ahab with a FPR Ultra-flex nib, Talens Mixed Media Sketchbook.
Inktober - Day 17 - Ornate
The maiden who waited for her valiant knight to return was awarded with the grail rose from his beloved.
An ornate drawing of an award (prompt 31).
Inspired by A Bridal Couple, 1470, by an anonymous German painter.
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- What I Liked: Colour, writing, drawing, ink washes, water resistance. Drawing with a flex nib.
- What I Did Not Like: Writing with a very wet pen can be both a joy and pain. Choose your paper wisely.
- Writing Experience: Lovely with most nibs, even flex, though dry times were long. (too much ink) which oxidizes to black.
- Pros: Lovely colour, wet, well lubricated, maintains burgundy with most paper pen combos. Water resistant.
- Cons: Not suited for vegetal resin Ahab barrels. If you eyedrop a pen, ink can oxidize in the barrel.
There might be tariffs for some.
🧷 Ink Characteristics
- Shading: Lovely.
- Ghosting: Faint. See below.
- Bleed Through: Yes, with very wet pens.
- Flow Rate: Wet.
- Lubrication: below average to good, depending on nib size and pen,
- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice.
- Start-up: Very Good.
- Saturation: Gorgeous.
- Sheen: No.
- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice.
- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.
- Staining (Pen): Yes, on Ahab’s barrel, none on Kaweco’s.
- Clogging: No.
- Cleaning: Moderately easy with Kaweco, I still went with ascorbic and pen jacuzzi to be on the safe side.
- Water Resistance: Very good.
💬 Closing
I have been wowed by the evolution of Tintenlabor inks. This new series have surprised me by their quality and performance. Echinacea is not different. The shift from hot pink to a deep gorgeous burgundy is mesmerizing.
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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