Favorite Fountain Pen Inks in Every Color: 14 Bottles Worth Knowing

Introduction

Picking one favorite ink per color is harder than it sounds, especially when the collection has been built around inks that were actually used and inked up, not just admired in a drawer. This shortlist covers one bottle per color category: black, gray, brown, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green, blue-black, pink, plus three extra categories for inks that resist tidy classification: ambiguous, shimmer, and sheening.

Every pick here was swatched on 52gsm Tomoe River paper so the shading, sheen, and true tone come through. The criteria stayed simple throughout: reliable flow, good behavior in a range of pens, and a color worth coming back to. If you want one new bottle to try from each color family, start here.

Black: Sailor Jentle Black

A good black ink is the backbone of any collection, and this one earns its spot by being an unremarkable champion. It is wet, it works in every fountain pen it has been tried in, and it is dark without being so heavy that it smears or causes trouble. The old Jentle packaging has been retired, but the same formula is now sold simply as Sailor Black in their standard bottles.

While colorful inks get most of the attention, a dependable base black is the ink that gets used most. This is the one that behaves well everywhere and never argues.

Gray: Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu

This is the most-used gray in the collection, and it is a lovely bluish gray with a wintry character, like an overcast late winter day. It has solid shading but no sheen or fancy tricks, just a calm, cooling color with a slightly pencil-like quality on the page.

Like most Pilot inks, it is super reliable and wet, working in every pen it has been used in. For anyone after a quiet, everyday gray that still has character, this is an easy recommendation.

Brown: Diamine Tobacco Sunburst

Brown is the hardest category here because it is the favorite ink color to write with, but one bottle stands out. Diamine Tobacco Sunburst comes from the Gibson guitar collab collection, and it is a genuine heavy shader: it goes down as a dark cigar-tobacco brown and then dries with dramatic transitions into bright yellow, with some green tones mixed in. The effect is comparable to KWZ Honey, with that same antique, wood-grain look.

It looks gorgeous in journals, notes, and letters, and it is firmly one of the favorite inks of all time. If brown is on your shopping list, this is the one to beat.

Yellow: J. Herbin Ombre de Burman

There is no pure yellow in the lineup because pure yellow is not very practical for everyday writing, but this amber-gold from J. Herbin scratches the yellow itch nicely. It is clearly warmer and more yellow than a true brown, and it is another strong shader that brightens as it dries.

One practical note: these come in the short Pinrest-style bottles, which can make filling some pens a bit awkward. The ink itself is worth the fiddling, and the color stays readable on the page.

Orange: KWZ Grapefruit

Most oranges in the collection lean rusty, and nothing had quite satisfied the desire for a true orange until this sample. KWZ Grapefruit is a flat, vibrant orange with little shading and no sheen, but it pops off the page while staying easily readable, which is a rare combination for this color.

It smells wonderful, which is a KWZ signature, and it is fun to use. The bottle decision is still pending, but for a lively, readable orange this has come closer than anything else tried so far.

Red: Diamine Oxblood

This was an easy pick. Whenever a red ink is needed, this is the one reached for, and the 30ml bottle already shows a good chunk gone. It is a deep, straight red leaning slightly toward brown, and it is preferred over something like Writer’s Blood, which leans more pink and magenta.

The ink is a joy to use: super wet, super smooth, and dependable in any pen. There is not much shading, but it is a great all-rounder that works for the office, school, journals, and letters alike. Once the current bottle empties, a large bottle is definitely on the list.

Purple: Diamine Pansy

Purple, blue, and brown are the three favorite colors to write in, so this category had plenty of contenders. Diamine Pansy, from their flower collection, wins as the closest thing to Lamy Dark Lilac that is actually buyable. It is a red-leaning purple, super wet and super saturated, and a genuine sheener: laid down thick, it shows off a gold-leaning sheen with hints of green, even in less saturated areas.

It even smells faintly of flowers, whether that is intentional or not. The flower collection deserves more praise than it gets, and Pansy is the standout.

Blue: Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao

This is probably a top-three ink of all time and a true desert island pick. Asa-gao is a vibrant, solid blue with almost no shading, though it can show a slight sheen at the edges depending on the pen and paper. Think of it as the character of a saturated pure blue without the staining and pen-care headaches that some famous blues bring.

It is dependable, reliable, and has cycled through many pens. Anyone hunting for a go-to blue should try this one first.

Green: Sailor Jentle Epinard

Green was an easy category only because the green shelf is thin, but this bottle earns the spot anyway. Epinard means spinach, and the color is exactly that: a dark, saturated forest green with a bit of bronze sheen coming through. Like all Jentle inks, it is wet and a pleasure whenever it gets inked up.

The old Jentle bottle is no longer available, but the same formula and shade are now sold as Shin-Kai… actually, the current name to look for is the relaunched Sailor green in their standard line, with the same shade and sheen. Either way, the ink itself remains the default green feeling.

Blue-Black: Diamine Prussian Blue

Blue-black deserves its own category, separate from blues and blacks, and this was an easy choice. Prussian Blue is a beautiful, slightly unusual blue-black with fantastic shading, and it works great in every pen it has met. It is a relaxing, everyday color that keeps calling its owner back.

The 30ml bottle is well used already, and a big bottle is the plan as soon as it runs out. Among blue-blacks, this one is hard to beat.

Pink: Kyo-No-Oto Cherry Blossoms of Keage

Pink is a category that sees little use, so once a good one was found, it stuck. This Kyo-No-Oto ink is a dusky, dusty pink that calls to mind cherry blossoms on a rainy day, and it is genuinely usable and readable for a pink. It gets heavy rotation in spring, when the rain and blooming flowers match the mood perfectly.

The packaging is beautiful, the color is unique, and everything about the line has been loved so far. More bottles from this series are on the wishlist.

Ambiguous: Colorverse Dark Energy

Some inks refuse to sit in one color bucket, and this one sits perfectly in the middle of red and brown. It goes down red and dries to a rich in-between tone with a dark, slightly greenish sheen. It was originally bought as a stand-in for Bungubox Piano Mahogany, which costs around $50 for a tiny 30ml bottle, and it turned out to be remarkably close while becoming an all-time favorite in its own right.

This is one of only two bottles ever fully finished, and it came in the two-bottle set of a small and a large bottle. More Colorverse colors are badly needed in the collection.

Shimmer: Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide

There is only one personally owned shimmer ink, and this is it. Vert Atlantide is a murky, grayish green-blue with both silver and gold shimmer, and it was bought the moment it was announced purely on the color and concept. It has not disappointed since.

The shimmer looks stunning when the ink dries, and it currently lives inked in a Pelikan M200. If the collection only has room for one shimmer, this is a strong candidate.

Sheening: Scribo Blue Cosmico

Sheening inks get used sparingly because they tend to smear, but this is the one that gets the most use. Scribo Blue Cosmico is a very saturated, very dark blue with a bronzy gold sheen that spreads across the whole page, and nothing quite like it has been used before. It is wet, does not smear badly, and has performed well in many pens and situations.

The tiny 20ml bottle that shipped with a Scribo pen was used up completely, one of only two bottles ever emptied, and the giant 90ml jam-jar bottle was bought soon after. Those stackable jam jars hold a frankly absurd amount of ink, and the packaging is superb. This line remains one of the most underrated around.

Buying Advice

A shortlist like this works best as a starting point, not a checklist. If you want one safe all-rounder, Sailor Black and Diamine Oxblood are the most forgiving choices for everyday writing. If shading is your thing, Tobacco Sunburst and Prussian Blue deliver the most drama on good paper. For something special, Dark Energy and Blue Cosmico are the two bottles here that proved good enough to be emptied completely, which is the highest compliment an ink in a crowded collection can earn.

Paper matters more than most people expect: heavy shaders and sheeners look their best on smooth, low-absorbency paper, while wet, simple inks behave well almost anywhere. Start with the color you write in most, not the one you admire most.

Conclusion

Fourteen inks, fourteen color categories, and every one of them earned its place through real use. The common threads across all of these picks are reliable flow, good behavior in a variety of pens, and colors that stay readable on the page. Whether you are chasing a heavy shader, a quiet gray, or a sheen that looks like the night sky, there should be at least one bottle here worth adding to your own shortlist.