on saleMonteverde Midnight Black - Ink Sample

The ink is nice, smooth but the color is a little light for my preference. It's not a solid black.

I actually really liked this ink. It flows nicely and is a great color. Is it the darkest black? No, but it is passable. It's on the top of my list to buy after I try a few more, though.

Disclaimer: I this is my first bottle ink. Take what is said with a grain of salt. I am in the military and in search of a black ink I can use at work. That means it performs well on cheap paper, fast drying, and can handle spills ranging from coffee to hydraulic fluid to jet fuel. Yes, I poured my precious coffee on some paper just to test the ink. Forgive. TL:DR - Reccomend this ink for anyone who writes on the faster side and/or with a light touch. All testing done with a Pilot Metropolitan: Fine nib (Japanese). Paper includes Post-its, cheap copy paper, and mediocre notebook paper. THE GOOD: This is a saturated, quick drying (fully dry in ~10 seconds) black ink with no shading. The color is very satisfying. Oh, it black. It definetly black. It performs signatures resonably well. Like a champ, it handles coffee, hydraulic fluid, and motor oil with barely a feather. Though if you leave liquids on the ink for over 10 seconds it will have some lightening, but still remains fully legible. No feathering at all except on the cheapest of copy paper. This includes testing Post-it Notes which dont feather. THE BAD: First the worst. This ink flows quickly and is thin so it soaks into the page quickly. What this means is that if you need to make a dot or line bolder by going back over it. What you will find is that, cheap paper at least, will almost disintegrate. It is incredibly easy to write a hole through the paper if you go back over something. That includes trying to mark out a word. You can go over a single spot maybe 4 times before a hole forms. Also, with the ink soaking into the page so quickly it is easy to create a bold line that will bleed through. FINAL THOUGHTS: This ink will work for those who write quickly, have a soft touch, or will be using thicker paper (which I don't have, so I can't speak on that). Even then I would only reccomend using it with Western (EF) or Eastern (F,EF) nibs. I didn't get to test, but I fear broader nibs and the thicker lines would bleed all over the place. All in all, I enjoy the ink. It's incredibly black and provides some beautiful writing if you have the writing style and pen for it. If there is anything else, I will try to remember to return and edit my review. Happy Writing.