on saleNoodler's Nightshade - 3oz Bottled Ink

I'm obsessed with this ink. It's my constant go-to and has been for nearly a year; I keep the TWSBI Eco it lives in always-inked. The bottle I received is more brown than purple, but it doesn't have any unpleasant yellow tones that a lot of browns have, and it's highly saturated. It shades beautifully, too, despite the swatch in the Goulet image not showing much shading. One of the things I love about it that other highly saturated inks often have issues with is that it does NOT instantly dry in the nib, which means you have a good few seconds to at least think about what you're writing next before you nib is all dry and you have to get it going again. I have a couple of inks where you almost have to doodle to keep them flowing if you hesitate at all. That being said, it doesn't blot or drip or even feather to speak of, and once it's on paper it dries quickly, and I don't have the problems with smearing I've had with other inks. (It is not waterproof at all, however. If you anticipate dropping your journal in a lake or leaving it out in the rain, this probably isn't the ink for you.) I'm flipping through the journal I've been writing in and I don't think I see one smear for a dozen pages. No bleed-through either. It's just an all-around extremely usable ink with yummy shading and a pleasant color, and it's smooth to write with and doesn't clog my nib. I'm a huge fan; I anticipate going through many bottles of this in the future.

The color is "interesting" in a way you can never tell if it'll come out a shade of purple or just a poo color. Looking back at the notes taken about a year ago and the color is even more poo-like. Tried to clean it out from a pen after a month or so and it refuses to get washed out.

This is my favorite ink! Granted, I'm pretty new to fountain pens but I quickly gathered samples from tons of companies in tons of colors and this one was so beautiful that I bought a whole bottle! It shades from brown to purple and is definitely an ink you could use professionally. I'm also impressed with how much ink you get from Noodler's for the price!

Noodler's Nightshade is virtually identical to Noodler's Red/Black. Had I known this, I would never have purchased Nightshade as I have 2/3 bottle of Red/Black. But it performs fine.

I received this in the random sample package and didn't think too much of it, setting it aside for some time. I decided to try it recently on a whim, so loaded it into my Sailor 1911 Hard M-F and wow! Total come from nowhere surprise!Purple? Brown? Sepia? Dark burgundy? Yes! It's all that at the same time. Performs well on proper fountain pen paper as well as the cheap copy paper stuff. No feathering or bleed-through and no significant ghosting, meaning the reverse page is still highly legible. Dries very quickly (>10 sec in my unofficial testing). Plus, no nib creep. While it isn't eternal, bulletproof, laser proof, etc., it is a great all-around ink perfect and professional for work and has an old-time look when I write letters.Had no idea I'd love this ink so much! I will be buying a bottle with my next purchase for sure!! What fortuitous dumb luck find in the random ink package set.