Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin: Ink Review

Orange you glad this week's ink review is here?!

This week I am sharing my experience using Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin.

I was really interested in seeing how this Pelikan ink measured up against some of my other favorite oranges. Want to find out if Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin becomes one of my all time favorite oranges? Read on to find out!

Supplies Used:

• LAMY Al-Star with medium steel nib (also availabile in EF and B nib sizes)
• Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper
• Tomoé River white paper
• Moleskine notebook

 

Smear Test (Dry Time):

• Medium-Fast– This ink was completely dry at 20 seconds. It didn't dry fast enough to qualify as a fast drying ink, but a 20 second dry time definitely comes in handy when you are writing fast and don't want any smears.

 

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

• Low– Thinking about doing an ink wash over top of Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin? You might want to reconsider. This ink does not mix well with water. You will be able to see the lines written out but they will be hazy and bleed all over the paper.

 

Saturation:

• High– Whether you put down gobs of ink or small little strokes, your saturation is going to be high. You can see on the swab test that the color doesn't change between swab 1 and 3. It's consistent and saturated throughout.

 

Ease of Cleaning:

• Easy– In my opinion, this ink might be the easiest ink to clean out of a pen. I had no trouble whatsoever cleaning it out of my converter. One quick fill of water and the ink practically vanished. It probably helps that the color is light and is not water resistant. The best part is, it won't cause staining inside of your pens!

Shading:

• High– I tend to find that orange inks shade pretty nicely and this one is no different. You can see beautiful shading in both the broad and the extra fine nib writing examples. It's not about how much ink you put down on the page, but the dye in the ink that causes such beautiful variation.

Flow:

• Medium– I had no problems with hard starting or skipping using this ink. It seemed to flow pretty consistently from start to finish. I did find that this ink feels a little drier when using it in a LAMY as compared to some of my other fountain pens.

 

Packaging and Aesthetics:

• 50ml glass bottle with cartridges and 2ml ink samples also available.
• The bottle is fairly shallow so it could cause issues when filling.
• The cap is very sturdy and secure. You wont need to worry about any ink escaping or letting air inside the bottle.
• The label has Pelikan's beautiful logo on top of a see through bottle which allows you to gaze at the ink level and see it swirling around.

Summary:
You can never go wrong when you write with an orange ink. It's hard not to stop and stare when it is written across a page and I am happy to say that I have really enjoyed my first experience using this attractive Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin ink. It didn't quite make it into my list of top orange inks (Noodler's Habanero, Diamine Autumn Oak, Noodler's Southwest Sunset and Private Reserve Shoreline Gold), but it did come very close. Mandarin's quick dry time and excellent shading makes it an ideal choice for anyone looking for a great new orange ink. It might not be the best as an everyday work ink because of its lighter color, but if you enjoy personal journaling or note taking, this just might be the right ink for you.

Interested in giving it a try?

You can find Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin at thegouletpens.com in a 50ml bottle or a 2ml ink sample