After my review of the J. Herbin Vert Olive, reader Jose offered to do an ink swap with me so that I could compare the Vert Oilve to Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin (AKA Bamboo Forest).
Since the color of the Chiku-Rin is so light, I decided to test it in a pen with a wider nib so I used my grey Esterbrook with the 2442 “falcon stub” nib — its a stub nib designed for “backward leaning” writing.
On my first test, I realized pretty quickly that I had not cleaned my pen sufficiently from its last adventures and I was getting darker results than I should have. I re-cleaned my pen and tried it again. That’s better. The color is a bright, vivid lime-juice green. There is some lovely shading happening when I write giving my writing more character than it probably deserves.
The color is quite light but it does appear brighter and more vivid in person than the photo might lead you to believe. About halfway down the page, I did a swab and writing comparison with the J. Herbin Vert Olive (loaded in a TWSBI Mini with an EF nib) just for color comparison. The Vert Oilive does have a considerable yellow overtone causing to to be frequently described as “pickle juice”. The Chiku-Rin, on the other hand is a cleaner, less muddy light green — more fresh spring grass or tender clover green. Dare I say like bamboo shoots?
I’ve never had the pleasure of trying a Pilot Iroshizuku ink before but I expected a high-quality ink and that’s what I got. I will definitely consider trying other Pilot Iroshizuku inks now as well.
Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin is available at both JetPens and Goulet Pens for $28 a bottle. Samples of the ink and many, many others are also available at Goulet Pens.
I love your descriptions of color! bamboo shoots, pickle juice… awesome.
Glad I waited. I like the color better than the Vert Olive, and it still looks more usable than the Vert Pre. 🙂