Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall ($8 per bottle) is another fountain pen ink from the New Orleans Collection inspired by the surroundings of the shop where the inks are made. Papier Plume is the only pen shop I know of in the US that makes its own inks which makes it an extraordinarily special shop.
The inks come in glass bottles topped with a fleur de lis wax seal and a handmade label.
It’s a marshy blue color that’s hard to describe. It’s not a blue black or a blue grey. Bayou Nightfall is a smoky blue grey color with a slight tinge of green. It definitely reminds me of a foggy boggy night.
There are a few other inks that are similar… but different. That always seems to be the case. Franklin Christoph Midnight Emerald is close, being another Southern brand, they get the Atlantic side version maybe? Midnight Emerald is a bit more bluish. Meisterstück Blue Hour and De Atramentis Plum are more bluish as well. Diamine Twilight is darker overall and Gris de Payne is more grey than green.
So, Bayou Nightfall definitely taps uncharted waters (pun intended). I think its a bit drier ink than some others which may appeal to some folks more than others. As a lefty, I tend to prefer a slightly drier ink. If you use a lot of Kaweco pens though, they tend to hard start so you may want to keep some scratch paper handy, a dry ink and a hard starting pen might lead to some moments of frustration. The ink shades but doesn’t have any noticeable sheen and is incredibly, reasonably priced so it might totally be worth trying.
Tools:
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 7mm guide sheet
- Pens: Esterbrook #2442 nib in a Shawn Newton custom nib holder, Empire vintage traveling dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Cards
- Brush: Princeton Neptune Round #4
- Ink: Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall ($8 per bottle)
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Papier Plume for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
We were given a free bottle of this at the Pelikan Hub in New Orleans, which Papier Plume co-hosted. I normally prefer more vivid colors and didn’t care for this at first, but it’s started to grow on me. I like it in a big, juicy nib because it does tend to be dry, and I’ve been using it in my Edison Nouveau Premiere.
I have noticed a tendency of the Papier Plume inks to feather. Did you notice that with this one?
No. It actually seemed quite dry. I’ll look through my other Papier Plume inks to see if any of them have feathered but I don’t remember having any issues.