Bottle Ink, 90ml, Raven-Noir (G308VN)

When it comes to fountain pens, the ultimate ink for me is black, and the paper white, for classic clarity of my writing. Some think black ink is boring, and that black ink is black ink. They're quite wrong. Appreciation of the variety in black inks requires a much more discerning eye that can detect the nuances of each ink. Granted, it's not one of the glittery shimmery inks (although there are blackish inks available with glittery flecks), nor is it a flashy color. It's rock solid classic black. It stands tall on the page. It makes a statement. Raven Noir is my first Monteverde ink, and my twenty-third black ink. Yep, 23rd. I have been writing with fountain pens for quite a while. I have extensive samples of them all, on various paper, and using pens with various nib widths. For comparison and consistency, I use a 6mm poster nib on a dip pen, so I can readily examine the qualities of each ink, on HP Premium 32 lb. paper, and usually samples also on the exceptional Rhodia, Calirefontaine and Tomoe River papers. Now, ravens are my favorite bird, and I love watching them. Noir is my favorite film genre, and I love watching them. How could I pass up an in called Raven Noir? Yep, I bought it based on its name. I stayed for its beauty and performance. It has become one of my favorite inks. I use mostly broad, stub and italic nibs. Most of my writing with this ink has been on a broad #6 nib. It's a wet one, and shows off whatever ink is running down it. The ink itself is medium to dry. Monteverde inks contain lubricants, and it flowed flawlessly for me. There is no shading. There is only the slightest sheen, and only on the Tomoe River paper. It won't be noticeable in most cases. The drying time was impressive for such a wet broad nib: 7 seconds on HP Premium 32 lb, 20 seconds on Rhodia 21.3 lb, and 60 seconds on Tomoe River. I have not experienced smearing or smudging. Raven Noir feathers on copier paper, moderate feathering on HP Premium 32 lb, but no feathering on Rhodia or Tomoe River. Monteverde claims that the lubricants make for extended cap-off time, and it's true. I don't have to worry about taking a little time before I start writing again. The writing performance was very satisfactory; the kind of ink that makes you want to just keep writing and writing. How does it stack up against my other 22 black inks? In terms of blackness, it's in the top seven or so. It's not as black black as the infamous black blacks, such as Noodler's Heart of Darkness, Noodler's Black, or DeAtramentis Document Black. In terms of how opaque it is, it's somewhere in the middle of the pack. There is a very slight purplish tint, and chromatography showed a fascinating and complex layering of colors: green, blue, blue-gray, brown and even a pink. I love this ink, and that says a lot, as I'm quite picky about my inks. It will stay in my black ink rotation. I'll also be checking out more Monteverde inks.

These are great little inks at great prices... The inks in this series run "wet," meaning if you have a pen that clogs or skips or doesn't write well, or doesn't get daily use and dries out too easily, or has a softer-flexier nib that wants more flow, etc., then these inks are going to be a better solution than standard inks, or inks with sheen, sparkle, and other sediment-prone situations. And at this price point, you can afford to get several different colors for the price that one bottle of another, more problematic, ink might cost. I've now tried the black, blue, and red inks in this series, and the colors are vibrant. Highly recommended!

There is not as much black shading as I had hoped for, however the ink is a really nice color and it is very well behaved in my pens. It has a pretty wet flow. It is a good value at the price.

This is one of my favorite inks. its very bleed resistant as long as you are not writing slow with a large flowing pen. its super smooth and functions like a quality ink should. it lasts a long time and stretches far.

This is my first Monteverde ink. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I took a chance and I'm glad I did! I've since purchased a couple more Monteverde inks. Smoke Noir is a medium-grey with high saturation. There may be a slight brown tone in there, but this is a true grey. When wet, it looks like a watered-down black...but wait a minute! It dries to a gorgeous grey. On quality white paper (Optik, for example) it has an almost silvery sheen. It's dark enough to be useful for taking notes, journaling, and even in an office setting, but I think I would stick with broader nibs for this -- I'm currently using a Lamy 2000 medium nib, which is pretty fat and juicy. The combination of ink and nib is silky smooth and very pleasant to write with. No significant feathering or bleed-through on cheap notebook or copy paper, although the color is a little darker (still nice, though). I haven't tested this personally, but some reviewers say it is somewhat permanent once dry. This isn't a quality I was looking for when purchasing this ink, but it is a welcome characteristic if true.

This ink has a rich color easy to read. It is quite fluid and well behaved in pen.

The color of Monteverde Copper Noir is a beautiful deep burnt orange. It's slightly less dark than Diamine Ancient Copper and is perfect for the sketching I do with my fountain pens. It has the vintage aged feeling I love in my ink drawings.

I was so excited to use this ink (and the color itself is beautiful), but it arrived smelling horrible -- I felt sick once I opened the bottle. I think there's mold growing inside. After some searching online, it seems that Monteverde has had product control issues in the past (2019 and 2020) with the same problem: an extremely sulfuric, bad egg smell and growth of mold on the top of the ink. Not sure if this is an Amazon-specific problem with selling old product, or whether this was a bad batch from Monteverde. In either case, not too keen about shopping here for inks again.

Cette encre offre un très joli rendu cuivré qui rappelle les teintes automnales. Une fois séchée, la couleur conserve tout son cachet et ne se détériore pas. Une très belle encre de qualité que je n'hésiterai pas à acheter à nouveau.

This ink is beautiful. It flows well. It works well in all my pens. Quickly became one of my favorites. 9 months after buying this ink it went bad. It smelled rotten. It’s a shame since the color was so nice. I keep my inks in their boxes out of the light not sure what went wrong. It made me check all of my inks. This is the only bottle with the issue.

Bought this as i wanted something office friendly but found standard black and blue inks boring. This is a really nice blue/black ink. Flows well and doesn’t skip in any of my pens. Works great on my rhodia notepad and still good on standard office copier paper when signing documents.

I bought this ink after reading mountainofink article/test, just for writing letters, that goes on Tomoe River paper. It is beautiful deep and rich blue ink. Have a bit of shading, and on Tomoe River paper - a beautiful red and violet s sheen on the edges. I'm not a fan of shimmering inks (risk of pen clogging) so this feature doing a trick. On Rhodia paper there us a tiny bit of feathering noticeable. One warning - 90ml bottle is full to the brim so be careful opening it. Also, if you want to pour it to another vessel (in my case TWSBI 20A vac filling inkwell) be extremely careful, do it over sink or secured desk, wear gloves or use syringe. Ink is extremely beautiful and have a nice flow that will begreat even on broader or flex nibs.

I love Monteverde inks and this is my favorite so far. Great saturation and flows very well.