Ink Review: Noodler's Habanero

Noodler's Habanero is the second orange ink that I have reviewed, the first being Private Reserve Shoreline Gold back in December - an ink that I liked but did not love.  I can't remember what initially attracted me to Habanero (beyond the fact that it's orange), but I'm glad I bought a sample, because this is a great ink that is going to become one of my favourites.

 

Noodler's Habanero in Rhodia dotPad.

Noodler's Habanero is a deep reddish orange.  It might not be what you want if you're looking for a bright true orange, but if you like more muted colours with some depth to them, then you'll love this colour.  When it comes to alternative ink colours like orange, I sometimes fear that the ink colour will not be dark enough for me to read easily (something that was starting to be a problem with Shoreline Gold), but that's not an issue with Habanero.  This is a colour I could see myself using on a daily basis.  It's definitely orange, but deep and dark enough to make it easy on the eyes and clear to read.  And the shading is beautiful - it shades from a lighter orange to a very deep orange-red.

Noodler's Habanero in Paperblanks journal with lines from the poem "Clearing" by Morgan Farley.

Noodler's Habanero compared to Private Reserve Shoreline Gold.

The flow is perhaps a bit dryer than that of some other inks I have reviewed, but I think that I actually prefer an ink that's not quite as wet, so for me I think it is just right.  As with most fountain pen inks, you're going to see some bleedthrough on cheaper papers, but you shouldn't have a problem on good papers.  There was a tiny bit of feathering on cheap paper, but of course nothing at all on Rhodia.  And while some of the other reviews of this ink mentioned a long dry time, it seemed fairly average to me.

Scan of the writing sample for a more well-rounded appreciation of the ink's colour.

I was a bit disappointed in my last orange ink, so I'm happy to have found an orange ink that I love using.  I can't think of anything about Noodler's Habanero that I don't like, and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you like orange.  I think that it's become one of my new favourite fountain pen inks, right after Rohrer & Klinger Alt-Goldgrün and Diamine Meadow (the only reason it's not higher up on the list is because I like green better than orange!).

Related reviews: Pentulant, Inkdependence, Ink on Hand, Goldspot Pens Blog.