Graf von Faber-Castell - Hazelnut Brown

Graf von Faber-Castell - Hazelnut Brown - ink drop

I’ve long wondered why this ink isn’t mentioned more often, when I hear or read about favorite brown inks. Graf von Faber-Castell Hazelnut Brown is a beautiful brown.

If you like deep, rich browns, Hazelnut Brown truly delivers! This is the deep brown of dark roasted coffee beans. Few inks are such a pure brown from start to finish. There’s some shading, which adds some nice variation, but it really only takes us from deep, dark brown to a medium-dark brown. In its own way, this is a very attractive ink. It was the first ink that really got me to appreciate a true brown.

Graf von Faber-Castell - Hazelnut Brown - ink swatch card

In terms of writing experience, this ink is in elite company. It’s consistently pleasurable. I also find it works well across a wide range of paper qualities. There are no performance problems at all. It’s feather-free with crisp, clean stroke profiles. Surprisingly, it doesn’t suffer from significant show-through. Drying was average or better on both coated and uncoated papers. This is a very solid writing ink.

In both appearance and performance, this is a very nice ink. I enjoy this ink every time I use it, and I can’t say that about every ink. Now, Graf von Faber-Castell inks are definitely not inexpensive, but they are a huge 75ml. In the case of Hazelnut Brown (and my personal favorite in the series, Cognac Brown, as well), I would say it's well worth the price! I certainly recommend this one. If you don’t normally like browns, this might be the ink that changes your view!

July 2020