Akkerman - Gourmet Pens Pink

Akkerman - Gourmet Pens Pink - Ink drop

Today’s ink is PW Akkerman Gourmet Pens Pink. A tribute ink to Azizah, aka “Gourmet Pens”, it comes in Akkerman’s distinctive 60ml bottle. I’m definitely a fan of Azizah’s blog, her pen and ink YouTube reviews, and her mesmerizing handwriting demonstrations. I’d love to take one of her pen show seminars. I’ve been looking forward to trying this since it first came out.

Akkerman - Gourmet Pens Pink - Shading and sheen

Visually, this is a bold, confident, and proud pink. It blends vibrant fuchsia and a bubblegum red pink. When it first hits the page, the reds are very visible, but they settle down to what is a very intense pink. A moderate shading ink, there’s enough to provide depth and to accent strokes, but not enough to divert your attention. It’s balanced nicely. The splatter shows dark edging around areas of pooling, and a thin sparkle of gold sheen, but neither halo nor sheen show in writing on most papers. Fuchsia can be a dangerous color, but here it’s nice as a reader, never brash or abrasive. The strength of the ink really adds to its beauty!

Akkerman - Gourmet Pens Pink - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Gourmet Pens Pink is versatile, and performed well on all six papers tested. Strokes were crisp and clean, with only the slightest micro-feathering on office copy. Shading was never very aggressive, but it was strongest on coated premiums. I preferred using medium or broader nibs to get the most out of the shading variation. Drying times were a quick 10-15 seconds on premiums, and less than 5 seconds on office copy. This is a very pleasant writing ink.

This ink exceeded my expectations. It’s tricky getting fuchsias right, but Akkerman have balanced boldness with a calm that makes this ink very easy on the eye. It’s also a pleasure to use and works well on a wide range of papers. I definitely recommend Gourmet Pens Pink, and if you don’t know Gourmet Pens, you should! Her posts are informative and entertaining!