KWZ Ink - Cappuccino

KWZ Ink Cappuccino - ink drop

Today’s ink, Cappuccino, is a popular brew from KWZ. KWZ inks are consistent and reliable. Like most of their collection, Cappuccino has a subtle vanilla scent. I look forward to it every time!

Cappuccino is a deep, rich, dark mocha brown. At its darkest, it’s black coffee black. This lightens to more of a golden brown in areas. This is a light to moderate shading ink, and the lighter highlights are quite stunning. They add depth and character to an otherwise very dark ink. It flows well when writing, but it’s heavy and viscous on paper. This reduces shading on some papers. As you can see on the splatter, a black sheen appears in areas of pooling, and often on the edges of strokes.

KWZ Ink Cappuccino - ink swatch card

As a writing ink, it performs well, with both pros and cons. It was excellent in terms of stroke profile, with no feathering on Rhodia, Mnemosyne, Kokuyo, or Apica. Office copy paper didn’t do as well, but it was still usable. Sheen and shading were more pronounced on Mnemosyne, making it the best overall. Drying times on the first four ranged from 25-40 seconds, a bit longer than I prefer. On copy paper it dries in less than five!

Under ideal conditions, this is a really lovely ink, with nice shading, sheen, and crisp stroke profiles. However, I wish it shaded more readily. Without the gorgeous lighter highlights, this is a simple, but nice, dark brown-black. My recommendation is strong, if you’re able to pair it with the right paper and nib to get the shading and sheen effects, or if you’re simply looking for a very nice dark brown-black.

October 2020