Lennon Tool Bar - Sun Moon…

Lennon Tool Bar - Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea - Ink drop

This is Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea, and it’s part of Lennon Tool Bar’s Taiwan Tea series. (It’s also the longest name of any ink that I’ve reviewed!) The three-ink series is inspired by classic Taiwanese tea, Taiwan’s tea culture, and a desire to remind you to slow down and savour the moment. Sun Moon Lake is a popular vacation spot in central Taiwan. The area includes tea plantations, and it’s famous for its namesake ruby black tea.

Lennon Tool Bar - Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea - Ink range

Visually, this is a beautiful, soft, red brown. It’s somewhat undersaturated, and has a powdery, pastel appearance. It reminds me of terracotta pottery dust. Shading was mild, but attractive on premium papers, but there was almost none on office copy. The splatter shows some darkening in areas of pooling, but in writing there was neither sheen, nor halo. This is a dye ink, and I was surprised to find nice water-resistance. I wasn’t sure at first, but this ink really grew on me, as I used it.

Lennon Tool Bar - Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea - Ink Swatch Card

As a writing ink, it performed well. I expected it to be dry, but it wasn’t. It flowed nicely and was very well-behaved. Strokes were clean, especially on premium papers. It was reasonably sharp on coated papers. However, on uncoated papers, it lacked crispness, and didn’t have a well-defined profile, but it was never feathery. Drying ranged from 15-25 seconds on premiums, and under 5 seconds on office copy.

This is a very attractive ink, and an unusual color. It’s very easy on the eye, and I grew to like it very much. Personally, I think it would benefit from a little more sharpness on uncoated papers, but it’s a nice writing ink. Lennon Tool Bar make high-quality, interesting inks, and the Taiwan Tea series really form a good-looking palette!