PenBBS - 340 Artemisia Absinthium

PenBBS - 340 Artemisia Absinthium - Ink drop

This is Artemisia Absinthium L, number 340 in PenBBS’ huge collection. It’s part of their season 23 releases. That’s quite a name, but the plant is also called “wormwood”. It’s commonly used as a medicine, and to flavor the infamous “green fairy” absinthe liqueur.

Artemisia Absinthinum L reflects the color of wormwood’s bushy fronds, and the faded yellow-green of true absinthes. At first, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be an ink suited to writing. Inks like this that lack vibrancy can sometimes be faded to the point of being unreadable. This isn’t the case here. As the swatch card shows, this ink provides reasonably prominent, well-defined strokes.

PenBBS - 340 Artemisia Absinthium - Ink swatch card

In longer form writing, this is a pleasant shading ink. It’s very wet and smooth in flow, and it performed well in terms of feather and show-through. However, in terms of drying time, it’s much slower than average. That will be a problem for some.

While PenBBS 340 Artemisia Absinthium may not be for everyone, it does have a certain charm. It’s far more complex than you might imagine at first glance. If you can handle the often muted appearance and slow drying, it’s a very interesting ink.