Luxury Brands Noodler's Bottle 3 Ounce Refill Baystate, Blue (19048)

The infamous Noodler’s Baystate Blue is in the house.I have heard about this ink on various fountain pen websites and reddit groups, and pictures don’t do it justice. This is a bold, vibrant, stunning color of Blue. However, the general consensus about using Baystate Blue in fountain pens is as follows:1. Baystate Blue will stain any pen you put it in. Period. Yes, you can clean it with a mixture of bleach and water solution…but, honestly, if you’re going to do that each and everytime you change inks from BSB to something else, that seems like a lot of trouble. Therefore, it’s advisable to designate ONE (1) pen [a kind of sacrifice ;)] to be used for Baystate Blue. Some might even say use a “cheap pen”. A cheap pen would work if you’re just testing it out. But if you’re serious about this ink, then put it any pen you like. Just be aware that it will eventually stain that pen.2. Baystate Blue does NOT play well with other inks. If you have not thoroughly cleaned out all the ink in a pen before inking it with BSB…you will have problems. It will react to most other inks in a bad way. So either thoroughly flush out your pen before inking, or use a new pen dedicated only to BSB.The pen I have sacrificed to this Blue Ink God is a TWSBI GO 1.1 Stub (Sapphire), which I bought specifically for this ink. I have another TWSBI GO 1.1 stub (clear) currently inked with Iroshizuku yama-budo and I love the way it writes. So when I considered getting Baystate Blue (BSB), I wanted a pen that had a pretty broad nib so really show off the color, and I wanted something I knew would write well.This is an incredibly vibrant BLUE. There is no subtlety or depth to this ink. It is simply a big stunningly bold blue. No Shading. No Sheening. In a way, it feels like I’m writing with a very bright, bold blue marker, especially through a broad nib like my 1.1 stub.Writing Samples (see attached pictures):1. Baystate Blue literally GLOWS on Cosmo Air Light paper. This is probably the most vivid blue fountain pen ink I’ve ever seen and it looks absolutely beautiful on this paper.2. On 52 gsm Tomoe River Paper, BSB looks fabulous and flows nicely. However, the ghosting is intense. No bleed thru (well maybe just slightly, some dotting), but still..the color really stands out on both sides of the page.3. I really enjoyed writing with BSB on Midori MD paper. It’s a toothier paper, so you do get feedback on it (no matter how smooth your pen is) and it’s thick enough to take this ink with out any feathering or ghosting or bleed thru, and it really shows off the color.4. Rhodia 80 gsm paper, however, was a disappointment. BSB feathered a bit on this paper and that, more than anything, really annoys me. I won’t be using this ink on that paper. (Side note: I tried it on my Rhodia Webnotebook with Clairefontaine 90 gsm and it looks great on there. No feathering or bleed thru. Very nice)5. Another nice surprise was how well BSB does on conventional or cheaper paper. I have a Walmart Pen+GEAR composition notebook, which costs maybe $1 o $2 each and it looks fantastic on that paper. The color does not lose it’s vibrancy, nor does it feather or bleed thru. Solid writing experience.All in all, Baystate Blue is a phenomenal blue. It’s a stunning color profile, eye catching and bold. Love it.

My favorite fountain pen ink. (And over the years, I've probably gone through or sampled a few hundred different inks of all kinds). Always have a bottle of this on-hand. The sapphire-blue color is bright and just pops off the paper. Flows very well, even in an extra-fine nib - but you might want at least a fine or medium nib (or larger) to really show off this color. No shading or sheening, shimmer, etc.. Just a nice bright even blue that pops and will grab your attention. Very highly saturated ink. And not as difficult to clean up as everyone makes it out to be, but it is worse than other inks. Diluted bleach with water works best.

My favorite ink. Pops off the page, grabs hold of the retina and does not let go. Bleeds or ghosts through cheap paper. Stains the innards of pens, but I don't care. I like Stains. I use the El Cheapo Pilot Ergo EF fitted with the Con 40, and I cannot imagine a better combo. The Pilot Metropolitan F or M makes a unmanageable mess with this ink, but that's just my opinion. Gave me beautiful blue finger tips for 2 days when I was clumsy. Some day this ink will not be available, and that will be a sad day indeed. When That Sad Day eventuates, Look me up, and if you have enough cash, I should be able to help you out, because I purchased Extra. Yo.And Now, 2 years later, I amend my original review (what a Trooper I am!). When I said the ink "Pops off the Page" I did not mean that the ink actually flakes off the page. No, it seems quite stable. I meant that the ink is an attention grabber, visually. I still like an use this ink, though it is a bit of a shouty Drama Queen. Now that I'm a whole two years older, I tend towards less showy inks for the things I generally write. But BSB still works for Grocery Lists. Envelope Addresses. Checks. And other lists that I wish to highlight. Though it shows through Like The Dickens, so plan to use only one side of your cheap or mid grade journal paper. Helps to use extra fine nibs to prevent bleed through. Unless you like bleed through...and with a Broad Bold nib, you can get sloppy "carbon copies". Remember those? (if so, Oh, you sweet ancient dinosaur, you).