Nagasawa Kobe Ink No.3 Old City Sepia 舊居留地茶褐

Kobe is my favorite ink range and brown is one of my most used colors - I find it very grounded and grounding. Brown covers a huge range, all of the warm colors neutralize to brown, but it's the cool browns that I most enjoy, sepias or taupes tending towards grey with undertones of green or violet. R&K Sepia was an early favorite. I initially sampled #s 3 and 40 from the Kobe range and it was #40, Sumiyoshi Brown, that earned the bottle and became my favorite taupe. #40 is not too dark, closely borders grey and has great shading in a broad or italic nib (I often have it in both!). However, when I picked up a Sailor ProGear Mini (Sapporo) in Taupe the MF nib didn't give enough substance to any of my Brown inks; I tried Yama Guri and Ink Studio #373 as well as my beloved #40 but all looked a bit thin. Then I remembered my sample of this #3, Kyukyoryuchi, which I had initially dismissed as far too saturated for my tastes, gave it a dip test, upgraded to a full bottle and it's now an everyday carry in that pocket pen. It's a very rich brown but doesn't appear black (looking at you, Sailor Doyou!). Chromatography is complex, including pink, green and violet, which makes it wonderful for ink and wash. I am very happy to have both now, #40 is more discrete for larger, wetter nibs while #3 is richer with sufficient substance and character for finer nibs. Both are gorgeous, luxurious inks.