BUNGUBOX - Calvados

BUNGUBOX Calvados - Ink drop

Calvados is one of two recent iron gall inks additions to the BUNGUBOX collection. They are the first iron gall inks available from the popular Japanese pen and ink retailer. The ink comes in the brand’s iconic heel-shaped bottle, but the packaging is a red box rather than the white of their original line and the black that is used for their three pigment inks.

Ink Swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River

Calvados is named for the apple-based, French brandy, and it’s the inspiration for the color, as well. Like most iron gall inks, Calvados behaves a bit differently from standard pigment or dye inks. Wet, it’s a deep, vibrant orange, but as it mingles with the oxygen in the air, it quickly darkens to the gorgeous, golden honey brown that you find on most papers. In my testing, most results were fairly similar but take a look at the swatch on Takasago Bank paper! Bank’s starch coating often results in color variations compared to other papers, but wow! What a difference we see here! The orange is fun, but I really love the standard results seen on all of the other papers. Nice ink!

Ink Swatches on Iroful and Takasago Bank papers

Writing performance is excellent, and as an iron gall ink, you know it’s waterproof. There is a nice stroke edging on most papers, and even a hint of sheen in the swatches. There’s also more shading than I expected, which is a very nice surprise. Feather was never a problem at all. This is a very delicious, very confident ink on all papers.

Writing sample on Cosmo Air Snow paper

You need to be a little careful with iron gall inks, in general. I’ve never had a problem, but I don’t leave them in pens for more than a month and thoroughly clean between refills. BUNGUBOX inks aren’t cheap, but the quality is not a question. I’m also a fan of the lovely bottle. It’s unique, and the entire product presentation is really well done. Enjoy!

BUNGUBOX Calvados ink writing samples

BUNGUBOX Calvados - Swatch Card

BUNGUBOX Calvados - Comparisons

BUNGUBOX Calvados - 30 ml bottle and box