Today’s ink is PenBBS no. 177, The Beaten Path. A green at its base, I see a well-worn path in the variety of colors that comes from the sheen and shimmer. The result is an explosion of forest and jungle colors!

This is a beautiful, rich, jungle green. The base color is very similar to Robert Oster Peppermint. PenBBS’ The Beaten Path differs with the addition of a brilliant, fine-particle gold shimmer. It’s a brassy, 14k gold (in color), and it loves the light! The splatter shows it off well, along with a pleasing, plum red-purple sheen surrounding pooling. I didn’t see any sheen in writing, but the shimmer lavishly covers written strokes.

The Beaten Path is a great writing ink! It’s a thick, wet ink, and it flows very smoothly. The shimmer didn’t cause any problems at all. PenBBS really are masters of shimmer, and they rarely cause me problems. Strokes were clean, and shading was modest, but visible on all test papers. Drying was fast at 5-15 seconds on premiums, and under 5 seconds on office copy.

This ink is a boisterous blend of confidence! It’s an easy recommendation. If you like the shimmer, go for PenBBS 177 The Beaten Path. If not, you might take a look at Robert Oster’s Peppermint or Tranquility.