Private Reserve - Copper Burst

Private Reserve - Copper Burst - Ink drop

Let’s take a look at Copper Burst from Private Reserve. Private Reserve is an important company in fountain pen ink history. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the explosion of color choices that we take for granted today. Over the years, they’ve had ups and downs in the market, and the death of the owner in 2020 nearly ended the brand. However, with a new owner, new bottles, and fresh packaging, they’ve re-released 22 popular colors using original formulas over the last couple of years, as well as some other fresh, new offerings. Let’s see what Copper Burst has to offer!

Private Reserve - Copper Burst - Light to dark shading

Visually, this is a lovely, luscious, copper brown. Somewhere between yellow-brown and chestnut, it’s warm and complex with delicious orange undertones. It’s a nice shading ink, with variation on all six test papers. Lights pop in a cool peach-sepia, with mids ranging from rusty orange to milk chocolate, and powdery chestnut darks. The splatter shows a slight silver sheen, but neither sheen nor halo appear in writing. Nevertheless, this is a very attractive ink.

Private Reserve - Copper Burst - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Copper Burst continued to impress me. Flow was neutral or slightly dry, but always comfortable and smooth. Strokes were clean and sharp on all premium papers, and only showed the occasional micro-feathering on office copy. Shading was stronger on coated papers, but the others weren’t far behind. Drying was nice at 10-20 seconds on premiums, and under 5 seconds on office copy. This ink is both reader and writer-friendly, and very versatile.

Copper Burst is a very pleasant ink, good for both work and play. I haven’t enjoyed some of the inks from Private Reserve, but this is a nice one!