Diamine Inkvent 2025: Day 9 — Bittersweet
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*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Day 9!
Welcome back! Today, we have Bittersweet.
The Color and Properties
Diamine Bittersweet is a standard ink. It’s a bright, minty green that shades with a crisp cut and dark edges where the ink pools at the bottom of letters or where letters cross each other in both print and cursive writing. The color seems pale but is saturated enough to be easily visible, even with darker writing on the opposite side of the page.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance | Cleaning
Rhodia
Leuchtturm
Bittersweet is well-behaved, and I didn’t notice any traces of bleeding or feathering on any of the papers I tested it with. It has a medium flow and is well lubricated, making for a surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable writing experience. I didn’t have any hard starts, skips, or stops during my tests, and I didn’t notice any drops in flow during extended writing.
The cleaning experience was excellent, and the ink washed out of the nib units and pens with a single soak and flush with a bulb syringe.
Writing Samples
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white, 7mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling), with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling), with a medium nib.
My personal thoughts…
Ohh… Diamine. What is this? It’s so bright. So wintry. I love it. I think it’s my favorite Inkvent ink since Early Dusk in 2023, and for very similar reasons, too. The writing experience is excellent, and once again, I found myself simply appreciating the writing experience I had with it. So much so that I’ve been sad to move on to the next ink (though another pen will be getting inked with this immediately). It’s not the most extravagant Inkvent ink out there, but that’s also what makes it so usable. It’s wonderful.
The name did have me pondering, though, so I did some serious research (and by serious, I mean entering “bittersweet + Christmas” into my search engine to see what Professor Google could offer). Almost immediately, I was reminded that bittersweet is a plant that is known for it’s striking appearance during winter, sporting a rich brown bark and bright orange-red berries, making them a popular Christmas decoration. This makes a lot of sense for an Inkvent theme, right? So why is the ink a bright green? Unsurprisingly, when the plant isn’t bare bark and berries during winter, it’s covered in bright green leaves. But then…what does that have to do with the festive season? 🤔
That’s probably enough overthinking for one day. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great ink, so I’m just gonna file this under “I have no clue, and I must scream” and move on to Day 10!
More Images/Info:
Featured in the photography and writing samples:
Diamine Bittersweet
Traveler’s Company “Have a Nice Trip” brass clip — Endless Pens | Amazon
Nanami Paper Tomoe River Cafe Note B6 Slim - Ruled
Midori MD A6 lined notebook — Amazon
Current text: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens — Amazon
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Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 3 nib units including a Fine, Medium, and Broad. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook