Taccia Cha
Ink Review #26
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Taccia Cha is a creamy brown that shades with a soft gradient in cursive and a soft cut when writing in print into a deeper, more solid brown. It’s not a lot of shading, but I think it provides a level of richness to the color that makes it stand out on the page.
While there’s no sheening, I noticed the occasional luster whenever the ink came down too saturated (this often happened whenever I lifted off for more than a few seconds). It looks more like a sticky paste than a sheen.
Ink Splat
Droplets
Performance on paper:
Taccia Cha is well-behaved. I didn’t notice any bleed-through or feathering on any of the test papers.
The dry times were mostly average, but the fine nib took noticeably longer than usual to dry. I also found that the larger nibs tended to extend just a hair past the 20-second mark.
There’s a small amount of water resistance, but most of the color washes away and creates a harsh, cloudy mess that makes the remains very difficult to read.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Taccia Cha performed well in all my test nibs. The ink has a medium flow that provides enough for an average, though comfortable writing experience. During my tests, I didn’t run into any hard starts or skips; however, I did find that the ink would quickly drop off in flow during extended writing. It never outright stopped, but I did have to pause for a few seconds to wait for it.
Cleaning was easy, and the water ran clear with a routine soak and flush with no visible color or residue remaining in the barrel or nib units.
Written on 68 gsm Tomoe River paper (white) with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream) with a medium nib.
Performance in a pen: 7/10
Performance on paper: 10/10
Color saturation: 5/10
Sheening: 0/10
Shading: 4/10
Dry time: 7/10
Water resistance: 2/10
Ease of cleaning: 10/10
Shimmer: None
My personal thoughts...
As the packaging would suggest, Cha is a word for Tea, and I think that Taccia Cha generally fits that description. Granted, it did take a lot of consideration before I came to that conclusion. It almost resembles tea. There’s a rich creaminess to the color that makes it look almost like tea with added milk. With that said I personally find that the color is too dark, and lacking in a certain depth to truly resemble what they were trying to achieve. I find it to be more of a loose approximation of a dark tea color. Tea does, of course, come in many different colors, but I just can’t help but feel that this isn’t it. Aside from my minor tie-ups with the name, I still think it’s functionally an excellent brown that doesn’t carry a high price and performs well. It’s worth considering if you enjoy brown inks (or tea).
Written in a 68 gsm Tomoe River notebook with a Lamy Safari (medium nib).
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook