Diamine x BlueBlack English Milk Tea — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A warm mid-brown tea-stain — think strong builder's tea with the milk in. Official and reviewer descriptions pitch it lighter than my swatches show: a light-to-medium milky sepia tan with hints of yellow and a touch of light orange. On Tomoe River my swab bar and writing sample sit noticeably deeper and cooler than that, a proper walnut brown, with the pale golden tan only appearing in the thinnest, driest strokes. Where the ink pools, a cool grey-black separates out at the edges and gives the drops a stormy, slightly smoky rim.

Shading: Strong and one of the main attractions. The swab bar runs from pale tan through to dark walnut, and the writing sample shades clearly even in a narrow stroke without becoming patchy.

Sheen: None.

Shimmer: None.

Flow: Wet.

The interesting bit: This one is made by Diamine in the UK but it isn't a Diamine catalogue colour — it's a store exclusive for BlueBlack Pen Shop in Seoul, who commissioned the inks and did the design and packaging. English Milk Tea is one of ten in their City of London set, alongside names like Piccadilly, Mayfair, Harrods Green, Union Jack Blue and Roast Beef. BlueBlack ran three of these City sets in total: Seoul, London and New York, each built around the landmarks and everyday things the city is known for. So the name is exactly what it says on the tin — the British cup of tea with milk, picked as a London icon by a Korean pen shop and then mixed in England by an ink house that has been at it since 1864.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.

Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.

I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.