Hachimonjiya Parlor Eight Milk Tea - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A warm coral-orange that moves between soft peach in fine lines and a deep raspberry-red where the ink pools. Hachimonjiya hasn’t published a colour description that I can find, but the name and the peachy-tan box suggest a milky, tea-coloured brown. In my swatches it is much brighter and redder than that, so please don’t expect a beige or tan.

Shading: Clear shading, from pale peach to deeper coral, in both the writing sample and the swab bar. The swabs also show chromatic separation, with bands of orange, pink and crimson in the pooled areas.

Sheen: None visible in normal writing. Heavy pools turn a deep red, but in my swabs that looks like concentrated dye rather than true sheen.

Shimmer: Yes, a fine rosy-pink shimmer. It shows best in wetter strokes and pooled areas.

Flow: Medium

The interesting bit: Milk Tea and its sister ink, Caffé Latte, were released for the 75th anniversary of Hachimonjiya’s stationery business. They are a tribute to Parlor Eight, the café that once operated inside the company’s flagship store in Yamagata, and each is named after one of the café’s favourite drinks. Hachi (八) means “eight”, and it is also the first character of Hachimonjiya’s name. The company traces its roots back to 1695 and is one of Japan’s oldest booksellers. A matching pair of fountain pens was made for the anniversary too.

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.