Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau: Ink Review

Ink Splatter of Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau Fountain Pen ink with uncapped LAMY AL-star

Hello! Kelsi here with my latest review: Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau, also known as Walden Pond. We just recently started carrying the brand, and I had never written with an Organics Studio ink so I was especially excited to try this one. I had heard about the sheen in these inks for a while, and this one certainly didn't disappoint! Read on to see what I found!

Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau ink tests
Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau Fountain Pen Ink writing test
Organics Studio Henry David Thoreau ink writing sample

Supplies Used:

  • LAMY AL-star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib)
  • Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper
  • Tomoé River white paper
  • Moleskine notebook (not available from Goulet Pens)

Smear Test (Dry Time):

  • About 35 seconds– When I did the smear test, the ink still smeared at 30 seconds, so I imagine it would dry around 35 seconds. Maybe a bit longer, this is not a quick drying ink!

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

  • Low – Not much ink stuck around when I applied water, and it smeared pretty badly.

Saturation:

  • High – You couldn't see much difference in the three swabs on the swab test, and the ink looked pretty saturated even coming out of my nib.

Ease of Cleaning:

  • Medium – I actually happened to spill some ink on my desk while I was doing my testing, and it wasn't the easiest to get off. It also took a few flushes to come out of my pen- the saturation likely had to do with that.

Shading:

  • Low – While there was a ton of sheen with this ink. I didn't see much shading.

Flow:

  • Wet – The ink went down pretty wet and took a while for it to dry.

Packaging and Aesthetics:

  • The plastic bottle the ink comes in is simple, but it does the job. The sticker on the outside says "Walden," so that can be a bit confusing since the ink goes by two different names.

Inks Similar in Color:

Ink Swab of Robert Oster Tranquility
Robert Oster Aqua Swab
Pelikan Edelstein Aquamarine ink swab

Summary:
I couldn't believe the sheen while I was writing- I've never seen so much! I will say that I did have frequent hard starts when I put my pen down, so that was a bummer. Overall, I really enjoyed it though, and I look forward to trying it in some different pens!

You can find a 55ml bottle of Henry David Thoreau at GouletPens.com and we also have a 2ml sample available if you're just not sure it's for you!