Colorverse Erebus Crater Ink Review

One of my favorite things about the various fountain pen Inkvent calendars is not revealing a new color each day, but rather, the end result popularity contest. Companies collect user feedback to see which colors were user favorites, and remake them to sell individually the following year.

Colorverse does a fantastic job with both the Inkvent concept and popular vote, and this year’s picks are a standout. My overall favorite of the three inks - Erebus Crater, Follow The Water, and Polar Night - is still to be determined, but my favorite writer of the bunch so far is Erebus Crater.

To understand this ink on the page, I had to first look at where the name came from. Erebus Crater is found on Mars, and is a remnant of erosion across its 350 meter width. If you have ever seen Martian photography, you would assume this is Brown, rocky ground, and you would be right. That would make for a good ink in my book, but I don’t think that’s what Colorverse is going for here.

Have you heard of false-color imagery? Me neither, until I saw the combination of images above from NASA. That’s when the color of Erebus Crater began to make sense. The ink is a weird Blue/Brown/Green mixture that not only looks different when wet than when dry, but appears differently depending on the page. As I was testing it, all I could think of was The Dress. What color is it? Whatever color you see depending on your writing setup.

Mitsubishi Bank Paper.

Kokuyo Good Tools Paper.

Watch the lines trun from Blue when wet to Brown when dry on Kokuyo Good Tools Paper.

Canopus paper.

What I see is mostly Green, with undertones of Brown, with Blue peeking out on the edges or in the shading. It’s fascinating, and one of the most fun writing inks I’ve used in a while. I could create 10 different swatches on 10 different papers and I’m convinced they would all be different in some fashion.

Colorverse ink swatches on Canopus (top), and Iroful Paper. Erebus crater is the center swatch on both.

That may be untenable for a work situation, but Erebus Crater is a blast to use otherwise. I’m not sure I would like it as much in one of my Extra Fine nibs, but it would work. I do think it thrives in wider, wetter writing situations.

Blue lines in my Yoseka notebook.

Colorverse Erebus Crater is $29.50 for a 65 ml bottle. Not cheap, but it is a big bottle. That’s good, because I think it is going to be seeing a lot of use from me.

Why are all of my favorite weird inks in this Brown/Green category? It looks like that is a topic that needs to be explored soon.

(This product was purchased from Dromgoole’s at regular price.)

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Colorverse NASA Blue Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Colorverse is one of the more exciting ink brands out there these days. Everything they do is at least interesting. So when I get a bottle of blue Colorverse ink, I know I'm in for so much more than just a blue ink. And I was right!

The Colorverse Nasa Blue ink comes in a 30 ml glass bottle. It's not one of their comet tail shaped bottles. It's more of an oval, or a flat-bottomed egg. I like the fun shaped bottles, but this is probably more practical. The bottle opening is a good size, and it's sturdy enough that it doesn't feel like it will tip or spill.

The ink itself is shockingly saturated. While wet, it is a deep midnight blue. Yaknow, like space. As it dries, it takes on a more violet-blue color. And then it pops with a dramatic magenta-rose sheen. It has a ton of attitude. You could totally use it as a professional blue ink, but it definitely has a wild side.

Chromatography shows those rosy-violet undertones with the blue pigment. And the painted layers of the ink show how it goes from dark to darker. Not even the faintest application of this ink is pale in any way.

It's a very dry ink. It's not unpleasantly dry to write with, but it has a dry feel to it, and the dry time on the writing test was maybe the fastest-drying ink I've ever tested. It barely ran at ten seconds.

While the ink has no water resistant properties, it's so pigmented that some traces of lines stay behind even when water is spilled on it.

The most exciting thing about this ink, though, is the sheen. It's aggressive. It's not one of those inks that only sheens under certain pooling conditions, or only on some paper in some light--it's very sheeny. You could signal aircraft with the reflective surface of this ink. Where it does pool, the sheen is so complete that the ink doesn't even appear blue anymore--it looks like metallic red.

This is a very fun ink, and reinforces my enjoyment of Colorverse as a brand. This color is a Dromgoole's exclusive and sells for $19 for a 30 ml bottle. That's about twice the cost of a Diamine ink, and it's even more expensive than some Sailor inks, ml for ml. Colorverse is an expensive brand. You can certainly get a deep blue ink with a red sheen for less, though this one does have more sheen and more richness than most. If you like a high-impact saturation and drama in your ink, this is the one.

(This product was purchased from Dromgoole’s at regular price.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

A Trio of 2025 Chicago Pen Show Inks

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

One of my favorite things to get at a concert, show, event, or shop, is something that reminds me of the occasion, whether it’s a t-shirt, bag, or sticker that makes me remember that event. In the case of pen shows, it’s no surprise that I am a sucker for show-exclusive inks!

At the 2025 Chicago Pen Show, I bought several bottles of ink, but 3 of them were specifically made for this show! The first one is the official show ink, Windy City Blue, made by Colorverse to celebrate the show’s 45th anniversary. The second one is Papier Plume Lake Michigan Springtime. And last, but not least, is Anderillium’s Chicago River Green.

Note: I add swatches to similar color family inks in both the Hobonichi Weeks and 68 gsm Tomoe River notebook. Unlike the Col-O-Ring swatch card comparisons, the Weeks and TR swatches might not be that close to the ink in question.

L to R: Colorverse Chicago Pen Show 45th Anniversary Windy City Blue, Papier Plume Lake Michigan Springtime, Anderillium Chicago River Green.

Despite the box and bottle’s lighter blue color, the Windy City Blue is more of a darker blue-leaning teal.

You can see a hint of red/purple sheen in wetter parts of the swatch and writing sample.

Swatch/writing sample of Windy City Blue on 2022 Hobonichi Weeks, which has slightly cream-colored paper, along with Anderillium Indigo Bunting Blue, Montblanc Leo Tolstoy, Montblanc StarWalker Blue Planet.

Swatch/writing sample on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Recorder notebook. Accidentally added an “s” to the ink name, oops.

Inks similar to Windy City Blue: Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris, Robert Oster Lake of Fire is the closest match, Van Dieman’s Hanging Lake, New Brew Space, and Robert Oster Great Southern Ocean are also close but a touch too blue.

I’m eager to put Windy City Blue in either the Sailor x Cult Pens Pro Gear Slim, Midnight Sky Blue or the Leonardo x Figboot on Pens Momento Zero, Carolina Midnight.

I love that Papier Plume dips their ink bottle caps in wax and then stamps the top.

My swatches of Papier Plume Lake Michigan Springtime look fairly green but I’ve seen some swatches where it has more teal to it. I double checked with some friends who agreed that theirs is also more green in real person but looks a bit more teal in photos.

First/only swatch/writing sample of Lake Michigan Springtime in the Hobonichi Weeks. This looks more teal than on the Col-O-Ring cards.

A green leaning teal on TR 68, but still fairly green.

Inks similar to Lake Michigan Springtime: Waterman Harmonious Green, Jacques Herbin Vert Metropolitain, Wearingeul Tick Tock Croc, Diamine Velvet Emerald, Iroshizuku Sui-gyoku (this and the Diamine are a touch too blue), Diplomat Deep Green (a bit too dark.)

The Kaweco x GoldSpot Pens Sport, Transparent Turquoise (which is way more of a teal than turquoise), and the greenish parts of the Aurora Optima, Azzurra are both good matches for Lake Michigan Springtime.

Anderillium Chicago River Green is a pleasantly bright, spring green ink.

Chicago River Green in the Hobonichi Weeks along with Pennonia x Inkdependence Hens & Chicks and Anderillium Green Kingfisher Green.

Inks similar to Chicago River Green: Diamine Appletini (too yellow), Papier Plume 2019 SF Pen Show Marina Green, Robert Oster Envy (both of which are close but still too yellow), Organics Studio Frog Green Shimmer, Diamine Merry & Bright (the closest), Van Dieman’s Wasabi (second closest.)

Anderillium Chicago River Green would look great in the Taccia Spotlight Forest Eye or the Kaweco x Cult Pens Apple Green.

Even though I can find similarly colored matches for all 3 inks, I still love having them as souvenirs of this year’s Chicago Pen Show. The inks cost $15-20 per bottle and are a great way to remember a fun pen show. If you didn’t get a chance to snag them, you can reach out to Roger Wooten, (show organizer) to see if they are willing to sell/ship the Colorverse ink. You can order Anderillium Chicago River Green from Atlas Stationers. Papier Plume is currently sold out of Lake Michigan Springtime but you can add it to your wishlist in case they decide to make more.

(Disclaimer: All 3 inks were purchased by me at the show at regular price.)