Posts filed under Teranishi

Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda Fountain Pen Ink Review

It was mid-2022 when I reviewed my first Teranishi fountain pen ink, and I became quickly enamored. Nostalgic Honey is a favorite, and put the brand squarely on my radar. I’ve used several of their other inks since then, and while the brand hasn’t expanded outside the 16 shades created for the company’s 105th anniversary, they are some of my favorite inks on the market. Heck, at this point, I should just grab all of them because I’m almost halfway there as it stands.

Next in the review queue is Night Time Soda, a shade that I bought at the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show from The Gentleman Stationer. I had another Teranishi ink, Innocent Mauve, in my hands already, but the wisdom of the crowds - aka peer pressure - added this interesting Blue ink to my cart. What can I say, I’m easy!

One look at the images tells you that Night Time Soda is a Blue ink, but can it be described more specifically than that? That’s the fun I’ve been having with this ink since the first time it hit the page. It’s not your standard, ships-with-the-pen Royal Blue, which is a shade I’m fond of. Nor is it Blue Black, which is quite possibly my favorite ink shade of all-time. It’s not Navy or Midnight, and it’s certainly not any of the brighter shades. If anything, it leans towards the dusty side of the ledger, but is much more rich in tone and saturation to be called that.

So what is it? The best I can come up with is Blue+. It’s better than any stock Royal Blue in my book because it offers more on the page. It’s darker, with character. I see hints of Grey, a touch of Purple, a tinge of Red sheen in wetter areas, and decent shading in some lines. All of it is subtle, but collectively makes this ink a step up from normal Blue inks.

The performance of Night Time Soda is the same as all Teranishi inks I’ve tried. It’s right down the middle in wetness, flow, and dry time. Any of these inks could be your all day, every day writer.

Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda Writing

For my writing sample, I used one of the most aggressive nibs I have. This Fine Steel Jowo #6 has a Micro-Architect grind done by Mark Bacas, aka The Nib Grinder, and it is sharp! I combined it with smooth Life Noble paper, and the ink behaved consistently the entire time. If you want to see a wider line in action, take a look at the writing sample in my Hooligan Pen Review, which featured Night Time Soda. I need to ink this back up ASAP.

Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda Swatch — *Life Noble paper, left, Col-o-ring, right.*

Teranishi Inks run $23 for a 40 ml bottle, which is reasonable in this current ink market. There are better values, and there are worse, so this one sits right in the middle. For the performance and color options they have, it’s about as good as it gets. The only question I have is what actually is “Night Time Soda?” The internet is no help, so maybe you can be.

(I purchased this ink at regular price from The Gentleman Stationer at the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show.)

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!

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Teranishi, Ink Reviews.

Benu Talisman Dream Bean Fountain Pen Review

What’s the most important feature of a fountain pen? Design, nib, filling system, weight, balance … all of those things are important. But the most important feature, I’d argue, is happiness. Yes, all of those features combined contribute to the overall feel of any writing instrument, but does it make you happy when you pick it up and use it?

The Benu Talisman Dream Bean makes me happy. Downright giddy, in fact. And I can’t explain why.

Maybe it’s the Dream Bean itself? After all, these giant seeds are notorious for their ability to “induce lucid dreams that enable communication with the spirit world,” and some of their dust is infused into the barrel material.

That probably explains a lot of it.

The Talisman is one of my favorite Benu Fountain Pen shapes. My preference lies in the more traditional lines of the exterior barrel, which this pen has. It also has different notches and facets shaped into the barrel, giving it a unique look when the light hits different areas. I also like the tactile feel of these divots, not just on the barrel, but in the cap as I hold it in my hand when writing.

Brown and Black are the primary colors of the Dream Bean material, which is further infused with fine sparkles of Green, Gold, and Red. The glitter doesn’t take over the barrel, which is a feature of some other Benu models, so this more subtle one - subtle for Benu that is - may be more up your alley. It’s kind of perfect for the season, too, with full-on Christmas Pudding vibes.

What has turned up the happiness on this pen is how much I am enjoying the nib. It is a stock Fine Steel Schmidt nib, which is normally great out of the box, but something about this one sings. It suits my handwriting well, giving it the edge of a fineliner, which are some of my favorite pens to write with. I can go pages and pages with ease when my letters look as good as this.

I chose Teranishi Guitar Antique Black to ink this pen with, and I nailed it. The Black and Brown tones of the ink pair perfectly with the Black and Brown tones of the pen. Who knew? I knew, and now I’m thinking I need to add my own shimmer to this ink to go full Dream Bean on the page.

I wish I could explain in more detail why I am getting along with this pen so well, but it boils down to what I said up top: it makes me happy.

The Benu Talisman Dream Bean Fountain Pen is $162, along with 11 other stunning Talisman models. If you enjoy fun pens as much as I do, then everything Benu does should be on your radar. Happiness achieved!

(Luxury Brands provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Benu Pen, Teranishi, Fountain Pens, Ink Reviews, Pen Reviews.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara Emotional Olive Ink Review

When Teranishi Inks first caught my eye a couple of years ago I was instantly impressed. The colors are nice, the bottle and packaging are great, the performance is excellent, and the price is fair. I shouldn’t have been so surprised, given that the Teranishi Chemical Co. has been in the ink business for 105 years!

Emotional Olive is one of my latest Teranishi acquisitions, thanks to a swatch sample from Olive Octopus. Notice I said “one of,” because yes, there were more (thanks Lisa!) And given the way these inks handle fountain pen nibs and paper, there will be more, too.

This color is an interesting one, and my first question was will this light yellow-ish green shade be legible on the page? Yes, more than I anticipated. I inked it up in my TWSBI VAC700R Iris with a Fine Steel nib - which writes more like an Extra Fine - and the output on the page looks great, even with small handwriting.

At first glance, you would think the color would look like the juice from a smashed green olive, and it does to a degree when it first goes down. When it dries, it begins to show more browns and greens, which makes for a great look when writing.

My head canon says Emotional Olive should be close to Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün, but in reality it is more yellow, while Alt-Goldgrün is more green. They would be next to each other on a color-coded shelf, but are easy to tell apart in the end.

*Cotton swab on Hobonichi Tomoe River S paper.*

For shades like this that are a little odd, and a little light, I use them in two different ways: highlights, or long-form writing. In between - like daily planner notes - doesn’t work for me with this color. Planner notes require quick, repeated glances, so I want a darker ink to pick up the words more quickly. That said, full written pages of Emotional Olive would look amazing. The ink color and light shading works together well in bulk, or as an annotation against another dark color.

Teranishi makes great ink, and not just for themselves (see Taccia, which are equally as awesome.) I’m not sure what else they have up their sleeve, but since my first review, the number of releases and ink series has ramped up, and I look forward to what is next. Or, at least what Lisa makes me buy next.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara Ink 40 ml Bottles can be found at JetPens for $23. I already have Antique Black in hand and look forward to checking it out next.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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