review: sailor jentle rikyu-cha

Let's delve right in for this next one, shall we?

I own Yama-dori and Tokiwa-matsu, both really lovely inks. Sailor Jentle inks come in these cute little squat bottles, which would make you think that they're terrible to fill from, but they also have this plastic, cone-shaped insert inside. You invert the bottle (with it sealed shut!) and the insert fills with ink, then you can fill from it rather easily. It's a very appreciated addition to the bottle.

Sailor makes tons of inks, many of them for other brands, and those exclusive inks tend to be rather expensive. The Jentle line varies in price depending on the sub-line (it's very confusing, I know) but all can be had for under $20.

Sailor Jentle is a green-brown, with hints of gold to it. It's a really interesting color, and not one that I can describe particularly well; I don't think there's anything quite like it out there.

For information on how I do my reviews, please visit my policy page.

While writing with this ink, I noticed something super interesting: it goes down a forest green, but dries to this particularly interesting shade that has tinges of gold to it. "Cha" is the English spelling of tea, and it does remind me of steeping black tea leaves. It certainly isn't like any green ink that I've tried.

The ink takes a bit to dry. It was almost there at the 45 second mark, though I'm quite certain you won't mind if you get caught up in the fascinating color-changing properties.

This ink is fairly waterproof. If you dab the water off right away, you'll likely be able to salvage your pocket notebook from total ruin.

I love the way this ink looks on Tomoe River paper. It has great shading, and even some sheen. I've noticed that the color-changing properties don't seem as dramatic on Tomoe River paper. It might have to do with the paper's low absorbency. Who knows!

I compared it to some other inks that I thought would be somewhat similar, but nothing I've got in my collection comes close. I neglected to add Tokiwa-matsu, but the best I can say is that they're both green: you'd be fine having both in your collection.

I currently have this ink in my Nagasawa Kobe Profit Skeleton with a music nib. I thought that an extraordinary pen deserved an extraordinary ink! I love this pairing. They're well-suited to each other, and I don't expect this converter-full to last very long.

Where to buy

I purchased my sample from Wonder Pens, and I bought a full bottle from Ty Lee in Taipei. There have been some issues with Sailor distribution in the U.S., so they're a bit difficult to find at the moment, but with any luck they'll be back soon.

• Pen Chalet: bottle / sample
• Wonder Pens: bottle + sample

---

This post was updated on 3/16/19 to match my current review methodology.

Bruno Taut, the author of the blog Crónicas Estilográficas, posted just in time for the publication of this post that Sailor will be raising prices on all of their Four Seasons inks, not just the new releases. Jentle inks, not including their pigmented inks, will now be in smaller bottles for the same price. This is, of course, an entirely confusing move by Sailor. I'm not sure if this change will affect the U.S. and other Western importers, or when. Better safe than sorry, if you're a big fan of Jentle and don't want to pay premium prices, to stock up now.

Sailor's releases of their Jentle inks has been spotty and confusing at best. Bruno Taut's posts have been really helpful with regards to announcing re-releases and new inks; I would definitely suggest a follow if you want to stay in the know on Sailor's strange business moves.