review: takeda jimuki TAG kyo no oto adzukiiro / red bean

Adzukiiro is a new release from TAG in their Kyo no Oto line, along with the blue-gray Hisoku. I don't believe it's limited edition. Let's go straight in!

TAG inks (including Kyo Iro) come in a glass bottle with a flat front and back and convex sides, but the labels on the two lines are different. Unfortunately, I don't have a bottle of Kyo Iro to compare it to, so you'll just have to take my word for it! There's a washi sticker on the bottle with the name of the ink. It's very simple, but I think there's something pretty about its utilitarian look. It has a nice heft to it, and I certainly wouldn't mind displaying this bottle on my desk. It's a 40ml bottle, which is an... interesting? amount of ink.

In Japanese, Adzukiiro means "red bean color." Red beans come in a variety of colors, from a bright juicy red to a deep burgundy, and Adzukiiro leans more towards the burgundy.

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Adzukiiro doesn't dry particularly quickly, nor is it waterproof. It does have a very slight silver sheen where the ink has pooled, but I wouldn't call this a sheening ink unless you plan to slather this on with a paintbrush. It has a little shading, but it's not apparent in most applications.

I compare it here to a couple of colors, and I think you can see that, while at first glance, Adzukiiro looks like a fairly basic dark red, it has a bit of purple to it. My first thought was that it would be pretty close to Diamine Oxblood, but that's not the case—it's actually more like a deeper Kyo Iro Keage no Sakurasagane. De Atramentis Pisces is too brown in comparison as well.

I put this ink in my TWSBI Diamond 580 RB with a medium nib. In my previous experience with TAG ink, I found them both to be slightly dry, but not enough to cause me worry. My TWSBI writes with average flow and the nib is a little sharp, but Adzukiiro flowed well in this pen. I don't think it's particularly dry nor wet.

Would I buy this color again? Not sure! I love this color, but TAG inks are pretty expensive in the United States. If I do buy it again, I'll likely purchase it in Taipei, where it sold for about $19. It's a pretty color, but I think I might be able to find something relatively close that's a little more accessible for me.