Inkmas Day 2: Colorverse USA Idaho- Giant Potato

Over the summer, I kept seeing the little USA Series bottles from Colorverse at various pen shows and when I saw Giant Potato (15ml bottle for $15) I knew I needed to grab a sample of it. I know that making the ink for Idaho a potato brown color is probably a little simplistic view of the state but the color is a lovely light warm brown with just a slight haze to the color like a dusty baking potato pulled fresh from the ground. I have been very into brown ink this year so I couldn’t resist this.

In writing, the color may be a little light for a fine or extra fine nib but it is still legible. I do think the ink looks better in wider nibs, showing the range of tints from a light golden brown to a deep chocolatey color.

When compared with other inks, I had a hard time finding a close comparison. Deeper browns in the same color family were much darker. Lighter inks lean a bit more golden or orangey. Swan Illusion from Montblanc is a seriously collectible ink and while a little deeper brown, when you look at the writing on the Col-o-dex cards above, it was probably the closest color. The two Robert Oster inks shown– Toffee and Gold Antiqua, are closer in value but are clearly more orangey.

If you have Giant Potato, do you have a closer comparison?

I really like this color. The slight haze reminds me of Mars Curiosity from Colorverse too and its one of the more unusual inks in my collection. So, I think I’ll definitely have to invest in a full bottle sometime.

Tools:

• Paper: Odyssey Notebooks A5 Grid 68gsm Tomoe River and Ink Swatching Guidesheets
• Pens: Dominant Industry Ink Muddler, Sailor Hocoro Dip Pens, Zebra G Dip Nib and Tachikawa T-40 Nib Holder
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.