I picked up the Kuretake Ink-Cafe Meiji No Iro Bottled Ink in Ebicha (20ml bottle for $19.30) last year and have been meaning to post a review. I had been waiting to get all six colors but I can never find all in stock at the same time.
The “MEIJI NO IRO” series of inks is nspired by popular colors from the Meiji era of Japanese history that occurred between 1868 to 1912, the Japanese equivalent of the Edwardian period. The full collection includes 6 colors.
Ebicha is a deep reddish purple. In full coverage, it looks almost like a purple-brown. The color was purposely “sort of purple”. In the Meiji era, purple was considered a noble color used by the aristocracy. This was similar to how purple was seen in Europe as well until about 1865 when William Perkin started his experiments with coal tar and quinine to create a commercially viable mauve color (which was still expensive but started the trend of commerical dyes). Since Japanese people were afraid of using purple for home and clothing, “EBICHA” was often used instead of traditional Purple. EBICHA had become a popular color for Hakama (Japanese traditional pants) that female students wore. EBICHA is “shrimp tea”.
The Swatch:
The swatch looks like a warm reddish brown with a hint of reddish-purple in the warm tone. Its a very deeply saturated ink color so it shades a little bit and also can sheen just a bit too, depending on nib and paper choices.
On various papers:
On Iroful paper, Ebicha is a little bit more reddish. While on Cosmo Air Light, the ink appears a little more brown. Tomoe River shows off the most red shading than Iroful or Cosmo Air Light.
On Tomoe River, I thought the color had a bit of that Strawberry Chocolate vibe that people like so much but its much darker brown than Kobe Strawberry Chocolate which is more of a dusty pink. But I think if you have Strawberry Chocolate and feels too light, Ebicha might be a good alternative.
Ink Comparisons:
Ebicha is definitely in my sweet spot for a warm chocolatey color compared to Kaweco Caramel Brown (one of my all time favorites), Monteverde MP1Collection Mocha Mousse or Ferris Wheel Press Beaver Dam Brown. Mocha Mouse and BEaver Dam Brown are no longer available so Ebicha feels like a good alternative.
I included Robert Oster Claret which is a brown/burgundy that sits about halfway between Ebicha and Strawberry Chocolate.
I am a big fan of Kuretake Ebicha. I’m tickled that its named “shrimp tea” which I imagine this to be an ink drink that shrimp prefer. If you’ve read Maya’s Blogs series, you’ll know which shrimp I am thinking of. Its a solid warm brown color with a reddish-purple undertone. It definitely makes me want to get my hands on some of the other Kuretake Ink-Cafe colors soon.
(Notes: some color information from The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair a book that our Patrons read as part of our bookclub and video chat.)
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.