Fountain Pen Ink Review: New Brew Inks

New Brew fountain pen inks in 60ml bottles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed most of us into unwanted corners and places. Some of us are forced to work at our homes, while others needed to change jobs to cope with the pandemic. It's a difficult time, but it's also a period of learning and discovery. Aside from my family and close friends, several things that got me going at this challenging time are this blog, my fountain pen hobby, and the close-knit network of Pinoy fountain pen users. We help and support each other, reach out to one another, and discover many things together. One of the beautiful new things we discovered together during this time is New Brew, an amazing brand new ink series mixed by one of the younger members of Fountain Pen Network Philippines.

New Brew is produced by 18-year old Marcuz Bryant Cortez from the Philippines. Marcuz got the idea of mixing fountain pens inks four years ago when he got into the fountain pen hobby and didn't have enough inks of his own. He started mixing inks using food colorings and dyes. Now, he has more than 10 ink colors for New Brew and his ink bottles are selling faster than he can make them!

Marcuz has more than 10 ink colors for New Brew, and continues to make new ones. He even mixes limited edition ink colors for special orders placed by FPN Philippines members.

As part of my post-Independence Day week features, here are the 11 ink colors from New Brew, a promising ink brand made by a young Filipino entrepreneur for the world. And because most of us in the Philippines spent our Independence Day weekend watching Trese, Rants of The Archer is joining in! We're giving the world New Brew + Trese this weekend!

Space

Space is a dark blue ink that is very similar to the more popular blue blacks of Pilot, Diamine, and Lamy. It is more vibrant, though, and reveals hints of teal undertones. It is moderately saturated with excellent flow. New Brew Space has a good amount of shading even from a Fine nib and dries in less than 15 seconds on Veco 100gsm paper.

New Brew Space is a nice dark blue fountain pen ink with teal undertones.

New Brew Space from a wet Jinhao 992 F nib. This blue ink is so nice!

Blood Stain

Blood Stain is a dark red ink that looks like, yes, blood. It's not as wet as Space, but it still has good flow, and the F nib I used to test it did not experience any skipping or hard starts, two common problems with drier inks. I like Blood Stain when it has already dried because it develops a nice character that's not easy to find in bright red inks. It dries a dark red with hints of orange undertones and closer in color to Diamine Red Dragon or Robert Oster Royal Red.

New Brew Blood Stain is a dark red ink with hints of orange undertones. 

New Brew Blood Stain from a wet Jinhao 992 F nib. I love the character of this dark red ink when it has dried on paper.

Wine

Wine is a dark burgundy colored fountain pen ink that reminds me of J. Herbin Rouge Grenat or Diamine Terracotta. In the Canson paper when I did the swatch, it looks reddish-brown, but in the 100gsm Veco paper, it appears a dark brown color. This dark ink is moderately saturated and has a good flow. I used a glass dip pen to write a sample and it looked darker when it dried but it still showed the beautiful burgundy color.

New Brew Wine is a dark burgundy-colored ink.

I wrote this using a glass dip pen that's why it appears dark and saturated. It still shows the beautiful burgundy color.

Marshland Moss

Marshland Moss is New Brew's take on some classic moss green ink colors such as Sailor Epinard, Rohrer and Klingner Alt Goldgrun, Robert Oster Crocodile Green, and RO Australis Tea. At FPN Philippines, there is a group of moss green ink devotees called "Team Lumot (Moss)" and this ink color is typically up to their selection. Marcuz made Team Lumot so happy with Marshland Moss. It's a wet ink, more like Space, and while I used a glass dip pen to write a sample, I'm sure it has a good amount of shading when used in a fountain pen.

New Brew Marshland Moss, perfect moss-colored fountain pen ink.

I used a glass dip pen to write this sample so no shading here and it looks darker, but the moss green color is still visible.

Morning Brew

Marcus made a coffee-toned ink, too. Morning Brew is for the coffee lovers out there! Think of those halos left by coffee mugs and cups on the table. That's the color of Morning Brew! This ink color is lighter brown with hints of yellow and reminds me of J. Herbin Terre de Feu. It is moderately saturated, has good flow, and dries slower than the other New Brew inks. Again, I used a glass dip pen to write the writing sample so it appears darker than the ink swatch, but nice brown color is still visible. I can't wait to try this ink in a fountain pen to see some shading.

New Brew Morning Brew, a coffee-colored fountain pen ink.

Written with a glass dip pen, this sample looks a darker brown.

Shamrock

Here's New Brew's second green ink, Shamrock. It's a bright, happy green ink that reminds me so much of J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage, my first green fountain pen ink. Unlike Marshland Moss, Shamrock is less saturated and writes wetter. 

New Brew Shamrock, a happy, bright green fountain pen ink.

Shamrock is a wet ink, and though I wrote this using a glass dip pen, it's still a bright green color.

Late Afternoon

This orange ink color is called Late Afternoon to perhaps remember the colorful hues of the setting sun. I love, love, love this orange fountain pen ink! It has more yellow than red and appears very light while wet, but dries a beautiful sunset orange. It reminds me of J. Herbin Orange Indien, Laban's Greek Mythology Apollo Orange, and Lamy Mango. It's a wet ink, one of New Brew's less saturated inks and dries in 15-20 seconds.

New Brew Late Afternoon, a beautiful sunset orange ink.

Did I say I love this orange ink? I love this orange ink! And look at the yellow undertones in that shading! It's so beautiful!

Smoked Lavender

When Marcuz started posting about his ink mixes, Smoked Lavender was the one that caught my attention. This ink reminded me of Diamine Damson and my fondness for J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune, the dusky purple ink that got me started reviewing fountain pen inks. Smoked Lavender is also a dusky purple ink with gray undertones. I tried it on a wet fine nib and though it appears dark, it's still a beautiful ink color. Smoked Lavender would also look good in wider nibs, especially stubs that will show more of its shading. 

New Brew Smoked Lavender is a charming dusky purple fountain pen ink.

Smoked Lavender in a wet Jinhao 992 F nib. This ink would also look good in a stub nib.

Viridian Sky

Viridian Sky is another green ink from New Brew. It has more blue to it, which brings it closer to Edelstein Jade and Robert Oster's Tranquility and Marine. It is moderately saturated and has a good flow. Viridian Sky is a cooler green ink color than Shamrock.

New Brew Viridian Sky, a green ink with blue undertones.

Viridian Sky from a dip pen looks a darker green ink. It's a cooler green than Shamrock with its blue undertones.

Pebble Grey

I have a few favorites among these inks from New Brew and Pebble Grey is one of them. There are many gray inks available, but most of them are lighter in color. Pebble Grey is a gray ink that's dark enough to be readable and to have that "dark ink character". It also wrote so smoothly even from a Chinese F nib.

New Brew Pebble Grey (I misspelled it, sorry.), a dark, readable gray ink.

Pebble Grey from a wet Jinhao 992 F nib. It looks dark in this writing sample, but I like it. 

Nancy Pink

Of all the 11 inks in this review, Nancy Pink is the most amusing ink color to me. I'm a blue and orange ink person and I have maybe three or four pink inks in my collection. Nancy Pink is a bright, almost iridescent/neon pink that jumps off the page. It's also translucent so it could be used as a highlighter ink. It actually reminds me of the pink highlighter I used in High School. Like Late Afternoon, Nancy Pink is a happy and bright ink color.

New Brew Nancy Pink, a bright, translucent pink ink.

Nancy Pink is almost neon pink! I love it!

For the first time ever, I wrote about 11 inks in Rants of The Archer! But I am so pleased, so happy, so proud of these inks made by a young Pinoy entrepreneur. Marcuz is not only making new products, but he is constantly improving all of them through insights he gets from fellow fountain pen users. New Brew is still young, so is the mixologist, and I am so excited about the new products that Marcuz will bring to the fountain pen world! Do you like New Brew inks? Get one (or more) for your pens now!

Rants of the Archer thanks Marcuz Bryant Cortez and New Brew for providing the inks for review purposes. If you want to get New Brew inks, you can contact them through their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MarcuzBryant03