Ink Review and Giveaway: J. Herbin Lie de Thé

Lily at Jet Pens was kind enough to send me a bottle of J. Herbin Lie de Thé to review here. As in my review of the Noodler's Navy she sent me, I'm sharing the freebie by making a giveaway part of the review.

The Review

This almost became the Internet's first ink review without any representation of the ink. No matter what I do, I can't seem to adjust my scanner to scan with results even approaching what my inks actually look like on the page, and it's very difficult to capture with photography, too. This color proved particularly difficult.

The net result is that even with these lame pictures I am including, you're going to have to depend mostly on my description to get an idea of the color. There is, however, one way for you to know exactly what this tea looks like: enter and win the giveaway! (Instructions to enter at the end of the post.)

The skipping with the italic nibs is not the fault of the ink.
I am still having trouble holding italic nibs to the paper correctly.

So, let's start with my opinion that this may be the world's most appropriately named ink. According to Google Translate, "lie de thé" translates to English as "dregs of tea." Since "dregs" means "the remnants of a liquid left in a container, together with any sediment or grounds" (according to Google Dictionary), I'd say J. Herbin really nailed it with this name: if you imagine what you'd end up with by dipping your pen into the liquid that leaks out of a teabag after you remove it from your tea and lay it on a saucer, then you have a pretty good idea of the color of this ink.

The ink shades quite heavily (yet another characteristic I have not managed to convey in the pictures). So heavily, in fact, that to me, the shading is not interesting, but distracting, as if someone watered down an ink that was supposed to be richer in color.

I'll leave it at that, my subjective opinion of the color, rather than get into things like lubrication, etc., because (1) I'm still learning my way around inks, and (2) since I tested this on a Rhodia Dot Pad, it seems pointless to comment on the lack of feathering or bleedthrough, because almost nothing I've tried so far  feathers or bleeds on Clairefontaine/Rhodia paper. (I'll tell you about the exceptions in future posts.)

The giveaway

Now, if you got the idea that I don't really care for this color, you're right. It's not my  . . . don't say it, Booker . . . not my . . . Booker, fight it! . . . not my . . . Oh, Booker, I can't believe you're going to say it! . . . not my cup of tea. (Ouch!) So, instead of giving away just samples, like I did with the Noodler's Navy, I'm giving away the remainder of the bottle to the giveaway winner, and a runner-up will receive a 2ml sample. I've used this ink rather sparingly, so I'm guessing the winner, after the sample for the runner-up, should still end up with more than half a bottle.

The usual giveaway sign-up procedures apply:

1. Leave a comment.

2. Send me an email at notebookeresqATgmail.com. The body of the email must include the name you used to comment and the subject line of the email must read exactly:

DREGS

I need the email so I can be sure I can contact the winners. If you leave a comment without sending a proper email or email me without leaving a comment, you will not be entered.

I'm not setting a deadline. How long I let the entry period run depends on the number of entries, traffic, and whether this giveway makes it into this Saturday's "Ink Links" at The Pen Addict. I'll pick a winner and runner up when I'm ready.  Good luck!

If you're unlucky in the giveaway but still want this ink, J. Herbin Lie de Thé is available in a 30ml bottle for $9.00 from Jet Pens. While you're there, load up your cart with a few more goodies — orders over $25 ship free. That's the lowest free shipping threshold I've seen.

UPDATE (2/9/11): The giveaway is closed, and the winners are announced here.

Ink Review and Giveaway: J. Herbin Lie de Thé