Noodler's Bad Blue Heron Goulet Ink Drop - March 2015
Pen: Lamy Safari EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm

Noodler's is a fairly young brand in the fountain pen ink realm, but it's popularity has grown astronomically. Nathan Tardiff, the lone man behind the Noodler's brand, has attracted attention (both good and bad) for his politically charged ink labels and bold ink colors and properties. Noodler's inks are always the subject of discussion on forums - usually for Baystate Blue - but in my experience, the inks are spot on and have more variety at a better value than a lot of brands out there. Nathan always pushes the envelope in regards to his ink properties and coined the term "bulletproof" to refer to his fraud resistant inks. Head over to gouletpens.com and check out their spreadsheet of all the vast properties of the Noodler's inks.

This ink is by far my favorite ink out of the March 2015 ink drop samples. It is a deep saturated blue ink that puts a very flowing and thick line on the page. In my Lamy EF, this gives a line that is slightly thicker than a lot of other inks that I've used. I would guess that it's more lubricated because of the high saturation. A lot of people complain about nib creep with this ink, though in my experience most all Noodler's inks have a little bit of nib creep in certain pens - the Lamy nibs especially. Though I'm not surprised they would say this one is worse because it does appear to be more lubricated than others.

One of the best things about this ink in my opinion (your results may vary) is the smell. It took me a while to figure it out, but I've decided it smells just like those balloons that you made out of putty that you blew up with a straw.

All in all this is a fantastic ink. I got no feathering at all on my Rhodia pad, though I've seen others complain about feathering on less ink resistant papers. Shading is moderate with no bleedthrough and minimal ghosting.

You can pick up a 3oz bottle of Bad Blue Heron for $12.50 from Goulet