Ink Flight Six
Welcome aboard, inky travelers!
You may have come across this page wondering what exactly did we get you into this month? Well, we always look to create each ink flight box around the idea of sampling and cataloging your inks. With so many of us being on-the-go during the Summer, we thought it would be nice to have a writing companion that makes it a little easier to write on your travels.
Rhodia is one of the top-tier brands in paper quality for fountain pens. Their ColoR Premium pads contain some of the smoothest and most fountain pen friendly paper you will come across. Since you chose the Ink Flight Box, we included a No. 12 pad with a turquoise "soft touch" cover that has a pleasant touch. The pad is filled with super smooth 90gsm ivory lined sheets that are micro-perforated at the top for easy page removal. The front cover folds back nicely to get out of the way while the rear part of the pad has a sturdy backing board that fits inside your new Rhodia pad holder.
It's a little tight the first go-round, but the black Rhodia notepad holder fits the new No 12 size Rhodia pad you received in the box. The pad holder is made from a leatherette material (not real leather, or as some marketers call it "vegan leather"). Fit the Rhodia ColoR pad's back cover, including the sturdy backing piece into one side of the slot. The slot on the front flap could be used to stash things like movie tickets, Chinese fortune cookie wisdom and bar receipts.
Now, the pen holder is a bit small for most of my fountain pens, but I did find a perfect fit, which was an item we sent in last month's box - the dip pen nib holder!
If you would want to fit a fountain pen that is too thick to be inserted into the loop, try clipping it to the loop instead. See the photo below to check out how I attached my Visconti to the Rhodia pad holder.
We hope that you enjoy the extra bonus items in your Ink Flight Box and that they are used on all your pen and ink journeys.
About the Papier Plume Inks
I also wanted to give a little bit more background information about the Papier Plume inks, particularly the ones that were inspired by New Orleans, particularly the Sazerac, Mardi Gras Indians Purple and the newest color Red Beans and Rice.
The kind, supportive folks at Papier Plume had suggested to include Red Beans and Rice in your Ink Flights as a little extra special item since the ink is not even officially released yet. They plan on formally making a grand release at the Miami pen show later this month. Special thanks go out to Renso for making this happen!
This is the backstory that Renso wanted me to share regarding the inspiration behind the oddly named Red Beans & Rice.
In New Orleans Red Beans and Rice is a dish traditionally served on Mondays. Something about letting the beans simmer all of Monday while the women did the housework. Of course, things aren't like that anymore but it's still a Monday dish. If you're in town and walk into a restaurant you'll often find it on the Monday specials.
Louis Armstrong apparently really liked red beans and rice. He would often sign his letters "Red Beans and Ricely Yours, Louis Armstrong"
For Sazerac
The third ink in our series is based off the world famous New Orleans cocktail, The Sazerac. It’s America’s first cocktail, in 2008 it became the Official Cocktail of New Orleans and now it’s familiar orange-red hue flows through your fountain pen.
Created in the 1830’s it originally was made with Cognac and Absinthe. Today it is generally made with Rye Whiskey, Herbsaint, Peychaud Bitters, sugar, and garnished with a lemon peel. We encourage you to enjoy this ink responsibly, and remember, it’s an ink, so don’t drink.
For Mardi Gras Indians Purple
When we decided to make an ink honoring The Mardi Gras Indians we could have really chosen any color, but Purple is a special color for NOLA and it’s associations with mystery, magic, and royalty made it perfect. The Mardi Gras Indians have been around since the mid 19th century, but they didn’t really start wearing the extravagant suits that they are so known for now until the 1960’s.