Chu-shu is a lovely dark grey ink that reminds me of Diamine Earl Grey, but it is slightly more saturated, smoother and more purple than the Diamine ink. It is less purple than Diamine Vivaldi from the music collection and on par with Sailor Kobe #10 Mikage Grey.
Chu-shu shades in the right pen and paper combo, and I observed some coppery-golden sheen when using wet nibs, especially my Sailor 21kt H-B one—I’m not crazy about the colour of the sheen, though. The ink flows well and doesn’t feel thin under the nibs and coats them well. I’ve seen no feathering, no bleedthrough and almost no ghosting on thinner paper with wet wide nibs.
The ink is readable in all my nibs, from my Sailor 1911L 21 kt H-EF to H-B. Writing with Chu-shu and reading back notes written with it is a joy. It has enough pop not to look like a graphite pencil. I like greys with red undertones, and this one tickles my fancy!
A moonlit grey with the barest hint of violet. It shades well even with a fine nib, leaving multiple colours along the way. Not my cup of tea, although the earl grey colour is delicious, I will enjoy it while it lasts! It wasn't something I would have tried, another successful mystery sample
I was originally intending to purchase Diamine Earl Grey as my winter ink but it was sold out and there will be no more shipments until the spring. So I went with Chu-Shu as it's quite close in colour, and I'm very happy with it. Like most Sailor inks, it flows beautifully and is easy to clean. The colour is a soft grey with a purple undertone and shades nicely in a broad nib.
