Jacques Herbin La Perle des Encres Writing Ink | Café des îles (Coffee Brown)
There are brown inks, and then there is Café des Îles. Named for the slow pleasure of coffee taken at a terrace café on a distant island, this warm chestnut brown from Jacques Herbin carries a character that most neutral browns simply do not have. It reads like a classic - composed, quietly assured, and at its best on fine paper.
Jacques Herbin has been producing ink in Paris since 1670, making it the oldest ink house in the world. The La Perle des Encres line - "The Jewel of Inks" - was first created in 1700, in the original Herbin shop on the Rue des Fosses Saint-Germain. The formulation has remained true to that heritage: water-based, pH neutral, and made with all-natural dyes. It is gentle on pen components, safe for all fountain pen materials, and thoroughly non-toxic.
Colour and character
Café des Îles is a warm, medium-depth coffee brown with a subtle chestnut quality. It sits between a soft tan and a rich espresso, with just enough saturation to read clearly on both white and cream papers without the heaviness of a near-black brown. On fountain-pen-friendly papers such as Rhodia and Clairefontaine, it shows gentle shading - the thinner strokes lighten to the colour of foam on a fresh cup of coffee, while the deeper strokes settle into a richer, more grounded tone. The effect is quiet but genuinely beautiful.
It is worth noting that the ink shifts slightly as it dries, moving from a red-brown immediately after application to its true coffee tone within a minute or two. This is not a flaw - it is part of the character of a naturally dyed ink, and one of the small pleasures of watching it settle on the page.
Performance
Flow is smooth and consistent across a range of nib sizes and pen types. It has been used reliably in fine nibs on daily-writing pens without issue. On lower-quality, non-fountain-pen paper it can feather, as is common with most dye-based inks, so this one rewards better paper. Drying time is moderate - fine nibs on quality paper dry quickly, while broader, wetter nibs benefit from a moment's patience or a blotting sheet.
The ink cleans easily from pens and converters with a simple water flush, which is consistent with the water-based, dye formulation.
The bottle
Each 30 ml bottle is finished in the signature Herbin "D bottle" shape, a form that references the old French unit of measure known as "la Demi Courtine." The bottle includes a built-in pen rest inside the cap well — a practical detail that allows you to rest a converter-filled pen while the barrel soaks during cleaning or filling. The label is elegantly designed, in keeping with the French stationery tradition Herbin has maintained for more than three centuries.
Who this ink is for
Café des Îles suits anyone who finds black ink too severe and blue ink too expected. It is particularly well suited to journaling, correspondence, manuscript work, and everyday writing where warmth and legibility both matter. It pairs naturally with cream papers and warm-toned notebooks, and it is the kind of ink that does not call attention to itself — it simply makes the writing look considered.
For collectors building out a Jacques Herbin palette, Café des Îles is distinct from the other browns in the range. Cacao du Brésil sits darker and carries a cooler, more purplish undertone; Terre de Feu has red warmth that reads closer to a rust or sienna. Café des Îles is the clearest, most coffee-forward of the three.
Specifications
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Soft armchair
$420.00
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