Noodler’s Baystate Blue is a popular bright blue fountain pen ink that is a great writer and highly water-resistant, but very hard to clean up.
Noodler’s Baystate Blue Review
If you are looking for a vivid blue or royal blue fountain pen ink, then Baystate Blue is one of the most popular recommendations you will find online. This is because the ink is a great writer — it’s consistent, flows nicely, and doesn’t tend to dry out or hard start on most pens. It’s also affordable (about $25 for 4.5 oz) and it’s easy to find, being sold at most fountain pen ink sellers as well as on Amazon.com.
Baystate Blue is also highly legible — it really pops on the page and is easy to read — but it’s also a fun color that is brighter than most blue inks. This fun, interesting tone is another major plus for this ink.
Using Baystate Blue is a very pleasant experience because the ink is so well-behaved. In all the pens we tested Baystate Blue just wants to write. This ink never had a clog, rarely had a hard start, and always flowed nicely out of out pens. These ranged from a Platinum Preppy to a Platinum Balance to a Parker fountain pens.
So, when it comes to the buying and writing, this ink is very strong.
Baystate Blue is also highly water-resistant. It’s not generally sold as a waterproof ink because it’s not pigmented, but it very much resists water. It’ll also resistant ink destruction and removal, so this ink is effectively tamper-proof, even though it’s not generally sold as being so. The ink will fade slightly when used around water, but won’t bleed or lose any color.
Baystate Blue Downsides
This ink has a lot going for it, but it has some major issues as well.
First of all, the Noodler’s bottle is mess and prone to spilling. This glass bottle is overfilled from the factory, it’s tall and skinny so it’s easy to turn over, and the cap tends to hold onto ink which drips.
Second, and most significantly, this ink is very hard to clean. If it gets on your skin it’s going to be there for at least a day or two. The ink will permanently stain almost any surface it touches, even plastics. This means you have to be careful which pen you use Baystate Blue with because it will get into plastics and even some enamels and it simply won’t wash out.
Lastly, while the color is great, there are a lot of excellent blue inks on the market. Baystate has a nice bright pop to it, but there are other bright blues (most have more green in them though) and standard blues, like those from Lamy and Pelikan are excellent, affordable, and not too different from this one.
Ultimately this is a good ink, but not one we tend to recommend unless you are an advanced fountain pen user.
Noodler’s Baystate Blue Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Noodlers |
| Ink Color | Blue |
| Secondary Color | Blue |
| Bottle Size | 50 ml |
| Waterproof | Yes |
| Archival | No |
| Quick-drying | No |
| Tamper-proof | Yes |
| Fluorescent | No |
| Lubricated | No |
| Cartridge | No |
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