Monteverde - Sweet Life Collection 2, Chocolate Pudding and Cherry Danish

 This is review two and the introduction is a repeat from the previous review.
In 2016 Monteverde started to re-imagine / configure their inks and as a part of that they have released a number of collections e.g. noir, emotions, gemstones and this, the Sweet Life collection released early 2019.   The collections are not easy to obtain in my part of the world but Pen and Ink (Queensland, Australia)   have the sets for AUD$99 plus postage. 
I contacted Monteverde in the USA about some of their other inks and after being directed to the Australasian distributor they then directed me to Pen and Ink .  It would appear Pen and Ink are the only Monteverde ink retailers in this part of the world, (and have been fantastic) in the US many retailers stock Monteverde inks where the sets retail on line from US$90 - $100.
There are 10 inks in the collection, I will divide the reviews but make some general comments here and after the last review summarise what I have found / think.  The same pen was used for each ink i.e. a Birmingham Pen Co 6th Avenue pen.

The inks are named after a collection of popular American desserts, I couldn’t think of anything more American than keylime pie or blue velvet cake, some of the others are fairly international e.g. chocolate pudding and birthday cake.
Each ink comes in a 30ml glass bottle with more interesting labels than some of Monteverdes other inks.  They all contain ITF technology.  ITF stands for ink treatment formula which in Monteverdes words - 

“drastically improves ink flow quality, extends cap-off times and lubricates and protects the ink feeding systems from cororsion and clogging”

The inks come in a black magnetic sealing box which is ‘specifically designed for reuse and recycling.  The box is contained within a soft cardboard outer sleeve.  Pictures of the packaging are in my first review.
The colour range is limited with a preponderance of browner shades.

​Chocolate Pudding

 And this is a chocolate brown colour!
Chromatography was monochromatic with just a hint of something darker at the leading edge.  When you magnify the photo you can just get a hint of dark green.

Chocolate brown on col-o-ring but on Tomoe you do get that hint of green

Col-o-ring

Tomoe

On Midori a fairly standard brown ink with the usual on the slow side Monteverde ink dry time.  A little shading apparent.

On Tomoe it writes as a brown but when you look at the dry time testing that subtle green hue is more apparent.  Dry time was unbelievably slow.  Very little shading.

I can report for this ink no start up problems when I reused the pen.  On copy paper no feathering and no show through.
In summary -  a standard brown ink.  Credible dupes are Bungbox Valentines chocolate brown and Mont Blanc cigar. 

Saturation – high
Shading – minimal
Sheen – no
Shimmer – no
Flow – good
Nib dry-out - none
Nib creep - none
Start-up – ok
Feathering – none, not even on cheap paper
Drying – slow, unacceptable on Tomoe at more than a minute
Cleaning - good
Water resistance – not sold as waterproof and this ink I felt I could wash right out of the paper.

​Cherry Danish

A dessert I can relate to – YUM.
This is an interesting red colour that will be useable, it’s not too bright and quite different in the swatches.
Chromatography was like most of the inks in this collection monochromatic but the colour that came to mind when I saw it was scarlet.

This ink is a good example of why I always show a swatch on col-o-ring and Tomoe.  On colo-o-ring again the scarlet colour but on Tomoe a dull red-orange.

Col-o-ring

Tomoe

I think this ink was missing its ITF.  The start was difficult requiring multiple primings of the pen and then I still had to wait for it to flow. 
On Modori this is more the colour I expected of pumpkin cake.  Despite the very hard start it was unacceptably slow to dry.  There was a little shading

On Tomoe a similar colour with a similar unacceptable dry time.  Very little shading apparent.

Using the pen after some time – no ink flow to start and because of all the problems I had had before I didn’t wait, I primed the nib, the ink flowed perfectly throughout all my writing after that.

​In summary -  a scarlet red colour, quite nice but for me too slow to dry.  Credible dupes are (left to right in the photo)  Diamine red dragon, Blackstone Uluru, this ink and Diamine Oxblood

​Saturation – high
Shading – minimal
Sheen – no
Shimmer – no
Flow – good
Nib dry-out - none
Nib creep - none
Start-up – difficult with a capital D, a lot of work to get it going but once underway very good
Feathering – none, not even on cheap paper
Drying – slow, unacceptable at more than a minute
Cleaning - good
Water resistance – not sold as waterproof and like chocolate pudding I felt I could wash this ink right out of the paper