Traditional fountain pen colors are blue and black. There are quite a few great blue inks available, but black is notoriously difficult. I have tried a few, but none were really a success. Much as I love Iroshizuku, Take sumi is a disappointment. J. Herbin's Perle Noir the same. I don't write with black often, but an ink collection isn't complete without a really good black.
Then I stumbled upon Aurora black. Recommended by one of my favorite penshops, the darkest available color according to internet reviews, I had to try it. And I can say, this is the first black I really like. It's dark, it's smooth, it has a long drying time but other than that writes like a dream. And, at 45ml for less than 15 euro's it's not very expensive. Excellent value for money.
Of course black can be used for business purposes but I also like to write slightly darker thoughts and stories with it. For this review I have taken some quotes from Stephen King's 1408. Very fitting for this color.
It is often claimed that Aurora Black is the most deep black. I am not so sure. It certainly is a beautiful deep black but when comparing the inks - using a glass dip pen - both Heart of Darkness (Noodler's) and Take Sumi (Iroshizuku) seem a bit darker.
N.B. all writing on Original Crowm Mill Vellum paper