simple inks - Coffee and tea

 After doing some researches online and readings articles and books about how to make natural and simple inks, I decided to experiment my first ink with coffee and tea.

Coffee ink:
My husband is a coffee lover. I emptied the content of an already used coffee capsule to do my ink. I understand that I started with a lighter coffee that I would have if I was used new coffee, but it is always important for me to think of recycling (or second use items) before doing a project.

I use 4 larges capsules and only 1/4 cup of boiled water and I transferred the coffee 5 times to get a deeper brown color. To preserve my ink, I added a bit of white vinegar and a pinch of salt. The ink color was a light brownish and dried the same color.
​

Hibiscus Tea:
I am the tea lover at home, so I thought it could be a good idea to make some ink with pure Hibiscus herbal tea. I bought this delicious tea in a local shop called "Experience Tea", months ago.
I poured boiled water over the tea, set it aside for few minutes then added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to get some thickness, (more like paint than ink) and  a bit of vinegar. I drained the ink through a sieve and let it aside for 30 minutes.
My daughter had some fun with! The color was like a mat pink but turned into a nice grey after an hour.​

I really wanted a pink/reddish color so I tried it again but I did not add any cornstarch. That ink was a bright reddish pink, that turned into a beautiful blue-violet on the paper.
I finally tried something else. I dipped a piece of fabric (an old white cotton pillow cover) into the pink ink then let it dry overnight.
In the morning I expected to find a nice blue-purple result, but the fabric stayed pink!