ZassenhausSpeyer 5.1-Inch Dark Stained Beech Pepper Mill

Super fast shipping given that it came from Germany. Seller emailed me twice to make sure grinder arrived, and that we were satisfied with the merchandise.We are very satisfied with the Zassenhaus mill — rather delighted, in fact. Thinking back over the years, finding a decent peppermill that actually works has been a years-long source of frustration.The last wooden grinder we had was ordered from a spice company 25 or more years ago for around $50, as I recall. It still works, but just barely; it is loose and goes out of adjustment easily, and the grind is unpredictable.We were pleased to find this mill after buying far too many unsatisfactory peppermills at various stores, from high end cooking supplystores to department stores.This new Zassenhaus is a precise machine, looks really nice and does the job well. Adjusting the controls on the bottom changes the grind, but we seldom do.It is larger than I thought it would be and has an adequate capacity pepper chamber. It's fairly easy for me to refill, and manual dexterity is not my strong suit.In these times of disposable junk from China, this is a nice change. We have a couple of grinders we bought at a local store that claimed to be from England (a hidden label inside box showed they were actually made in China) which are completely worthless at grinding pepper.I never seem to need to adjust the grind; kind of a set-it-and-forget-it thing. It probably grinds finer and coarser but evidently one grind is sufficient for our household.So I’m buying three more Zassenhaus grinders and hope they last a long time.These esthetically pleasing mills make an impressive gift, especially if you include a supply of fresh premium peppercorns. We order ours from TheSpiceHouse.com.The grinder with a larger twist knob top might be easier to use than the one with the pointy top and wooden ball, especially for people with arthritis or carpal tunnel conditions.I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this peppermill because it’s far better than any we have ever seen in stores, even at much higher prices.

I purchased this new grinder 2 months ago because my wrists got tired of turning and turning my anemic 5-year-old grinder. Just 2 seconds of grinding with this new one equals 30 seconds of grinding with the old one! The output is just incredible! I gave the old one to the mother-in-law (I know...I'm evil, hee hee).Believe it or not, this is my favorite piece of kitchen tool/equipment. My wife and kids cannot understand my continued fascination with this gadget (maybe because it is a well engineered product, and as a mechanical engineer, it is obvious to me). I just love lots of pepper on my food and look for every excuse to use it...no, over-power my food with it. My three little kids just go slack-jawed when they see me whistling and gleefully carpet-bombing my food with little chunks of pepper. By the time I'm done, the kids are grinning and staring in wide-eyed shock at the huge conical mound of ground pepper on my plate. Obviously, I'm exaggerating...but just by a little bit here, folks.The wood is very beautiful and hard; heavy with a solid feel in the hand; its surface very smoothly finished. It just feels like a high quality product, ready for a lifetime of hard reliable service.Mine squeaked when I first turned the handle, so I applied a very thin layer of wax (as a lube) on the wood surface (ring-shaped) in contact with the metal handle's bottom surface and---voila, squeak gone! Try it if yours squeaks.I'll try to remember to give an update review in 10 or 15 years.

The design is unique, the wood is beautiful, and the pepper is ground perfectly. The only thing is, the handle you turn to grind the pepper doesn't work very well. It's not terrible, but it's definitely not as easy as a regular pepper mill. It's easy to fill, but you can't put a lot of peppercorns in it (but it's a small mill, so I expected that). The grip is great, though.