Derwent

There is only one thing to dislike about these Cole & Mason salt and pepper mills: the price of £60. But the more we use them, the more the thought of the expenditure fades. They are very easy to use, adjust and recharge. They are also stylish and substantial looking. We have had a few cheaper mills over the years and none of them have really had a satisfactory action, but these mills have an excellent action. They look and feel as though they will last, and anyhow they come with a lifetime guarantee. Apparently, the use of high carbon steel for the pepper mill and ceramic for the salt mill, as opposed to stainless steel and nylon respectively on the cheaper mills, give a superior grind. The mills are supplied preloaded with salt and pepper, but beware, the pepper that come pre-loaded will blow your head off, it is so strong. Highly recommended, despite the high cost. PS: Just in case, to adjust the grain size, hold the upper body of the mill firmly in one hand, and firmly grip the two indents on the ring with the down arrow on it with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Rotate the ring so that the arrow lines up with the grain size you want as indicated on the bottom ring. The action may be slightly stiff at first, but don't worry it soon eases off. This is also the case with the grinding action itself. We have now been using these mills for a week and, despite my wife objecting on cost grounds, she now loves them, so I am back in favour.

I’ve always wondered, particularly with a pepper mill, how you know it’s going to be any good before you get it home. I’ve been disappointed by so many I’d given up. But these are brilliant. Great variable settings, highly effective grinders, easy to fill, easy to use and they look great. Definitely worth splashing out a bit more for!

Just lovely, finally a pepper/salt grinder where the top does not come lose and change the grind size. Easy to fill as the top pulls off and you fill and pop back on. The grinding action takes very little effort, a minimal twist will release enough (you will likely add too much pepper/salt on the first try) but once you are used to it it makes life so easy. No more sore arms for me when grinding salt for cooking. My last Cole and Mason set were cheap and lasted over 10 years, these feel like they will last much longer and therefore even though expensive are a worthwhile investment. Ps I gave it five stars for sheerness as amazon asked, but I am not truly sure what sheerness is, but these are so good they are likely high on the sheerness scale whatever that may be.

Beautifully made and they look great. These are clearly a premium product which not only do what they are intended for superbly but they do it with style. I never thought I'd wax lyrical about condiment mills but here I am, impressed!

Some years ago I bought some cole and mason pepper and salt mills at the cheaper end of the scale. I was really disappointed with them. You're supposed to be able to adjust the tightness of the knobs on top to adjust the coarseness of the grind but when they were tight for a fine grind they were impossible to turn. And generally, no matter the tightness, not a lot came out anyway. These things,however, are superb: 1. They're easy to fill, just pull the tops off and that's all there is to it (they're designed perfectly so that they're not so loose they fall off when you don't want them to, and not so tight you can't get them off) 2. You can select the coarseness of the grind using a collar at the bottom of each grinder. This is easy to do and whichever level of coarseness you choose it doesn't affect the ease of the grind 3. A slight twist will produce plenty of salt or pepper. No turning a thousand times just to get a little sprinkling. This is where these really shine. They're a complete joy to use. Why four stars not five? They're ridiculously expensive, but worth it in my view

Expensive but so worth it. All other grinders we have owned have left bits of salt and pepper on the side, not these though! Plus you can change up the density of the grind and that's a really nice feature

Great quality product . Looks stylish .

I’ve used a few salt and pepper grinders over the years and all have suffered their own particular problems and left me less than satisfied. Usually the grinders dull very quickly and/or clog up, so this time I decided to bite the bullet and pay a lot more than usual hoping the principle ‘you only get what you pay for’ applies. So far after about 6 weeks I can say I’m very pleased with my purchase. The grinders hold a decent amount of salt crystals and pepper corns, they feel solid and perform really well always grinding their contents in decent quantities whenever needed. OK 6 weeks isn’t a great deal of time for a long term performance test but so far, so good. Only concern is - I can’t really see why they cost as much as they do, so you must be paying over the odds for the name. If they continue to perform as they are doing then I suppose I will become more comfortable with the cost.