Is This The Best-Looking Pepper Mill?

While it’s not the best pepper mill sold today, this cast iron pepper mill is the best looking pepper grinder I’ve ever laid my eyes on.

The Peugeot Bali Fonte is a wonderful example of true craftsmanship. It’s made in a sand mold out of real cast iron. It’s entirely metal, with no plastic parts, and it’s surprising heft confirms how well it was made.

This pepper grinder is designed for normal black pepper but has a trick up its sleeve: it works great for Szechuan pepper as well, so you can add some tingle to your tongue and some style to your kitchen.

Because the Bali Fonte is made by hand from a sand mold, no two pieces are exactly alike, giving the mills a wonderful uniqueness to the tiny dots that add texture to the outside. This design was based on a traditional tea ceremony where cast iron is a popular material, and simplicity of form is highly prized.

The Peugeot Bali Fonte cast iron pepper mill is sold in black, chocolate, orange, and blue colors. The mill has a lifetime limited guarantee on the internal Peugeot mechanism and the body is practically indestructible because it’s 1/4″ cast iron.

The mill does have some downsides that are worth noting before you spend about $60 on it (or gift it). First of all, it’s not very big (2.25″ wide and 3″ tall) so you’ll be filling it often. Second, the grinder adjustment mechanism is not the best, so you can really only go from super fine to medium — no fresh coarse ground black pepper comes from this mill.

For sale at Amazon.com and Food52.