MORTAR & PESTLE - NATURAL SOAPSTONE 4"

Of the many varieties of mortar and pestle I was drawn to this one by the beautiful color and pattern of speckled browns. What I received is certainly functional and solid, a fine mortar and pestle, but a bland tone, a dishwater grey. I would be disingenuous were I to say I was not disappointed with the color.

Beautiful but small. If you need a large one this is not it, The picture doesn't do it justice as it is shiny and the grains really stands out. Had to purchase one because my husband had surgery and couldn't take his medications whole, had to be crushed. Works great for that. I haven't had a chance to try crushing anything else but it's there if I need it. It actually looks rather cute sitting on my counter. Both pieces are well made and easy to use even with wet hands. I recommend this mortar & pestle if you're looking for a small, durable set.

The item is fine for its size. Definitely season it before using it by trying to crush some rice in it. The pestle isn't heavy enough to actually crush rice, but it will scrape off residual dust from the inside of the mortar. Had to do it a couple of times before the rice stopped turning orange. Don't count on getting the color as displayed in the photograph. They'll just send you whatever they have, which should have been clearly stated in the product description but is not. I chose this based on the color in the photograph, which I liked. What arrived was very dark in color, almost black. I wouldn't have ordered it had I known in advance that I wasn't going to get the color that was shown in the photograph. But it's functional and not worth the shipping charge to return it, so I'll keep it.